Lots of people want to know…customers, insurance companies, dealers, membership organizations, and, of course, all the manufacturers and importers. We all like to keep score. While I believe FAA data has some delay in reporting, it is a reputable source of info. Here’s what their registrations show through the end of March, 2007. *** Flight Design remains #1 at 21% — #2 American Legend remains the largest U.S. producer with 13% of all registrations. These two are followed by #3 Evektor at 8% — #4 TL Ultralights (StingSport) at 7% — #5 Tecnam at 6% — #6 Fantasy Air at 6% — #7 AMD (CH-601) at 5% — #8 LSA America (Skyboy) at 4% — #9 CubCrafters at 4% — and #10 Jabiru at 3% of all SLSA registrations. These aircraft account for 552 aircraft or 77% of 719 registered SLSA airplanes. A registered SLSA may not have been delivered to a customer. *** One surprise in FAA’s numbers is weight shift, which accounts for 103 registrations (12% of all SLSA); Air Creation enjoys the lead with over 50% — AirBorne has 40%. Powered Parachutes account for another 16 registrations or about 2% of the total. As with all such counts, changes will occur; a few significant players still don’t make a big impact on the totals but cannot be ignored.
