Manufacturers

Not a company to rest on their laurels, TL Ultralight — represented in America since the beginning of LSA by Sportair USA — debuted their Sting S4 at the German Aero show in April. Besides developing an all-new high-wing design (the TL-3000 Sirius …photo inset) — the S4 is the newest generation of the Czech […]

While lots of attention was paid to the PiperSport at Sun ‘n Fun 2010, and while Cessna’s Skycatcher remains the dominant collector of order deposits, another legacy producer that has entered the LSA sector is Van’s Aircraft. *** By most reckoning, Van’s can lay claim to being the largest kit aircraft company in the world. […]

Bend, Oregon’s LSA builder X-Air, makers of the completely American-made X-Air LS – lowest-priced LSA out there at under $60,000 – is finding creative ways to keep the overhead low by selling the airplane directly out of its factory. *** The company is upgrading the airplane in several ways, to be announced at Sun ‘n […]

Just kidding about the dutch roll. It’s a play on an old movie: With Six You Get Egg Roll, about complications that come with a blended family. *** But the “three” is legit, and refers to the three LSA training centers operated by Shawn Okun in Florida.  *** Shawn’s blended family is called FPNA (FPNA […]

Molly McMillin of the Wichita Eagle reports today that Cessna is speeding up its deliveries of the C-162 throughout 2010, after delays were announced early in the year. The announcement was made at the Aero Expo in Germany today. *** McMillin also writes that Cessna veep John Doman believes the piston-powered aircraft market may be […]

It’s rare for the Wall Street Journal to print a single word about Light-Sport Aircraft, but today’s edition has the Skycatcher at the top of the front page. Confirming earlier speculations, the Wichita airplane company has chosen to build its LSA in China. The difference from other ventures (Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier) is that Cessna will […]

Everyone interested in Light-Sport Aircraft is aware of Cessna’s loss of prototype #1 when it entered an “unrecoverable spin.” After Cirrus Design announced a slowdown in the development of their SRS, people have been wondering if Cessna would alter their plans for Skycatcher. Short answer: No. All is proceeding according to schedule. *** At AOPA […]

Through the years of design development, few expected Cessna would delay their release of the Skycatcher. Any naysayers were wrong. *** At several meetings with Cessna leaders at Oshkosh 2009, I consistently heard that a small number of Skycatchers would be built in 2009, which means the big producer is right on schedule. Even with […]

It begins! The long awaited arrival of Cessna into the ranks of Special Light-Sport Aircraft has begun, with the first Shenyang-produced Skycatcher arriving in Wichita. The company reports taking more than 1,000 orders. At Oshkosh 2009, company officials said production would commence as originally planned in 2009 but that 2010 will be the year of […]

In a major ceremony the day before AirVenture Oshkosh opened, Cessna debuted a “full-scale mock-up” of the Skycatcher. And indeed it showed some fresh ideas. But first, the answers to common questions. *** Bowing to the established A&P community the Wichita giant selected a Contintental O-200 100-hp engine. Later they hope the engine will trim […]