Affordable Aviation

Welcome to the newest Special Light-Sport Aircraft, entering our popular SLSA List at number 149. The newest is also unique among all 149 entries in one way. Sunward’s Aurora is the first entry from China. The company has been producing aircraft since 2013 and reported delivering 100 aircraft in that time, all in China, averaging about […]

Once we had Avid Flyer. It begat Kitfox, which begat many models before returning to the starting point by creating a Part 103 ultralight vehicle* called Kitfox Lite …what else? At that time Kitfox was owned by its principal, Dan Denney. A good marketer Denney’s Kitfox once employed a whole staff of sales people following up […]

After impressing European pilots at the big German show called Aero Friedrichshafen, producer InnovAviation brought their sleek and sexy FX1 for Americans to see at Oshkosh 2019. For American representation, the Italian producer will be teaming up with Deon Lombard, who also represents the AeroPilot L600 from a Czech manufacturer. I can’t imagine how anyone […]

Cruising the grounds at Oshkosh, looking for aircraft to report, I looked around the all-new Homebuilt Area. This group has long occupied a fairly spacious grassy area in a good location south of the Warbirds Area, said to be Oshkosh’s biggest draw. However, for 2019 EAA relocated the area bringing vendors closer to the densest customer traffic, […]

Sometimes a new Light-Sport Aircraft producer bursts on the scene in dramatic ways. Think of Terrafugia and their folding wing flying car or Icon and its sexy A5 LSA seaplane. Others enter from different positions of strength. One of the newest of these is Vashon Aircraft with their Ranger R7 (here’s our earlier reporting on […]

Many have asked about progress on FAA’s proposed rewrite of the Light-Sport Aircraft regulations. Following a lengthy teleconference at the end of June 2019, LAMA, the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, provided another update. The update to industry covered a lot of ground but here we’ve tried to make it a quicker read. Two key points: First, […]

Happening right now as this is written …a young pilot, with impressive support from his father and sister, is flying to Oshkosh. Have you ever done it? I’ve frequently had the pleasure to fly into KOSH during the show. Every time, it’s been an eye opening experience, literally and figuratively. See this article describing one […]

Price matters. While pilots enjoy a huge range in aircraft types, capabilities, descriptions, and price points, the fact remains that some aircraft will always be too expensive for some buyers. A smaller number tilt the other way, thinking a too-cheap aircraft might be, well… cheap, as in cheaply built. Airplane buying is as subjective as […]

From Brazil comes a new Hero, an aircraft most Americans have never seen. Outside of the South American country, few know of Hero in its two models. That’s about to change with this article. The cantilevered all-metal design has excellent ramp appeal, good specifications, and approval as a Special Light-Sport Aircraft is underway at this […]

For years, I have been interviewing suppliers of Light-Sport Aircraft about how functional and durable their SLSA are for flight training. Contrary to what many think many SLSA actually make good trainers (see this recent article). Old timers might think you have to stick with Cessna or Piper to have an airframe built robustly enough […]