This summer marks the 75th anniversary of one of the most famous aircraft of World War II: The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The B-17 was originally designed to meet a bomber specification issued by the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1934 for a 250-mph bomber with a range of 2,000 miles and an operating ceiling […]
Opinion
Season opener
The great trek to Sun ‘n Fun is about to begin. The season-starting air show kicks off April 13 and organizers report display spaces are filling up. The economy is taking a toll on all events, but Sun ‘n Fun is one of those reliable shows, sure to draw a crowd…a crowd emerging from the […]
New tandem LSA headed to market
Most of our tandem Special LSA — Legend Cub, Courier, SportCub, Hornet, Hawk, and SkyArrow — are recreational airplanes. Except for the last one (Italy’s smooth, composite Sky Arrow) most might also fall into the “bush” category in that they are slower-flying, fabric-covered, rugged aircraft suitable for landing on unimproved airstrips. A brand-new tandem, not […]
Tavares, Florida: America’s Seaplane City
With a population nudging its way up to 15,000 residents, the city of Tavares, Florida, is a small city with big dreams. Nestled in the green expanse of aptly named Lake County, there is arguably more water in the western side of the county than there is dry land. Perhaps that realization was the impetus […]
LSA Mall returns to Sun ‘n Fun
After becoming a hit feature of AirVenture in 2006, LSA Malls have become a fixture at major U.S. airshows. Visitors to EAA’s big summer celebration of flight are now joined by crowds attending AOPA’s Aviation Summit as well as the season-opening Sun ‘n Fun “Spring Break for Pilots.” Folks attending these top-drawing aviation trade shows […]
FAA reauthorization extended yet again
When the Senate decided to put the FAA long-term reauthorization on the floor for discussion this week after it finally passed out of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, it was hoped by many that this would be the time to give the agency some stability, but it was not to be. Since Sept. 30, […]
LSAs bring back memories of 1980s ultralight craze
Reading issues of The Pulse of General Aviation and Dan Johnson’s SPLOG column on Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) in the latest issue of General Aviation News put my memory on overload the other day. It also sent me digging into my files of far too many unfiled and poorly organized slides. Do you remember slides? […]
Seaplane season approaches
Winter will soon yield to spring and summer, that time of year when flying from water becomes the delight of many pilots who have sampled this pleasure. Competing for their purchase in the LSA space, we have the FK Lightplanes Floatplane, FPNA A-22 Cape Town, and Legend AmphibCub. Other entries include SeaRey (close to declaring […]
More memories from ‘Nine Lives’
Recently I’ve been reading a book by Malvern (Mal) Gross titled “Nine Lives – Adventures of a Lucky Pilot.” (See the first part of the review here.) Gross started his career as a CPA and during his many years he set world records in his Cessna 210, headed up a couple of national and international […]