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Metal/composite construction, gorgeous lines, top-o’-the-line luxury’€”splendid!

TECNAM P2008 Base Price: $155,000 Engine make/model: Rotax 912 ULS2 Horsepower 100 Max takeoff weight (lbs.): 1320 Empty weight, std. (lbs.): 780 Useful load, std. (lbs.): 540 Wing tank capacity (gals.): 29 Wingspan: 28.9 ft. Wing area (sq. ft.): 130 Cabin width (in.): 46.8 G-load factor, ultimate: +6/-3 PERFORMANCE Max cruise speed (kts.): 120 Vs […]

Managing pilot workload

Stick and rudder in a glider

Some pilots simply lock their airplanes in the hangar when convective weather is about. Others learn to cope.

At Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base, getting wet is part of the fun

Whoopsie.  In my last post on the Phoenix motorglider, I had some incorrect info that Jim Lee set me right on, so here’s the skinny. *** Urban Air USA, which Jim represented and which imported and marketed the Lambada motorglider is being purchased, he said, “with plans to return the Samba XXL (composite low wing […]

Recently, I blogged about a Tennessee town that welcomed Skykits from Canada, providing a brand-new facility for them to use. A town in Florida also saw the potential of a light aircraft manufacturer and had a new building with lake access available. *** Arguably the most successful light aircraft seaplane producer is Progressive Aerodyne and […]

One of the oft-repeated questions about this new thing called Light-Sport Aircraft is: “When will the shakeout occur? When will some of these 75 companies [who certified a SLSA] disappear… and which ones will fail?” *** First, my ability to see the future is no better than anyone else. We’ve lost a few suppliers (Taylorcraft, […]

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