On Labor Day, millionaire adventurer and accomplished pilot Steve Fossett took off from a private airstrip 80 miles southeast of Reno in a Super Decathlon on what was supposed to be a three-hour flight. He did not return. As this issue went to press, the search for Fossett, 63, was in its second week. Fossett […]
News
How to cripple an airport
A zoning change can kill an airport — or, at the very least, cripple its development dramatically. In a nutshell, that’s the issue facing Harvey Field (S43) in Snohomish, Wash., north of Seattle, where there’s a long waiting list for hangars but the airport cannot grow — or even make safety improvements to the runways […]
Validation! LSA here to stay, now that Cessna and Cirrus are in the market
When the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft movement was introduced, it got a tepid reception from some in the aviation community who doubted the viability of the certificate, not to mention the aircraft. Oh what a difference time, marketing and education make. It also helps when big players get into the game. At this year’s AirVenture, […]
Euro imports: LSA importers find success marketing to flight schools
When the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule was in its early stages, the people behind the movement noted it was based in large part on a similar certificate already available in Europe, so is it any wonder that many of the LSA in America are Euro imports? Two companies that already have significant chunks of […]
Toxo attracts a lot of attention as it heads to certifi cation
The number of imported LSAs is growing. As this issue was going to press, the Toxo, built by Composite Aeronautic Group (CAG) of Spain, was quickly approaching U.S. certification. The low-wing aircraft made its first appearance in this country in April at Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Fla., and by AirVenture in July was getting […]
The next big thing in LSA: Go Big Or Stay Home
You can add another acronym to the world of Light Sport Aircraft: Gobosh. It means “Go Big Or Stay Home” and is both the name and the attitude of Gobosh Aviation, a company that has entered virtually every facet of LSA from imports and distribution to training and financing. “We’re a new company in the […]
A cure for traffic jams
Would you rather have a Cessna 172 orbiting above you or be parked in traffic on the interstate for several hours while law enforcement officers investigate an accident? The Wisconsin State Patrol has a pretty good idea what the answer is. The agency uses a 2001 Cessna 172SP for, among other things, accident investigation. According […]
Fly like an eagle: Eagle Aviation debuts EA-100 six months after company founded
Do you think you could take a business idea from concept to the display ground at AirVenture within a year? That’s just what the folks at Eagle Aviation LLC did. It helped that the company is based in Oshkosh, noted Paul Klomhaus, owner. “The company has only been in business for six months now,” he […]
Would you like mustard with that?
Each Saturday, Sporty’s Pilot Shop at Clermont County/Sporty’s Airport (I69) in Batavia, Ohio, welcomes visitors with a cookout. Guests are invited to chow down on hot dogs and do a little shopping. Since they started serving up the dogs in 1992, they’ve fed a lot of hungry aviators. How many you ask? Earlier this summer, […]