Pilot Reports

Strolling around 1,073 exhibitors at the National Business Aircraft Association’s show in the Orlando Convention Center is something like walking on another planet, at least for a recreational / Light-Sport Aircraft enthusiast. The displays, while not as lavish as in years past, are elaborate and expensive; several were two-story-high affairs with lunch being served to […]

Do It Yourself Rocket Ship

LSA America builds the Czech-designed Allegro in America as one of the first companies (but not the last, I suspect) to cross the Atlantic. Ironically, this results in an aircraft less expensive than other LSA that come from Eastern European countries where we once thought low wages and high aviation skills would upset U.S. airplane […]

What’s going on out in the marketplace? More than any time since the launch of Light-Sport Aircraft in 2004, I have not observed such a frenzy of activity for a particular niche, this time for LSA seaplanes. Next season, in 2013, we could see no less than nine entries; three brand new and that count […]

Amphibian dreams vs. reality: here’s a classy amphib in full production

Aviat’s new Husky and the Northern Idaho backcountry make a perfect pair

We’ve been getting requests for market share information and I am happy to provide an update, thanks to my European associate Jan Fridrich who does the hard work of sifting through FAA’s database. I remind you that his efforts are not merely tallying whatever FAA publishes. In fairness, Jan has to evaluate many pieces of […]

Another busy week finished a very active August that has seen high readership… for which we sincerely thank you. Following are some brief news stories in the LSA space. *** ROTAX “EMERGENCY AD?” Aviation media was all over the Rotax “Emergency AD” story, but is that entirely accurate? Aren’t LSA subject to manufacturer-issued SBs or […]

Flying the airplane is easy. Mastering the systems is the challenge.

In the near future, we’ll present fuller stories of some of the following short bits from Oshkosh 2012. With UltralightMews, we shot videos on most of the following, too, so watch for those as we can post them. Enjoy! CESSNA & PRIMARY CATEGORY Early on in the week, Cessna announced they would transition their LSA […]