Recently, our good friends over at General Aviation News reported on the Bearhawk LSA. If you don’t receive GA News’ “The Pulse of Aviation,” I urge you to sign up for it right now (it’s free). Aviators are lucky to have several online news outlets — AVweb, ePilot, eBrief, and eHotline, plus some excellent news websites — but I always anticipate “The Pulse” as I’ve come to admire their speed and rely on their professional journalism. That said, in their recent article they used the phrase “Bearhawk LSA,” no doubt as that’s the way the Austin, Texas company described their model. This is a common error and is worth a short review. An aircraft is only a “LSA” if it has met all ASTM standards and been accepted by the FAA. An aircraft that meets all the parameters of an LSA (weight, speed, etc.) can be flown by someone with a Sport Pilot certificate, making it “Sport Pilot eligible,” to use a phrase coined by EAA’s Ron Wagner.
Snap! Crackle! Pop! It's not just for breakfast anymore. Among the vast array of light aircraft I am only aware of a few other single seat models ... Here's a 
Aimed specifically at aerobatic flight, Snap was designed and developed by Fabio Russo, who is now the head of research and development for Tecnam Aircraft. Tecnam recently acquired rights to the Snap and will manufacture the airplane at its facilities in Naples and Capua, Italy. 
SportairUSA has been led by Bill Canino for many years and made a name as the importer of such well-liked models as the Sting and iCub. The company also sells seaplanes and performs a wide range of maintenance services from its home at the North Little Rock Municipal Airport (KORK). "Snap is fun to fly, competitive, and very inexpensive to own and operate compared to conventional aerobatic aircraft," observed Canino. He expects, "It will be certifiable as a production [or Special] Light-Sport (SLSA), Experimental Light-Sport (ELSA), or Experimental-Exhibition (EE)." Progress reports on testing and documentation of the airplane will be reported at the 
You might not be in the market for a super slow flying aircraft like Dragonfly that stalls at less than 20 mph. You might not care that Ed Pittman took the lead winning Special LSA approval on behalf of Australian businessman and hang gliding pioneer Bill Moyes and American Dragonfly designer Bobby Bailey. However, as a longtime hang gliding enthusiast, I can attest on behalf of many who enjoy soaring flight in hang gliders that Dragonfly is a critically important aircraft. The unusual aircraft was purpose designed to tow a hang glider aloft so it can be released — commonly at 2,000-2,500 feet and often right in a column of thermal lift — to allow it to achieve soaring flight without the benefit of a mountain from which to launch. One of the most successful aerotug airparks, called 
Most everyone in light aviation is now aware that FAA is out conducting audits of LSA manufacturers, with particular attention to new manufacturers or existing manufacturers offering a new model. Last year, FAA issued more guidance — in the form of the catchily-named 8130.2G Chg 1 directive — that defines more about what is a new model or manufacturer. All this was working, albeit at the rather leisurely pace of two audits a month (which would take several years to go through all 90+ manufacturers of LSA), until the federal sequestration came along. With their budget cut, FAA pulled back on all kinds of activities, most notably closing control towers (since altered by congressional action) and charging airshows like Sun 'n Fun and AirVenture to operate towers during their events. With this in mind I asked Ed if Dragonfly powered by the Rotax 912 was considered a new model. Ed replied, "Yes, they treated it as a new model." Ed previously gained approval for a 
"We now offer Dragonfly 582 and Dragonfly 912 in both 80 and 100 horsepower models." He added, "We found a prop that generates 525 pounds of thrust on the 100-hp 912 which should satisfy most towing needs." He noted that this powerful thrust met technical specifications issued by Rotax Aircraft Engines and finished saying, "That's not easy to do with the ASTM requirements and props out there today. These props are made specially for our operation." I know Ed for many years through our mutual hang gliding interest and find him to be a serious, thorough person. The hang gliding community should be celebrating his accomplishment at gaining acceptance by FAA. An SLSA Dragonfly is available ready-to-fly for $67,222 for a 65-hp Rotax 582 model or $81,904 with 100-hp Rotax 912. An ELSA kit version of the latter is $66,964. You may want other accessories or services so 
Once upon a time the light aircraft industry announced new manufacturers and models at the rate of two, three, or even more every month ...for several years. As with every maturing industry before, this torrid pace had to slow. Yet the party isn't over, far from it. Contrarily, I am aware of several new projects in the works and we all know of some (Icon, Terrafugia, Lisa among others) where companies have been working on their designs for some years but they have yet to secure FAA approval as a Light-Sport Aircraft. Neither has GreenWing International, a new company announced this week though that may change quickly enough.
"Yuneec International, a world leader in electric power systems, is proud to announce the formation of GreenWing International, [which is] entirely focused on bringing the revolution of electric power to the global general aviation market," announced company CEO Tian Yu. Enthusiasts following electric powered aircraft development first saw Yuneec's e430 at AirVenture 2009. The Jiangsu-based company (just north of Shanghai) is very big in electric-powered radio controlled aircraft; their gyro-stabilized RC helicopters have sold in large numbers. Yuneec will continue to focus on developing technologies for electric motors and power systems, but GreenWing said it will handle production of the eSpyder and e430 electric aircraft. Since the first flights of its electric powered planes in 2009, Yuneec has been advancing its electric propulsion technologies, and all GreenWing aircraft will be powered by Yuneec electric propulsion systems.
Since it showed the e430 four years ago, Yuneec acquired the design rights to the former 
On a visit to Rotax near Wels, Austria in April this year, I was privileged to examine the immense Rotax engine factory and test facilities with executive 
Most recently, I have been able to log more than 30 hours on the newest Rotax of all, the 
While the 912 iS is essentially the same engine as the carbureted 912 ULS, it has seen 
Rotax engineers have set the engines to run in what they call Eco mode (until 97% power is demanded). In common use, you'll only need "Power" mode in takeoff phase. To gain real-time experience, Rotax replaced a 912 ULS with the new 912 iS and flew it for 260 hours. They tried to keep all other factors constant: the same airframe, similar speed, the same atmospheric conditions and temperature, the same fuel volume, and even the same pilot. Most comparison was done in a Tecnam P92 Echo Classic. One series of tests used 60-minute flights with five minutes taxi out and five back plus 50 minutes of pattern training work (doing seven landings), which they called the "flight training scenario." The average burn was 2.65 gph. Over 260 hours of testing at a variety of altitudes consumption averaged 32.6% less (in a range of 26-36% lower consumption) burning an average 3.25 gph. In either mode, fuel use was substantially less at high altitudes. Rotax's test plane is lighter than the LSA I used so fuel use was a bit lower than what I typically see. I'll probably get better at maximizing fuel economy. However, even at my use experience in an airplane that weighs 280 pounds more, the 912 iS is simply excellent on fuel burn. That's more flying for less money ... and that's a great thing.
* Rotax is no longer making some very successful two stroke engines described as 277, 377, 447, or 503. However, they continue to produce the 65-horsepower Rotax 582 and have sold more than 30,000 of this single model.
