Once upon a time, the producer of a yellow LSA taildragger installed the industry’s most powerful engine resulting in a performance leader. This gambit succeeded handily and the builder enjoyed several strong years of sales. Others looked upon this success and saw that it was good.
So, of course, being aviation entrepreneurs, others worked to do the original one better. How about not only an excess of power but other features and macho good looks to cause jaw-drops at every airshow? You may believe I am writing about Just Aircraft and their magnificent SuperSTOL. I’ve enjoyed flying this aircraft and you can research it further here.
Adding exceptional wing qualities to a potent engine results in a sub-market within the LSA sector that has been drawing strong interest and the sales that follow. With newcomers offering appealing features and reducing the price into more affordable realms, it’s not hard to see why pilots are learning about these new flying machines and bringing one home.
Archives for February 2017
The Future of Flying… Could It Happen?
Two forms of flying are racing at us at increasing speed. This is both scary and promising at once. What can we expect? My crystal ball is no better than yours, but let me tell you what I can imagine may be headed our way.
I refer to two generally unrelated activities in the air: autonomous aircraft and FPV drones. Most pilots to whom I’ve spoken seem intrigued by these innovations and a few are enjoying their quadcopters, myself included.
Others are not so sure if they like the idea of either unmanned but man-carrying aircraft or a swarm of drones buzzing about the airport or neighborhood. I understand this viewpoint. Most of us treasure our privacy and don’t want it invaded.
Yet I invite you consider the following scenario… perhaps 3-10 years in the future.
Think about why you like recreational flying, in your LSA, light kit, or ultralight.
Hawk is Finally Back and Looking Good
At Sebring 2017, another long-awaited aircraft emerged… or re-emerged. After wandering for a few years since original Hawk developer Chuck Slusarczyk retired and sold his company, the once-popular design has a new home in central Florida.
I’ve written about this before (earlier article), but we hadn’t seen much until Sebring 2017.
The season-starting Sebring Expo brought the debut of CGS Hawk now making its home in the sunshine state after migrating from Ohio to Alabama. Thanks to accomplished kit builder and restorer, Terry Short, this celebrated brand that once held a major presence in the ultralight aircraft space has returned. A refreshed Hawk was looking good.
Indeed, Terry beamed when he told me that he’d already sold six aircraft (recently; not all at the show), most of them the two-seat variety as shown in the nearby photos plus one Part 103 ultralight.
Because original designer Chuck Slusarczyk won FAA acceptance for an ASTM-compliant model, Terry can supply a fully built Special Light-Sport Aircraft version and at Sebring 2017 he told me that he fully intends to do so.
Video — BushCat Is Fun and a Bargain!
Are Light-Sport Aircraft too expensive? With yellow taildraggers from some companies exceeding $200,000, it certainly sounds so. Gorgeous and modern carbon fiber LSA run $125,000 to $180,000. So, yeah, if your budget is leaner or if you merely want to keep the price tag down for a recreational aircraft, it’s tougher than imagined before the SP/LSA regulation was announced in 2004.
Tougher, but not impossible. In fact, I’ve long maintained that we do have more reasonably priced LSA for sale but some folks want the more expensive, every-bell-and-whistle aircraft even while they resist the prices such gear costs. Our PlaneFinder 2.0 feature tries to address this with a price above-or-below $100,000. Even determining that can be difficult as some aircraft offer most optional equipment as standard while others prefer a very basically equipped airplane for a low price and let buyers add the stuff they want. Fair enough; a free market in aircraft should offer more choices and let the buyer decide.
Video—Jabiru J-230D Reviewed at Midwest LSA
Why do we go to all the little airshows? Good question. Everyone knows that a professional journalist or true-blue aircraft enthusiast almost has to trek to the big events like AirVenture or Sun ‘n Fun — with the latter coming up soon April 4-9, 2017. Fine. Yet are the smaller events worth the travel expense and time?
For Videoman Dave and I this is a no-brainer. Gotta go! Why? Because events like Sebring just finished or DeLand‘s end-of-the-season show or the Mid-West LSA Expo early in September in Mt. Vernon Illinois (about an hour’s drive east of St. Louis) are perfect for us to collect video footage and flying experiences that we can relate to viewers on Dave’s widely-watched YouTube channel (to the tune of a million and a half minutes every month!) or here on our LSA Video page.
Video—Race Around Sebring 2017…a Quick Tour
At last November’s DeLand Showcase, I tried something new. I didn’t know how it would work or be received but I took a shot. As it turned out, a good many folks seemed to enjoy my “Race Around DeLand 2016” video. I literally used a golf cart and did a drive-by video shooting of most outdoor booth spaces at the Florida event. A surprising number of pilots told me they enjoyed it.
With those comments in mind, I thought to repeat this with “Race Around Sebring 2017.” You can see it below. This would be tough to do at Sun ‘n Fun or Oshkosh where the LSA, light kits, and ultralights are scattered all over the grounds. It might work, though, in Sun ‘n Fun‘s Paradise City or in AirVenture‘s Fun Fly Zone… we’ll see about that.
Until those spring and summer extravaganzas, I hope you’ll enjoy this rather speedy glimpse of Sebring 2017, the 13th running of this grandaddy of the small, focused events that draw enthusiasts of these recreational or sporting aircraft.
Announcement…Major Upgrade for ByDanJohnson.com!
Once upon a time, the world was without Internet, static and boring. In those ancient times, to follow aircraft developments, most aviators had to wait for a magazine that arrived once a month. In 1995, the World Wide Web was born and only four years later work began on ByDanJohnson.com. *
Many have called the Internet, specifically the Web, the most important change in history for human communications! Since that time, the pace of change has been ever quickening.
I am pleased to announce to you that ByDanJohnson.com is upgrading to a brand-new site that will have a modern look and will automatically adapt to your phone or tablet. This redesign has consumed more than a year’s worth of work but the change will occur this month.
With more than 1,500 pages of information featuring millions of words, thousands of articles with photos, and hundreds of videos plus special features like PlaneFinder 2.0, the SLSA List, and our FI.R.M.