While I have been familiar with AVI’s Swan for several years, having seen it at AERO Friedrichshafen in Germany, the Swan made its first appearance in the United States at the 2022 Midwest LSA Expo, held in September at Mount Vernon Airport (KMVN) in Illinois.
Actually, what made its debut at the Expo is a brand new Swan 103 model made specifically for FAR Part 103 in the United States.
Based in Romania, AVI Aircraft promised to tweak its design specifically to the U.S. market. My conversations with the company president, Radu Berceanu, assured me he knew very well what the FAA required — and he proved it with the Swan’s debut at the show.
This was the 14th running of the popular show in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. It’s what I call an intimate, sector-specific show. By that I mean it is all the sort of aircraft I focus on: Light-Sport Aircraft, Sport Pilot-eligible kit aircraft, and ultralight aircraft.
Thursday is regarded as one of the slower days of the three-day event — some vendors only attend on Friday and Saturday. Yet at least two airplanes and maybe three or four were sold on opening day. It was a nearly perfect day to go for a demonstration flight and many did.
People often ask me why they should go to a show that is smaller than the giants EAA AirVenture Oshkosh or SUN ‘n FUN. One of my answers is that I see most of the same vendors year after year. They would not do that if the show did not produce results for them — and that means new aircraft owners leave Mt. Vernon with a big smile on their faces.
That’s why it was exciting to learn that the Swan is in America now. I expect we will see more of these. It sells for under $29,500, although that’s before shipping, which is a huge challenge these days.
Remember $29,500 is less than the average price of a new car in America, which by the end of 2021 was nearing $47,000. Also, this is for a carbon fiber airplane.
Swan 103 has a roomy interior and offers doors for both sides. The whole aircraft looks improbable as a Part 103 aircraft, I realize, but this company has already met German specifications for its 120-Kilogram (264.5 pound) Class examined closely by government-sanctioned organizations.
Radu and his team had hoped to display the Swan at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022, but shipping delays prevented that plan.
The company’s representative in the United States, Tom Bartlett, finally got the airplane through U.S. Customs and transported Swan 103 in its tiny factory trailer directly from the East Coast shipping broker to Mt. Vernon for the Midwest LSA Expo in early September.
A six-minute video on ByDanJohnson.com and my YouTube channel provide a good overall look at Swan 103 as built specifically for the U.S. Part 103 market, including importer Tom Bartlett’s plan to lower shipping costs.
To learn more, contact Tom Bartlett at 734-709-5025. The company’s U.S. website will be Swan103.com “coming soon,” according to Tom.
what are the specs on the power plant.