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 […]
Splog
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 […]
FAA forecasts robust LSA growth…for a while
The FAA issued a 20-year forecast for aviation to 2030. According the the agency, Light Sport Aircraft sales will grow by 825 per year through 2013 and then taper off to 335 per year. Hmmm? One wonders why it should fall so dramatically and so soon? Except in a lousy 2009, the LSA industry has […]
Let’s go flying with Dynon’s SkyView
Talk about your “Wow! factor” — Paul Hamilton’s new video for Dynon Avionics really shows off the amazing capability of the company’s SkyView avionics system featuring synthetic vision. On his video, Paul takes you along for a flight during bright daylight (proving the screens are readable in direct light) and into the dimming sun over […]
Sport Pilot revisions positive improvements
Some long-awaited revisions to the Sport Pilot Rule were recently released and, as we’ve anticipated, there are positive improvements. First up: The restrictive 10,000-foot maximum altitude limitation for LSA flight which, among other scenarios, restricted flying over high terrain such as in the Rockies, was amended to allow flight above the limit, with one important […]
In the spotlight: The PiperSport
What a way to start the year. Officials from Piper Aircraft called a press conference on the opening day of the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, and, like no other I’ve seen after attending all six Expos, the media turned out in droves. Cameras clicked constantly, videos whirred, and recording devices captured every […]
As Sebring goes, so goes Sun ‘n Fun?
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON With the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo now history — but hoping to build on the strong beginning of the LSA-only event — preparations are underway for Sun ‘n Fun 2010, running April 13-18. Sebring, in January, has become the first airshow of the year and when it goes well, some feel […]
Chart-topping LSAs for 2009
If you refer back to earlier reports, you can easily see 2009 was a down year (no surprise, right?). General aviation was off more than 50% and Light Sport was down badly as well, with 42% less registrations than in 2008. With this post, we present our now-somewhat-famous chart. We hear from some who say […]
Sleekest Tecnam yet takes off
SPLOG By DAN JOHNSON Tecnam can lay claim to being the “largest LSA manufacturer” by virtue of producing more than 3,000 ready-to-fly aircraft (with approximately 120 of them flying in the USA as “official LSA” — the U.S. is a relatively new market the Italian company, which was formed in 1948). In my travels to […]