Affordable Aviation

The Searey from Kerry and Wayne Richter’s Progressive Aerodyne — guided by new principal, Adam Yang — just sent out word that the popular design celebrates its 20th anniversary this year by “making a big splash at Sun N Fun!”The Searey, perhaps the most successful kit amphibian ever (and which is still on the trail of certifying […]

Supersonic flight pioneer and WWII ace Chuck Yeager is famous for using, if not coining, the term “pushing the envelope,” which has entered the popular lexicon for just about anything to do with growth and meeting challenges. *** In that vein, since the day the Light Sport category became a fixture of the aviation regulatory […]

FAA issued its 20-year forecast for aviation showing growth prospects for business jets and Light-Sport Aircraft. It also forecasts a decline in the total number of piston-powered aircraft. Viewed from a distance, this might seem beneficial to Light-Sport Aircraft producers and sellers. Reasonably, FAA’s report appears to suggest recreational pilots will enjoy more hours aloft […]

No details yet from Cessna on the crash of its second Skycatcher (AKA Cessna 162). According to numerous online reports, the SLSA production prototype crashed March 19 while on a flight test near Wichita, Kan. *** A Kansas cable tv news channel posted a story online that claimed the plane landed under a BRS ballistic […]

Watch the video. Open your mind. Put yourself in this cockpit. Imagine it happening to you. Think of the people you love and who love you. *** Dan Johnson wrote about this yesterday in his blog post (my writing home away from home) with some tasty comments based on his years at BRS parachutes, so […]

Flight Design of Germany — in cooperation with U.S importer Flight Design USA — just signed an agreement with emergency parachute maker, BRS, to provide the 1350 LSA ballistic system on all CT aircraft sold in the USA. The importer, a related business of Flightstar Sportplanes, has long been a supporter of such safety ‘chutes […]

Before I go forward with this story, let me tell you that for 18 years, I was a VP at BRS Parachutes. I was the one who kept the early list of the company’s “saves,” that is, the sparing of a human life by the use of a whole-airframe parachute (usually rocket deployed). As the […]

“Things are really popping with autogas,” said Kent Misegades, one member of a group trying to assure more LSA-friendly fuels (like zero ethanol or E0). Though the new Rotax 912 iS can handle ethanol, it truly loves E0 and many experts say it runs more powerfully and cleaner with such fuel plus wear and tear […]

Rotax Aircraft Engines just raised the bar with its new Rotax 912 iS, fuel-injected, 100-hp engine, based on the truly ubiquitous core 912 mill we all know so well. *** FYI: Did you know more than 170,000 Rotax aircraft units are in service worldwide? Wow! That’s a lot of engines. *** The new powerplant is […]

In a product launch somewhat comparable to an Apple Inc., product event, BRP Rotax drew a large group of attendees to their facility in Gunskirchen, Austria. Update 3/12/12 — See the impressive list below for airplanes displayed at the 912 iS launch. —DJ The occasion was the launch of their new 912 iS engine. In […]