Progressive Aerodyne has opened its newly established sales office in Shanghai, China, to support the sale of Searey light-sport amphibious airplanes. The Searey was first presented to the China market at airshows in 2009. The company is working with Chinese aviation authorities to gain certification of the Searey. The Shanghai office will manage all marketing and sales and […]
Light Sport Aircraft
Quicksilver awarded Special-LSA certificate
TEMECULA, Calif. —Quicksilver Aeronautics reached an important milestone with the receipt of an airworthiness certificate for its first-ever Special Light-Sport Aircraft. This final approval now enables the Southern California producer to begin offering ready to fly models of its aircraft. “On June 26th we received the airworthiness certificate and the operations limitations sheet for our […]
A quarter century of power
In 1989 something remarkable happened. You might remember the fall of the despised Berlin Wall that separated Germany. Certainly that was a remarkable event in human history, but it wasn’t the only noteworthy occurrence that year. Not far away in Wels, Austria, something else happened that, for pilots, was also important. In 1989, Rotax Aircraft […]
Flight testing completed for SD-1 Minisport
After a long winter and spring dodging the Utah weather, SkyCraft’s SD-1 Minisport has completed flight testing, meeting all the performance requirements needed for S-LSA certification, according to company officials. The plane was found to have good longitudinal and latitudinal stability and exhibited no issues with flutter, vibrations, or dangerous stall/spin tendencies, company officials noted. […]
Quicksilver confirms large Chinese order
TEMECULA, Calif. — Quicksilver Aeronautics reports it signed a distribution agreement resulting in an order for 77 aircraft in May. The first two aircraft are in the manufacturing process in Quicksilver’s Temecula factory and will be shipped to China for final assembly, testing, and training of Chinese technicians. “We have been pursuing quality contacts in China and […]
A solid beginning towards collaboration
Various events are bubbling to the surface as we approach the 10th anniversary of the Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft (SP/LSA) rule this summer. One of these activities occurred at SUN ’n FUN: The USUA/LAMA Safety & Industry Light-Sport Conference. USUA is the United States Ultralight Association, a group focused on pilots. If you believed ultralight aircraft […]
Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. launches with Sun Flyer
DENVER – Bye Aerospace has launched Aero Electric Aircraft Corp. (AEAC) to produce a solar-electric light-sport aircraft Sun Flyer under a license agreement from PC-Aero. The company will bring to market the first U.S.-sponsored, practical all-electric airplane serving the training, recreational and general aviation markets, AEAC officials said. Industry veteran Charlie Johnson was named AEAC’s president […]
Pipistrel completes FAA LSA audit
Pipistrel reports it has successfully completed the FAA Light-Sport Aircraft operations audit. In February, the FAA audit delegation visited and verified compliance to FAA regulation and ASTM LSA standards at Pipistrel’s factories in Italy and Slovenia. The audit consisted of compliance verification of Pipistrel’s products, production organization, continued airworthiness procedures, maintenance aspects, and documentation for LSA […]
ICON to relocate to Vacaville
LOS ANGELES — ICON Aircraft will relocate to the City of Vacaville in Northern California, located approximately 50 miles northeast of San Francisco. Beginning in the first quarter of 2015, the company will begin operating in a 140,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the Vacaville airport, also known as the Nut Tree Airport. ICON intends to consolidate […]