Affordable Aviation

For my weekend posts, I often like to check out something out of the ordinary. From the photos you see nearby, you can see I found a qualifying topic. However crazy as this activity — involving the name “WingBoard” — may look, it appears grounded in reality. If you think of wingsuit sky diving as […]

Back in early 2014, Flying magazine online wrote, “There’s an old saying among pilots that ‘airspeed equals life.’ In other words, keep your speed up, and you’ll avoid stalling the wing during critical phases of flight, such as the base-to-final turn. But, that’s a misnomer since the stalling airspeed of a wing will change based […]

Your choices in the affordable aircraft range of options are composed of one of three segments that this website tracks closely: Light-Sport Aircraft (SLSA or ELSA), light kit-built aircraft, or Part 103 ultralights. In the first one, you can spend some real money with a few aircraft breaching the $200,000 barrier. Some handsome, well-equipped, high-performing […]

As techies know the giant Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has been in the news over the last week and we’ve seen articles about cool stuff at the event. I don’t remember ever seeing anything about manned aircraft in CES coverage before though quadcopters have had a clear presence. At the 2016 event, though, one vehicle […]

Sometimes I am pretty darn sure I may have the best job in the world, or at least one of the best jobs. Other times, it seems like work, as does any job. However, when it’s good, it can be ecstatically great, no question about it. One time I know this is the case is […]

If you ever read newspapers or watch network news, you can hardly avoid hearing about the meltdown in Venezuela following the early 2013 death of Hugo Chavez. That Cuba-emulating country was taken over by Nicolás Maduro and things deteriorated quickly. I start the story of Levil this way as I recently visited their Oviedo, Florida […]

Question: What do space suits and headsets have in common? I bet that few of you can answer that question but the answer is “David Clark.” Yep, this 80-year-old company, which began business in 1935, started not with the ubiquitous green ear cup headsets but with flight suits worn by pilots of some very cutting-edge […]

As we near Christmas time and as children around the globe await the arrival that busy flyer, Santa Claus, did you ever wonder how the big man in the red flight suit manages the effort, specifically how he preflights the sleigh and controls his “engines?” So far as we know, he only flies the reindeer-powered […]

Are you intrigued by an affordable yet well-performing single-seat Personal Sport Aircraft? In a time when so many claim light aircraft have simply become too expensive, one aircraft is coming to challenge that belief. Some rather grudgingly acknowledge that, yes, you can buy a low-cost aircraft but that it won’t satisfy your desires … that […]

EAA’s top e-Hotline story last week was, “The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on Wednesday passed S. 571, better known as the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2), bringing significant third-class medical reform one big step closer to reality.” This week AOPA reported PBOR2 passed the Senate and is en route to the […]