After the last guy in office decided Cuba could be visited by Americans, a growing flock has been doing so. Europeans have been going for a long time; now Yankees can, too.

One thing no one has been doing is flying VFR to Cuba. According to John Craparo, this was the first time in at least 60 years. [Read more…]

A dozen years after the FAA created aviation’s newest sector, we have a new leader among manufacturers of fully built Light-Sport Aircraft.

CubCrafters has been moving upward, with several years hitting 50 deliveries. In 2016 the west coast builder finally topped perennial leader Flight Design, which slipped to second place. [Read more…]

“You are not allowed to fly IFR in a Light-Sport Aircraft” is a common dismissal from many in aviation.

Is it factual to say that filing and flying by reference only to instruments in a LSA is excluded by regulation? Is it wise to use these aircraft for flight into conditions of reduced visibility?

By 2017, I venture to say almost everyone in aviation knows about Light-Sport Aircraft and the Sport Pilot certificate, but a superficial knowledge can result in an incomplete understanding. A few details might be helpful. [Read more…]

Once upon a time, the producer of a yellow LSA taildragger installed the industry’s most powerful engine, resulting in a performance leader. This gambit succeeded handily and the builder enjoyed several strong years of sales. Others looked upon this success and saw that it was good.

So, of course, being aviation entrepreneurs, others worked to do the original one better. How about not only an excess of power, but other features and macho good looks to cause jaw-drops at every airshow? [Read more…]

Pilots not closely following Light-Sport aviation can be excused for thinking only one LSA seaplane is available.

Established LSA companies like Progressive Aerodyne and its Searey or Scoda‘s Super Petrel or Airmax’s SeaMax or any number of aircraft to which floats have been fitted may be somewhat baffled by the outsized attention Icon Aircraft‘s long-delayed A5 receives from aviation and non-aviation media.

On the other hand, most leaders of these companies do admit that Icon’s media juggernaut also brings attention to LSA seaplanes in general.

With that in mind, are you ready for one that might out-WOW the A5? [Read more…]

Pardon a little fun in the title. I recalled the line long ago attributed to Henry Ford, “You can have any color Model T you want, as long as it’s black.”

Sonex Aircraft had so regularly brought bright yellow airplanes to airshows, folks could be excused for thinking that was the only color available. Of course, since the company sells kit aircraft, you can have whatever color your wallet can handle.

Why wouldn’t you want a red one? The color works for Ferrari. [Read more…]

You are a pilot. You probably own a smartphone. Perhaps you use a tablet, too. Certainly these devices are helpful, convenient, fun, and carry a reasonably low price, at least compared to most instruments you might install in your airplane. Numerous, constantly-refined apps have made these common devices incredibly useful to pilots.

However, using an iPad in the cockpit may not be as easy as you’d like. Two reasons spring to mind:

1. The information received by the iPad could have shortcomings; and,
2. The iPad can be challenging to hold securely and may very well need power to continue operating for the duration of your flight.

Let me introduce you to two companies you may not know. Each can help you address the problems above and neither will cost you dearly. Intrigued? [Read more…]