Van’s Aircraft, Inc.

While the world of LSAs is diverse enough that the trials of Van’s Aircraft, which put itself into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late last year, aren’t quite the foundational matters they are among the homebuilt crowd, the fact that Van’s is represented with the popular RV-12 and companies that support it are also part of […]

In this post, we’ll look at three news items affecting the affordable aviation community. This article touches on the last LSA event of the season plus two market leaders, one from the US and one international, each with significant news. Aero Showcase November 3-4, 2023 First up is some fun news to complete a vigorous […]

Darkest before dawn? I hear growing concern about FAA’s new Mosaic regulation and what it will or won’t do. An increasing number of comments I hear are variations of these words — “FAA is never going to get this done, and if they do, it will be a crappy rule.” Why so glum? Maybe pilots are […]

The year started with hope. As 2022 arrived, America and most countries (China excepted) were emerging from two years of difficult lockdowns and Covid. The good news was that a flood of money from the U.S. government had buoyed the stock market and I’ve long observed that in a rising equities market, LSA and SP […]

Is it an LSA or is it not an LSA? Is that the question? When Van’s broke the news that their latest RV-15 model was a high wing, plenty of pilots snapped to attention. This company has produced one winner after another; here is their latest. Its bare aluminum glistened in bright sunlight and drew […]

Over the years, curious pilots have asked me what aircraft I fly. I’ve had the pleasure to evaluate a great many models; the number crossed 400 a couple years back. My usual quip is that this experience makes me a pilot of many and a master of none. I usually add that anyone with a […]

This website seeks to offer a reliable source of market information for Light-Sport Aircraft and Sport Pilot kit aircraft as a service to the light aircraft sector. If you follow light aviation intently as many readers do, knowing what aircraft and subgroups (within LSA and SP kits*) are thriving or stumbling can be of great interest. […]

Cruising the grounds at Oshkosh, looking for aircraft to report, I looked around the all-new Homebuilt Area. This group has long occupied a fairly spacious grassy area in a good location south of the Warbirds Area, said to be Oshkosh’s biggest draw. However, for 2019 EAA relocated the area bringing vendors closer to the densest customer traffic, […]

Day One of the third running of DeLand Showcase is complete. As Videoman Dave and I scoured the show grounds looking for good stories, we spoke to a few vendors reporting that 2018 has been a good year. Our video news gathering exercise brought a pleasant discovery. Many companies are reporting a solid year of […]

Building kits for homebuilders and assembling fully built aircraft are two very distinct business models. In the early days of Light-Sport Aircraft, European producers enjoyed a head start in fully-built aircraft as their regulations were more accommodating. American producers were the kings of kits, an effort that calls for good assembly instructions and technical support […]