Affordable Aviation

Welcome to the newest Special Light-Sport Aircraft, the recently unveiled (at Oshkosh 2019) Texas Aircraft Manufacturing Colt 100. The all-metal, high wing, yoke-controlled aircraft enters our popular SLSA List at Number 151, a fitting number just days after the newest aircraft sector celebrated its 15th anniversary. FAA announced the regulation creating LSA in September 2004. […]

It’s big. It’s bold. It’s beautiful. It’s loaded with snazzy custom features. And it’s gonna be powerful. You might think those words don’t apply to many Light-Sport Aircraft. Certainly, “big” is not a word most pilots associate with LSA. A number are actually rather compact, though with standardized rules, aircraft parameters don’t differ as much […]

You know you have a great job when… you get to fly a brand new Light-Sport Aircraft on a bright, beautiful, blue sky day at a Sport Pilot-friendly airport. The job: writing this story and making a video. The task: Go fly (duh!). The airport: Mt. Vernon (KMVN), the award-winning Illinois facility that hosts the […]

What a great day to start off the Midwest LSA Expo! (And what a contrast to the hurricane just stared down by my Florida neighbors!) The 2019 running of this event about an hour east of St. Louis kicks off its second decade. On Day One, Videoman Dave and I did our Video Pilot Report […]

Evolution Trikes celebrated their 10th anniversary at Sun ‘n Fun 2019. That show and this company have enjoyed a long relationship, one meaningful enough that the two principals, Larry Mednick and Amy Saunders, exchanged their wedding vows at Sun ‘n Fun 2018 with show boss John “Lites” Leenhouts conducting the ceremony. Now, that’s commitment (to […]

While occupied on some travel, I am pleased to provide a pilot report on a Part 103-type from across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom. Who better to report this to you than my counterpart in Britain, Dave Unwin. Dave has flown a huge number of aircraft of all sizes. When he writes about lighter […]

One of our most popular articles of 2019 involves FAA’s plans for refreshed regulation. To save you a click or tap, my best guess is that we will see an NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) in 2021. Though it could possibly be sooner, it’s still many months in the future. Sky Arrow producer Magnaghi […]

If you are an ultralight enthusiast (as I certainly am!), then you are probably celebrating with me as FX1 joins the Special LSA fleet — which it does as Number 150 on our popular SLSA List. Here’s a secret: the SLSA List is one of the most-visited features on ByDanJohnson.com. Those who frequent that page know […]

The weeklong celebration of flight known around the planet as “Oshkosh” is now history. Although EAA was challenged by inclement weather before the show and as it opened, the weather gods smiled on the event and provided a wonderful week with all the action you can imagine. EAA announced attendance numbers identifying solid growth over […]

For more than 15 years one class of Light-Sport Aircraft has been held down in America even while it has been burgeoning in other parts of the world. The class is LSA gyroplanes, for a decade and half prevented from selling a fully-built model in the USA. How well  is the category doing in other […]