Alpha

“WE DID IT!” boasted the team from down under! “We are thrilled to announce that this afternoon we achieved a World Endurance Record for an electric aircraft, breaking the previous mark set in Germany last year.” (Note: Official recognition always takes more time.) Pipistrel distributor Michael Coates, wrote, “South Australian-based Eyre to There Aviation … Flying […]

Does Alpha have the tiny little motor that could? Article updated 6/22/21 —DJ That sounds like an old childhood story (“The Little Engine that Could…”) but here we are in the new millennia with electric cars, huge wind farms, vast solar collector projects, biofuels, and more. Subsidies are pouring in to electric projects around the […]

In the world of Light-Sport Aircraft, we have more than 90 manufacturers and 145 Special LSA (see our whole list) accepted* by FAA. This huge diversity of design has given recreational pilots around the world a large number of ready-to-fly aircraft choices beyond anything we have seen in aviation since the beginning. However, the old […]

One bone of contention among LSA sellers is that legacy flight schools — the sort that typically uses Cessna or Piper trainers — sometimes disregard LSA as trainer aircraft. “They’re built too lightly.” “The nose wheels are too weak.” “My mechanic doesn’t know the Rotax engine.” Some may have even more creative excuses. I’ve interviewed […]

Electric aircraft are often in the news — even mainstream news — although mostly the reporting is about futuristic projects. Alpha Electro is a present-day aircraft being sold and used for flight instruction …just not in the USA where regulations bar use of electric motors as powerplants.

Article Updated: 9/18/17 (see below) Electric airplanes continue to catch the headlines… but don’t impact the market much (yet). That may be changing. You rarely see advertising for Pipistrel, the Eastern European builder of several very sleek Light-Sport Aircraft. The company feels they generate interesting-enough news that media organizations will cover their accomplishments. As this […]

The great show of Europe called Aero Friedrichshafen is about to begin. It starts officially tomorrow and runs through Saturday (April 20-23, 2016). I’ve lost count, but believe this is my 20th year of attending, far more than any other European show. As he worked to help exhibitors and manage the million details of his […]

At the recently concluded Palm Springs Expo, a keynote address was provided by George Bye, the man behind the Sun Flyer project that aims to put electric two seaters into flight schools. Pipistrel is already selling into this market with its Electro (video) and while only a small number of aircraft are in use, the […]

When discussing big versus small, you cannot go much further than comparing a Light-Sport Aircraft company to Airbus. This story speaks to LSA builder Pipistrel, the goal of their French dealer, and nearly identical plans of the giant corporation. In a fascinating development, it turns out that an even smaller entity, a single individual in […]

Aero is such an interesting event for many reasons. Among the most significant of these are the large number of aircraft introductions or the newest development projects one discovers in the vast gymnasium-sized halls … eleven of them in total. It can be hard to cover all the square meters, which although not as enormous […]