Affordable Aviation

After more than a decade of LSA, one airframe manufacturer stands head and shoulders above all other in what I call the “light aircraft space.” That term gets stretched far and wide with this update on Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam … simply “Tecnam” to most folks. If Tecnam was a person, I’d call him restless and […]

If you’ve read a newspaper or watched TV in the last couple decades, you might think America only imports stuff, mostly from China. Of course, that is ridiculously simplistic and just plain wrong but constant repetition of incorrect news may eventually convince people that it is the truth. At one time, it seemed all Light-Sport […]

Here’s something you simply never hear about … lightplanes in North Korea and flying one above the country. My LAMA Europe associate and friend Jan Fridrich alerted me to the existence of a handsome light aircraft allegedly developed and built in that isolated country. I don’t know what your thoughts are about North Korea. Our […]

What’s in a name? I like Glowfly, as a sort of double entendre. It could suggest “Go fly,” or it might refer to glow as in the spark employed to start a turbine engine. Yup, in case you didn’t see our earlier article by Dave Unwin, the newly renamed Glowfly is a jet-powered sailplane that […]

This website focuses on the affordable end of aviation. However, “affordable” is a relative term. I’ve written about Icon’s A5, which may set the bar highest among Light-Sport Aircraft at around $247,000 for a well-equipped LSA seaplane. (See our Video Pilot Report.) If you had the money would you buy an A5 or a Cessna […]

In 2004, when the SP/LSA regulation was announced, who would have forecast that on light aircraft, autopilots would be a common feature. Such gear seemed fanciful as autopilots were costly, rather heavy, a maintenance hassle … and besides, weren’t you supposed to “hand fly” a light aircraft so you could truly enjoy flight? Is punching […]

I realize that for some readers I may be swimming upstream when I write about drones (or UAVs or RPVs, or whatever). First, many of you simply don’t care; your passion is for manned flight and I completely understand. Second, some of you see real danger to your manned flying due to a growing drone […]

As I’ve indicated many times in the last couple years, this website seeks to deliver news and video about Light-Sport Aircraft, light kit aircraft, ultralights, and light GA aircraft. The latter refers to four seat (and larger) aircraft created by the same companies that make LSA or kits. Specifically, I do not plan much on […]

Aerolite 103 from U-Fly-It has been on a tear for the last couple years, producing at capacity and stretching to produce even more for 2016. Some of those very attractively priced aircraft — way under $20,000 ready-to-fly! … take that, sluggish economy! — are headed off on the longest trip of their lives. The DeLand, […]

American readers of ByDanJohnson.com may be surprised to hear that more than a third of all visitors are from outside the United States. In a related fact, America has more pilots than any other country (very roughly half of the world aviator population) but more light aircraft are sold in other country by a ratio […]