Affordable Aviation

Here’s a story to give us all some cheer as we slide into final on the Holiday Season. *** An article in Martinsburg, West Virginia’s The Journal newspaper chronicles the exploits of one T. Guy Reynolds Jr. , a local pilot who just celebrated his birthday by spreading his wings in his Evektor SportStar. *** […]

In a recent piece on AvWeb, Paul Bertorelli takes a good look at Cessna’s decision to bump the price of the Skycatcher by a cool $35K — yes, that’s 35 thousand. Okay, it’s not every day we see a 31+% price hike in a retail price of anything, especially in this economy. *** Yet Cessna’s […]

“I’m of mixed feelings over this,” express many Light-Sport Aircraft industry participants who have caused my phone to ring regularly since late September *. That’s when EAA and AOPA came together to address requests from some members for a driver’s license “medical,” which would allow aviators with certificates beyond Sport Pilot to fly GA aircraft […]

Since the beginning of LSA time, way back in 2005 (when the first LSA was approved), LSA have arrived on American shores from overseas factories. American producers also sold airplanes to Yankees, but none went overseas as governments of other nations had not yet accepted ASTM certification standards. In the last year, a lot has […]

(Note to my readers: the first part of this tome is just below) *** So here I was in Slovenia, unable to fly and three more days before I could return to my wife in Hamburg, unless I wanted to pay another $200 to change the flight. Modern air travel, what a concept. *** Undaunted […]

A wide range of people sat in a room used all day long by the ASTM Committee that develops the LSA certificate standards. Apparently sitting in a room all day — while the sun shown brightly and the flying would have been great — was not enough punishment for this hard working crowd. Indeed, nearly […]

Sure enough, by several measures and based on multiple conversations, 2011 is shaping up to be a better year than 2010. Of course, that’s not saying much as all of aviation worldwide was slow last year and in 2009. When you’re near the bottom of the well, everything starts looking up. *** With those thoughts […]

As they’ve done numerous times, Hansen Air Group — a team of dedicated pilots, nearly all of whom fly or formerly flew airliners for their day job — has helped shepherd another Light-Sport Aircraft through the ASTM standards process to get a FAA airworthiness certificate. The Altanta area importer has done this with several aircraft […]

Our good friend, Mary Grady, posted an article on AVweb, one of our favorite aviation news sites; lots of good content available. Mary recently editorialized about electric aircraft and their potential appeal. Following the NASA Green Flight Challenge, her timing was as impeccable as her writing. I encourage you to go read the editorial, but […]

My good friend and Air-Cam developer, Phil Lockwood, likes to hold fly-outs for his customers. More than 160 kits have been delivered and built; each fly-out has attracted several of these owners. Phil and his Lockwood Aircraft associate George Weber have invited me several times but I’ve had to miss earlier gatherings for owners of […]