Affordable Aviation

Reading the headlines these days shows the USA is flying through turbulence. Light-Sport Aircraft sales are suffering as are GA sales. Growth rates are off, without question, but not uniformly. We have a few companies that improved their positions in this difficult year. *** If you measure by the number of aircraft registered, top producers […]

At Oshkosh, FAA held a meeting to announce their LSA Assessment Project. The agency that gave birth to Light-Sport Aircraft in the summer of 2004 is now embarking on a fact-finding tour they say will judge the “health of the industry,” part of their “aviation safety oversight.” Sounds rather ominous, doesn’t it? However, officials also […]

Air Creation’s New Tanarg represents a leap forward in chassis design for the big French trike maker. In an upcoming article in Kitplanes magazine (5/05 issue), I’ll review this all-new machine. As you can see, it uses technologies and design not so different from a Honda Goldwing motorcycle. The pilot and passenger sit lower, making […]

OK, as with last summer’s SPLOG on SpaceShipOne, news about a jet may seem odd on a website about Light-Sport Aircraft. Well, it does have “Sport” in its name and it is the lightest of the new flock of Very Light Jets (VLJs). But mainly, I just think this is an impressive development of an […]

Does not the newly coined phrase “Aero-Trekking” sound like fun? John Kemmeries — proprietor of Kemmeries Aviation, the Ultralight Flight Center, and part owner of the French trike leader Air Creation — invented the new name and has been working hard to establish a unique way to have fun in the air. The result is […]

Lots more fun than a military build-up but bearing some resemblance, companies across the USA are preparing for Sun ‘n Fun starting Tuesday the 4th. I was on the grounds today and it already looks busy. I also traveled to Lockwood Aviation at the Sebring, Florida airport. A busy crew was assembling airplanes from Flight […]

Industry response was swift and varied to Cessna‘s announcement that the big manufacturer will study the LSA market for a possible entry. Also, an earlier announcement from EAA was updated to reflect that the Cessna mock-up (now called a “proof-of-concept” display) will be south of AeroShell Square…which means just north of, but very near, the […]

Using their characteristic low-key approach (unlike Cessna’s splashy introduction) Van’s Aircraft revealed their prototype RV-12 at AirVenture 2006. I spoke with legendary designer Dick van Grunsven about his new model to hear it shares some characteristics with sailplanes: quickly removable wings are modeled on a glider-type spar pin system, and full-span ailerons (which help simplify […]

At Sebring 2007, I flew an enjoyable airplane from Poland with the uninspiring name of 3X55 Trainer (see my blog post). A re-engineered and renamed Navigator 600 received SLSA certification on August 22, 2008. [UPDATE 2/19/09] — The North American importer is 3Xtrim Inc. *** Navigator grew up and now boasts a 1,320 pound gross […]

Here come the American engines! Rotax 912s from Austria presently dominate the LSA market with an estimated 70% of installations. Australia’s Jabiru with two engines (85-hp 2200 and 120-hp 3300) has another estimated 15%, leaving the U.S.-built Continental O-200 with about 15%. *** The Lycoming O-235 has been used (in Falcon LS and an RV-9 […]