Honestly, I didn’t expect much LSA news at AOPA’s Aviation Summit in Palm Springs. Despite several LSA on display, including Kitfox, Evektor, Flight Design, Arion, Jabiru, SportCruiser, Skycatcher, and CubCrafters, the AOPA event is not a common place for LSA announcements. Certainly I didn’t expect the world’s largest supplier of kit aircraft to offer a […]
Splog
A sigh of relief
Soon, it passes. I don’t refer to the move from summer’s heat to the cold days of winter, but rather to the merciful end to the political season that cannot come too soon for many aviators. Of course, we worry about how various moves by the government may influence our flying, both in costs and […]
‘Half the cost, twice the safety’
I recently attended an ASTM meeting. This is for the standards that are used to “certify” Light-Sport Aircraft. Yes, it’s pretty dry stuff but it is the way such a staggering development of 128 new models of LSA has been possible in just seven years, an accomplishment not replicated anywhere in aviation, worldwide, since airplanes […]
SLSA #127: SAB Vulcan
SAB’s Vulcan isn’t entirely new. The design has existed in Europe and arrived in the USA more than two years ago, but stealthily avoided our radar as a Special Light-Sport Aircraft until the 2012 Midwest LSA Expo at the Mt. Vernon, Illinois airport. The secret is out now and Vulcan C-100 has been added to […]
Cessna tops LSA market list
Anticipation is always high for the latest market share information and I am happy to provide an update, thanks to my European associate Jan Fridrich who does the hard work of sifting through FAA’s database. I remind you that his efforts are not merely tallying whatever FAA publishes. In fairness, Jan has to evaluate many […]
From yawns to very cool
Does the idea of electronic circuit breakers (ECB) make you yawn and look around for something more interesting? I understand, but this is truly a cool product. ECB developer Vertical Power also offers a related and extremely compelling product. After visiting with Marc Ausman at SUN ’n FUN, again at AirVenture 2012, and then with […]
LSA news wrap — Rotax-Icon-Tecnam-More
Another busy week in the Light-Sport Aircraft world. Here are just a few brief news stories from the LSA space: ROTAX “EMERGENCY AD?” — Aviation media was all over the Rotax “Emergency AD” story, but is that entirely accurate? Aren’t LSA subject to manufacturer-issued SBs or Service Bulletins rather than Airworthiness Directives, which are normally […]
Cirrus returning to LSA? Well, yes…for Icon
Icon Aircraft and Cirrus Aircraft recently announced a deal for the general aviation composite aircraft producer to build parts of the Icon A5 and the news introduced dates for the A5 to come to market. Several years ago I traveled to Cirrus’ Duluth, Minnesota, plant in the company of the Icon top leaders, including CEO […]
Remarkably priced, fully built & powerful CH-750
So, if you’ve been one of those lamenting the high cost of LSA, well, you have a few other worthy choices, but TennAir brings a new one.