ByDanJohnson

Oshkosh offers something for every pilot and more than any one person can see. I’ll mention this news briefly as I wish to pay respect to fellow pilots. Two accidents on the weekend after we departed resulted in four fatalities, reportedly including one passenger. My sincere condolences to the surviving families. Oshkosh has enjoyed safe […]

Pilots who have attended the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany may have spotted Pegaso since it was first exhibited in 2018. Six years later, the model lacks American representation, so ‘Yankee’ pilots generally don’t know this flying machine. This is Pegaso, a European ultralight that expresses a beautiful style we expect from Italy. Promecc is […]

ICON Aircraft released news about the 2024 A5: a gross weight increase to 1,570 pounds. This comes on the heels of a December 2023 announcement that the FAA had granted its A5 amphibious light sport aircraft (LSA) type certification in the primary category. “After nearly two years of rigorous R&D, testing, and production preparation, Icon […]

Light sport aircraft (LSA) have been part of the aviation firmament for almost 20 years and over that time some models established themselves even as newcomers regularly arrived. The way the FAA accepts—not “certifies”–-these airplanes allows for rapid improvement, which has stimulated surprisingly fast progress. Here are three favorites—two tried and true, and one relatively […]

Rotax Aircraft Engines has invited their worldwide flock to Wels, Austria, for some years. This charming town north of Salzburg is near the home of Rotax’s headquarters in Gunskirken. On three separate visits to Rotax, I was able to attend one of their Fly-in events, plus a special visit just for aviation journalists. Beautiful and […]

Some pilots can hardly wait for MOSAIC. It takes all kinds, of course. Many aviators want to use sport pilot’s no-medical aspect to fly a Cessna or Piper that they can buy inexpensively (or may already own). That makes sense. These affordable aircraft are familiar and proven, even if they are products of the 1950s […]

Simple, light, and affordable is not a throwaway line. Each word is pivotal. Like many of you, I have enjoyed the advancing development of the light sport aircraft space, leading to MOSAIC LSA in about 15 months. Additional operational capabilities, plus features like autopilot, synthetic vision, and powerful, compact engines, all can build a very […]

A longtime pilot joke goes, “What makes an airplane fly?” The punch line: “Money!” Forget all that fancy talk about Bernoulli’s Principle. While it’s true recreational aviation is not the cheapest activity you could enjoy, neither is flying only for folks with thick wallets. If you keep an open mind, some aircraft are likely to […]

The latest models in the light sport and ultralight worlds debuted this spring.

By Dan Johnson In their second event, Aero Showcase is hosting a flock of airplanes at one of Florida’s most vibrant recreational aviation airports. Partners Alex Rolinski and Doma Andreka return for the second annual of their own event, which follows on the heels of the DeLand Showcase that ran several years, all of which […]