News

Just three days after its first flight, the Comp Air 12 turboprop arrived at Sun ‘n Fun in time for opening day. “Obviously it’s here. We told everyone it would be, and it is,” said a smiling Ron Lueck, the company’s president, who flew it in from the Comp Air plant at Merritt Island, Florida. […]

“If this is a dream, please, oh please, don’t let me wake up yet!” That was my mantra the morning of Thursday, April 19. It was the morning that a dream I’ve had since childhood came true. It was the dream of flying a DC-3. I was the left-seat pilot that morning for a flight […]

Forward Vision, a pioneer in low-cost infra-red night vision for small aircraft, has teamed with Max-Viz, the pioneer in (relatively) low cost night vision systems for the high end of general aviation, up to and including Boeing Business Jets. Sharing technologies, the two companies anticipate improved products and cost savings throughout their product lines, say […]

The good news is that for the first time ever Sun ‘n Fun has a sweepstakes airplane. For $5 a ticket you can buy a chance to win an American Flyer, a high-wing Light Sport Aircraft that made its debut at the April air show. The bad news is that on the way to the […]

The airframe may look familiar, but the name has changed. The aircraft kit manufacturer formerly known as Four Winds has returned under the name of VX Aerospace. “We took over the company in December,” explains VX Aerospace CEO Robert Skillin. The company is now based at Morganton-Lenoir Airport in North Carolina. The four-place aircraft, which […]

The week of Sun ‘n Fun was a busy one for Cirrus Design Corp. The company unveiled its newest airplane, the SR-22-G3, or Generation Three, on opening day of Sun ‘n Fun. Just hours later, company executives headed to AERO 2007 in Friedrichshafen, Germany, to debut the new model there, while simultaneous launches occurred in […]

User fees and a proposed jump in fuel taxes are the biggest threats to GA today. That’s the message AOPA President Phil Boyer brought to Sun ‘n Fun in a Pilot Town Hall Meeting. Talking to a packed crowd at the Florida Air Museum Pavilion, Boyer urged pilots to sign one of the billboard-size petitions […]

FAA Administrator Marion Blakey sent her regrets, along with eight top FAA officials, to Sun ‘n Fun. She needn’t have worried about an unfriendly crowd at the event’s Meet the FAA forum. Most of the seats in the FAA’s small production studio were filled with people wearing FAA shirts. There were a few outsiders, who […]

Avemco Insurance Co. is dropping its rates. The rate decrease, unusual these days, was announced at Sun ‘n Fun. “We’re constantly evaluating the market and our analysis usually says we have to raise rates,” said Jim Lauerman, executive vice president. “But every once in a great while it tell us to lower our premiums. It […]