The 10th annual U.S. Sport Aviation Expo — known by most as the Sebring LSA Expo — will take center stage at Florida’s Sebring Regional Airport Jan. 16-19, 2014. Returning to its original format as an exhibition-only event, the aircraft, avionics, aviation equipment, and flying activities of Expo exhibitors will be the stars of the […]
sport pilot
Access Aviation Project: Creating new pilots
The first step in helping someone get a pilot certificate is getting that person into an airplane. That’s the mission of the Aviation Access Project, an asset management company geared toward Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA). According to CEO Rick Matthews, to attract wanna-be pilots to the “culture of aviation, we have to make aviation friendlier.” “It […]
ICON raises $60 million to start production
LOS ANGELES — ICON Aircraft has raised its fourth and final round of equity funding, totaling more than $60 million. The round included investors from North America, Europe, and Asia, according to company officials. The company will use the funds to complete production preparations, demonstrate regulatory compliance, ramp up full-scale aircraft production, and perform R&D […]
Broken Wing project debuts
Renegade Light Sport recently unveiled its Broken Wing project for wounded warriors. Officials with the company, which recently relocated to Saint Lucie County Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida, said, “We will introduce our injured military heroes to the freedom of flight using two specially designed and equipped SC07 Speed Cruisers.” Speed Cruiser offers a low […]
First factory-built Van’s RV-12 delivered
Forty years and more than 8,000 airplanes flying easily makes Van’s Aircraft the most prolific kit aircraft supplier in the history of aviation. Does anyone in flying not know about the RV-series? What everyone may not know (or remember) is that Van’s entered into a deal with Synergy Air to fully build an initial run […]
First flight for Tecnam’s Astore
The successful first flight of the Tecnam Astore Light-Sport Aircraft took place at Tecnam’s Capua production facility on May 27. The Tecnam Astore is a new two-seat, low-wing LSA. It was recently premiered as part of Tecnam’s 65th anniversary celebrations at Aero 2013 Friedrichshafen, Germany. Commanded by Tecnam’s test pilot, Captain Enzo De Blasio, the […]
More weight or less weight?
Icon Aircraft has been (probably not too patiently) waiting for the FAA to answer its formal request for exemption to the Light-Sport Aircraft gross weight parameter for its Icon A5 (pictured). The Southern California company submitted a proper package to the FAA after carefully laying the groundwork by talking to key leaders in and out […]
LSA video bonanza
We were busy at Aero Friedrichshafen 2013, knocking out more than 30 videos for your viewing information and entertainment. That’s more than seven videos per day and a sum of more than five hours total running time (more than three Hollywood movies in minutes of viewing time). With these and all the videos shot at […]
Visiting Rotax and Pipistrel
We paid two memorable visits after AERO ended and I’ll tell you a little about each one … but first … While I was at Pipistrel in the office of boss Ivo Boscarol, he received word that Matevz Lenarcic had reached the North Pole on his flight reported earlier. Congratulations on this achievement; a long […]