Affordable Aviation

Mornings start cool until the sun warms the day to shirtsleeve temperatures. Crowds are thick around popular displays and the action is surprisingly hot. For this first-of-the-year show following a dismal 2008, many wondered about attendance and if those visitors would be in a buying mood. The answers: pilots are streaming in and sales are […]

Agreement is widespread welcoming a new year; 2008 was hard on almost everybody…around the world. The new year may bring continued turbulence, but a feeling that things are starting to change is prevalent, based on my conversations with dozens of LSA professionals in preparation for this year’s Fifth Annual Sebring LSA Expo. From various locations […]

Weight-shift control LSA, affectionately referred to as “trikes,” are often made overseas. That’s a bit weird as the concept originated in the USA and spread around the globe. Tens of thousands are flying, despite their relative rarity in America. So you could be excused for viewing trikes as foreign. Not all of them… *** Though […]

Despite a widespread financial funk, the Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo — commonly referred to as the Sebring LSA Expo — is fast approaching. This #5 Sebring starts the year and has become a place where new aircraft debuts are staged. Yes, a few exhibitors have pulled out to conserve cash. But most aircraft you […]

Given how she flies, I really don’t know why the Zlin developers settled on the name Savage. It simply isn’t “savage” despite being a taildragger that challenges some tricycle-gear-trained pilots. Sure you’ll need training or prior experience to qualify for insurance but it’s no more challenging than Legend Cub, Sport Cub, or Rans’ S-7LS. Savage exhibits […]

Triplet LSA Cubs entering the market show the popularity of this venerable design. First approved as an SLSA was the Legend Cub which offers many features desired by those who love J-3 Cubs. Shortly after Legend came approval for the Savage Cub and the CubCrafters Sport Cub should follow soon. Watch for my review of […]

On December 29th, a new Special Light-Sport Aircraft was approved. With only a couple days remaining in this challenging year, I suspect this will be the final approval of 2008. Welcome to the FA-04 Peregrine, which was inspected after assembly at Hansen Air Group in the Atlanta area. I believe this to be the first […]

FAA is more than half way through their assessment of the Light-Sport Aircraft industry. According to post-assessment interviews with companies, FAA teams performing these info-gathering visits have generally been satisfied but some changes will likely be made to assure better written records and procedures. *** In preparation for actions it believes will follow the assessments, […]

With one month to go (and it’s hard to imagine a big December), we have figures to report for this most extraordinary year. We’re all (painfully) aware of the economic predicament, but how has this impacted light-sport aviation? Here’s my observations. *** In 11 months, the industry has increased fleet size by 35% to 1,510 […]

Some LSA enthusiasts know of a struggle between Czech Aircraft Works and an investor group called Slavia Capital. The latter has been aggressive in their attempts to take over CZAW…unsuccessfully, thanks to the bulldog tenacity of American founder, Chip Erwin. Despite the battle, while CZAW has done well with their SportCruiser in 2008, climbing to […]