Affordable Aviation

After enduring a goodly downpour most of the day, stalwarts were rewarded with a sunny late afternoon and fresh, cool winds. This is not typical Oshkosh Airventure weather: usually we’re melting into puddles of goo from the heat and humidity. *** Strolling through the vast Airventure “campus” I ran into Dave Graham, hardworking Gobosh principal […]

Today was a beautiful, beautiful day. I kept saying, “This can’t be Oshkosh.” *** Low humidity, balmy 70s temps, lovely breeze…oh yeah. *** Here are some noteworthy pix from the day’s events. *** First up: The Icon A5 flew a very impressive series of demo takeoffs, landings and fast taxis at the Sea Plane Base. […]

The Icon A5 made a big splash, you should excuse the pun, at last year’s Oshkosh Airventure. The high-profile marketing campaign posits that there’s a whole generation of high-energy recreational enthusiasts looking to own their own flying motorcycle/jet ski, and they’re putting up some hefty investment capital to back up their vision. *** The company […]

—Robert Wood, chairman of the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo that puts on the event, announced at the LAMA manufacturer’s dinner tonight that the attendance for opening day was the best Thursday in the five-year event’s history. *** —Take that, bad economy!

Wheeling along in butter-smooth air with Bill Canino in a Sting Sport S3, the gorgeous sunset world outside spins around us like a giant golden ball. Up into lazy wingovers, letting go of the stick, sliding down the long slide as the airplane builds up speed, eases itself out of the roll, smooth and quiet […]

After a mad dash home, some brief reflections on Sebring 2009. *** —The show was a real shot in the arm for exhibitors who had worried the dreary economic news would sound the toll of doom. *** —Instead, enthusiastic crowds on Thursday and Friday both set attendance records for the five year event. Saturday was […]

No one doubts the leading position of Rotax engines among Light-Sport Aircraft. Of course, most European producers use the Austrian brand, but so do many U.S. builders even including Van’s Aircraft. However, despite their dominance, some GA pilots have scoffed at the brand, saying it isn’t a “real” aircraft engine partly as it didn’t match […]

Before you clicked to ByDanJohnson.com, you may have been reading EAA’s Sport Pilot magazine. If your copy was the December 2009 issue, it the final edition of the magazine that started with the Sport Pilot movement. *** EAA surveyed to ask what members wanted from their publications. The organization dutifully recorded all responses and chose […]

Along with others in the LSA world, my email inbox has been overflowing with questions and comments about Remos filing a “notice of insolvency” back on November 30th, just three weeks after AOPA chose the company’s GX as the 2010 Sweepstakes airplane. *** Today, the company issued a press release on the subject. Management reported, […]

Much lamenting has been heard regarding the price of Light-Sport Aircraft. It isn’t hard to understand given prices that now exceed $140,000. Was such inflation supposed to happen? I’ve explained how this occurred, and the biggest culprit, by far, is the exchange rate difference between dollars and euros. (Other factors include the time value of […]