Affordable Aviation

Editor’s Note: This news release came across our (virtual) desks today and we feel it’s of interest to provide this update now. However, our man Dan Johnson has arranged to speak with current CEO Alex Rolinski in the next few days to get more detail on these changes and what to look for from Aero […]

Welcome back to the airplane equivalent of an old friend. As you can see at the bottom of this post, Videoman Dave and I did many video interviews with Chipper creator. James Weibe (view at bottom). Pilots seemed always to enjoy hearing about his latest development. James came to aviation from the computer business, where […]

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 […]

When thinking of affordable aviation, it’s impossible not to talk about the Aeromarine Merlin LSA. This aircraft is a familiar design for many, as it made its premier in 2016. We’ve talked about it here several times. There have been some exciting changes and updates, a few of which we learned about last month at […]

One of the most active sectors in light aviation is LSA seaplanes. We’ve seen ups and downs, arrivals and departures of LSA seaplane producers. Admittedly, these flying machines are more complex than current-day LSA. For example, amphibs need retractable landing gear and substantial boat hulls able to take water loads. LSA seaplanes constitute a highly […]

When we last wrote about the Whisper Sling, a version of the Sling LSA used in the Sling Pilot Training Academy in Torrance, California, one teeny tiny detail was left out of the story by request. It was the next piece of the puzzle, so to speak, to reduce the airplane’s sound signature and one […]

You’ve heard of the Risen, Alberto Porto’s sleek, fast retractable that makes the most of its Rotax 912 power. With more than 180 mph on tap with the 912 iS, the Risen seems the perfect two-person traveling machine. It’s also one, like the Sparker, that would fit well into the new MOSAIC rules. Well, Porto […]

Advanced Powerplant Solutions (APS) is a new company under the new ownership of Jeremy and Daniela Knoll, who you may know of AeroSport fame, that has purchased Leading Edge Air Foils, LLC (LEAF), which, among other things, was a Rotax independent service center for the central US. APS will carry on the Rotax-oriented business from […]

With the MOSAIC program now through the comment phase and in the hands of the FAA, we thought it would be a good time to recap some of its key elements and use our considerable powers of observation and prognostication to provide a little context where needed. Join me, Dan Johnson and LAMA president Scott […]

Dragonfly was born in Florida in the early 1990s. Back-of-the-napkin sketches started in the 1980s following the dynamic 1970s when hang gliding swooped into national awareness. What one designer did with Dragonfly would become one of the most celebrated developments in hang gliding. Throughout the ’70s, hang glider designs accelerated smartly in glide performance and […]