There are new Light Sport Aircraft and then there are classic Light Sport Aircraft. The classics aren’t truly Light Sport Aircraft, but they qualify to be flown under the companion Sport Pilot rules, while remaining certified. Once a Marine, always a Marine; once certified, always certified. (The word is, in fact, certified, not certificated, which […]
German company unveils its light jet
Germany’s Grob Aerospace has added yet another bird to the burgeoning flock of light jets on the market. Long a builder of notably innovative airplanes, Grob caught the aviation world by surprise at the Paris Air Show in June when it sprung the brand new light twin jet on its competitors. It doesn’t have a […]
CarterCopter sets elusive record, but later crashes
During a flight test on June 17, the innovative CarterCopter unofficially broke the Mu-1 barrier — a goal that eluded rotary wing builders until that day. Mu is the ratio of the aircraft’s forward speed to its rotor tip speed. As forward speed increases, the effective airspeed over the retreating blade decreases. At Mu-1, the […]
The race for sapce — in a Learjet?
What do you do with an old Learjet? If you’re George French and David Urie, you send it into orbit. French, who is president and CEO of Rocketplane Ltd., Inc. and Urie, the company’s vice president and program manager, are modifying Learjet 25 airframes as platforms for re-usable spacecraft, capable – they say – of […]
Certified Light Sport Aircraft (as of June 10, 2005)
Certified Light Sport Aircraft as of June 10, 2005 Manufacturer/Importer: Evektor-Aerotechnik/Sport Aircraft International Aircraft: Evektor SportStar Contact: SportAircraftInternational.com Manufacturer/Importer: Flight Design/Flight Design USA Aircraft: Flight Design CT Contact: Fly-Flightstar.com Manufacturer/Importer: Fantasy Air/Fantasy Air USA Aircraft: Allegro 2000 Contact: FantasyAirUSA.com Manufacturer/Importer: Tecnam Costruzioni Aeronautiche/Hansen Air Group Aircraft: Tecnam Sierra, Super Echo Contact: HansenAirGroup.com Manufacturer/Importer: TL Ultalights/Sportair […]
The wait is over… or is it?
Everyone in the industry — from FAA officials to flight instructors to manufacturers — has been busy gearing up for the new rules. LSAs just began getting approval a few months ago and it seems that every day we hear of another aircraft winning approval. In this issue of General Aviation News, we focus on […]
Return of the Cub
If you learned to fly before 1965, chances are you have some stick time in a Piper Cub. For many people, even the aviation-challenged, the little yellow aircraft is synonymous with pleasure flying. Is it any wonder then that several aircraft manufacturers who are targeting the Sport Pilot/ Light Sport Aircraft market are producing aircraft […]
Picking the right LSA for you
Are you in the market for a Light Sport Aircraft? With so many options in both the ready to fly and the build it yourself genres, there are lots to choose from. One of the first questions you need to ask is whether you want a ready-to-fly model or a project? On the plus side, […]
The birth of Sport Pilot
If you are one of the hundreds of people who have been waiting years for Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft to become reality, this could be the year you get your hands on a ready-to-fly Light Sport Aircraft (LSA). In April the first ready-to-fly models, which are European imports, were certified by the FAA and made […]