Affordable Aviation

Explore Affordable Aviation by Dan Johnson on Plane & Pilot Magazine — your guide to light-sport, ultralight, and experimental aircraft. With decades of Dan’s experience, this section offers pilot reports, model comparisons, buying guides, and expert tips designed to help you get airborne affordably and confidently.

Seaplane Tsunami — Water-Borne Flying Fun

Once upon a time, in the early days of Light-Sport Aircraft, way back in 2006 and 2007, new LSA models were being introduced at the torrid pace of two, three, even four per month. Aviation had no prior design outpouring to compare. The rate of development had to slow — such a pace is not […]

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LSA Industry On Life Support…ummm…Nah.

In a recent article from Flying Magazine, an editor volunteered his opinion that the Light Sport industry is on life support. There are so many good arguments to refute such a sky-is-falling assessment, it kind of makes you wonder why a respected journalist would go out of his way to attract a lot of heat […]

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Long, Lovely Wings … Even Longer Flight

I think Phoenix is one the loveliest aircraft in the LSA fleet. Of course, I have a rather large bias as I’m a soaring enthusiast and this is one fine soaring machine in the SLSA fleet, able to compete fairly with a pure glider. I’m also a fan of importer Jim Lee, a modest, soft […]

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LSA Market Share … the Rest of the Story

We recorded very strong interest in our recent market share article. Traffic spiked to double in the days since our report was posted (and that was from record levels). It would appear the LSA segment is hardly in “critical condition” despite what some may think. Today, the LAMA board of directors had its monthly teleconference […]

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2012 LSA Market Shares — Cubs & Surprises

Our annual review of LSA Market Share brings our updated fleet chart and a second chart showing prior-year registrations. While sales of new SLSA remains below par, the market appears to be experiencing spotty but regular recovery from earlier low points. The first half the year foretold a better recovery but the last half of […]

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Keeping it Neutral

Ken Godin, an endlessly enthusiastic, high-energy entrepreneur and 30 year ultralight, LSA and GA pilot, created his own company, Composiclean, a few years back, to market a line of pH-neutral and other cleaning products that are finding their way to air shows, car shows, dealer ramps and at docksides around the world.If you’ve scanned the […]

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Keeping Your New LSA All Shiny & Clean

Who doesn’t like to ride around in a clean machine? If it’s your car, you have thousands of products to choose from…and no big problem if you use the wrong stuff. But if your LSA is a composite airplane, you need the right stuff and it comes from Composiclean. When entrepreneur Ken Godin took his […]

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New Year Clean-Up Job; Help Your LSA Gleam

ByDanJohnson.com is dedicated to light-sport aviation and keeps a laser focus on the aircraft of this sector. Included are new developments, market share, and maintenance of Light-Sport Aircraft to name a few. In the maintenance category, at its most basic level, is keeping your bird clean and shiny. *** I’m sure some other products can […]

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Go Negative … or … Work Together?

It is true that a pilot of one type aircraft may not know much about nor (therefore) care much about another type aircraft. Ultralight pilots and turbine pilots may not seem to have much in common. Sailplane pilots and crop dusters, likewise. Powered parachute enthusiasts seem on the opposite side of the spectrum from airline […]

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Sebring’s Airplane Rush; a Quick Post-Review

Preparing for Sebring, four days of the show, and a LSA flight over the ocean can fill your days to the brim … and all of that is truly excellent. January used to be a month of flying doldrums but since Sebring started nine years ago, the month has turned into one of the most […]

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