The Latest

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a fantastic introduction to the world of aircraft ownership. It is affordable, easy to maintain, and very forgiving in the air. Parts are plentiful—always a key consideration when selecting an airframe—and with over 44,000 produced, you are bound to find someone to provide guidance. In September 2022, FLYING named the 172 one […]

Setting aside the politics of FAI-recognized record flights, no question remains that designer Alberto Porto is determined to create a very fast-flying aircraft. Gear up with an adjustable prop and flown at common cruise altitudes, it’s clear that Superveloce lives up to its name. Just a quick note that while Superveloce is LSA-like, with features […]

Yesterday, after flying across the Atlantic and starting to run low on energy and affected by the time zone change, a small group of us eagerly took a walk through Aero’s cavernous 12 halls to get a early peek. As I’ve observed many times, the night, mere hours before a show opens it appears to […]

Over the weekend my wife and I experienced the magical power of a light piston airplane to add hours to the day. At least that is how it felt. On Sunday morning our college-age son’s rowing team was competing close to home in New Jersey where it was easy for us to watch and spend […]

FRIEDRICHSTEFAN, GERMANY— You know the expression: “What goes up, must…” What goes up must come down and after it does, something needs to stop it. Here’s where one company has staked its claim. France’s Beringer left the high-speed action of motorcycles for even faster aerial machines …yet slowing them to a gentle stop is a matter the […]

OK, I admit it. I’m a huge fan of Aero Friedrichshafen. This show packs a lot of delight into four days and 12 gymnasium-sized exhibit halls. In 2023, many of the aircraft on display are known to Americans. However, Europe tends to produce more proof-of-concept projects than we see in America. This is partly as European […]

Short of an erroneous forecast or calibration issue with your immersion thermometer, if you can remain below the lowest freezing level during your entire flight, there’s typically no chance for an encounter with airframe ice. Induction ice is certainly possible, but not airframe ice. If you plan an altitude where the temperature aloft is zero […]

A new FAA program should reduce the difficulty of finding spare parts needed to keep vintage aircraft flying, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). The Vintage Aircraft Replacement and Modification Article, or VARMA program, allows maintenance personnel to validate that “low-risk,” off-the-shelf replacement parts are suitable for use in type-certificated aircraft without requiring a […]

Sun n’ Fun’s Paradise City is home to Lakeland-Linder International Airport’s grass strip where homebuilts, ultralights, gyrocopters, LSAs, and the like make their base camp during the week of the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo’s displays, demos, and flying. It is also the home of the STOL Corral, which this year was open to the […]

Regular readers know I have closely followed the Merlin developments. I use plural because developer Chip Erwin has steadily built this single seat flying machine into a whole fleet of its own. At Sun ‘n Fun we saw a display of three airplanes in different variations. Let’s begin with a focus on the modest cost of Merlin. […]