Even as we prepared for this year’s Sun ’n Fun, I attended a meeting relative to the area known as Paradise City or the Light Plane Area, though some simply call it the Ultralight Area. Whatever you call it, dramatic changes are underway and you should pay attention. Our meeting was arranged by 23-year area […]
Cessna suspends Skycatcher sales in Europe
According to a French dealer for Cessna, 80 Skycatcher orders have been cancelled, but Cessna officials in the U.S. say the Wichita giant has just temporarily suspended taking orders for the LSA in Europe. For many months, my Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) Europe colleague Jan Fridrich and others have tried to convince EASA to […]
LSA news from Sun ’n Fun continues
Splogger (Sport Pilot Blogger) Dan Johnson continues his recap of Sun ’n Fun, with this installment reporting some news from the show: The 10-year-old committee (F37) that worked with ASTM to write LSA certification standards had its first-ever meetings at Sun ’n Fun. I was unable to attend due to other duties, but the volunteer […]
More LSA news from Sun ’n Fun
Splogger (Sport Pilot Blogger) Dan Johnson continues his recap of what he found interesting at this year’s Sun ’n Fun. Today: Cool fly-in stuff: I visited with Mark Ausman of Vertical Power. I never fully grokked their product line of electronic circuit breakers, but I’ve got it now and understand the enthusiasm airframe makers and […]
More LSA news from Sun ’n Fun
Splogger (Sport Pilot Blogger) Dan Johnson continues his recap of what he found interesting at this year’s Sun ’n Fun. Today: Ultralights: North Wing showed its new composite body Solairus Part 103 trike. I flew it with the 20-hp Bailey single cylinder four stroke electric starting engine from the UK. What a hoot! Watch for […]
More LSA news from Sun ’n Fun
Splogger (Sport Pilot Blogger) Dan Johnson continues his recap of what he found interesting at this year’s Sun ’n Fun. Today: Engines and powerplants: Lycoming is coming on stronger in the LSA field, with installations on Falcon, Comet, and Tecnam, with hints of more to follow. The O-233 removed 40 pounds from the O-235 model […]
LSA news from Sun ’n Fun
Whew! It’s over. Sun ’n Fun can be the busiest six days of one’s life — until the next one. I wanted to skim the very top of what I found interesting at the recently concluded show. Today I’ll cover airframe manufacturers and follow up this week with more. Dave Loveman, my video collaborator, will […]
Gearing up for Sun ’n Fun
Sun ’n Fun 2012 is about to begin. Billed as the “Spring Break for Pilots,” the central Florida airshow is revving up in numerous ways, thanks partly to the show’s new leader, John “Lites” Leenhouts (and yes, everyone really does call him “Lites,” his Navy pilot nickname). His team is refreshed and ready for a new […]
Making movies, talking aviation
When videographer Dave Loveman first approached me in 2009 about doing videos I was hesitant. I may have been unsure, but website visitors spoke clearly and you know what? I like doing them as much as you like viewing them. More than 138 videos are available, all for free. Many more are works in process. […]