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Bloomfield, IN 47424 - USA

Midwest LSA Expo — Opening Day Highlights Strong Aircraft Turnout and Lots of Demo Flying

By Dan Johnson || 4 Comments

One sure way to know if a show works is to observe vendor participation over a number of years. As this is my 14th year attending the Midwest LSA Expo, I can tell you 2023 represents a strong turnout. Companies come back year after year because it works to connect them with interested customers. Both sides end up with smiles. In this article, I will give you a glimpse of what you can see if you can attend on Friday and Saturday. For those that cannot come, this will provide some taste of what happens in Mount Vernon, Illinois in early September. Hopefully, you can come in 2024. Every image you see below shows that vendors did not just bring one airplane to test the market. In every case, these companies brought two, three, or even four aircraft to show. That's very rare even at AirVenture or Sun 'n Fun. What this illustrates is that the Midwest LSA Expo (about an hour's drive east of St. Louis) has become a standard bearer in the aviation calendar. Indeed, this is Midwest's 15th event, tying the longest-running prior such show, which was the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo. After beginning these LSA-focused shows, Sebring concluded its 15-year run in 2019. Congratulations to Chris Collins and his entire team of orange-shirted volunteers!

Who's Here?

AeroTrek returned after a few year's absence and they came in force. On opening day three aircraft had arrived and two more are expected. In addition, the company showed off their new open trailer which looks enormously easier to load and secure so long as you're not trying to drive all the way across the country. For transportation in a local or regional area, this looks like a great choice with significantly lower costs. Rob Rollison, the longtime importer of this very successful brand of modestly-priced LSA, has long maintained a very steady rate of business because his supplier overseas in Europe has maintained an prudent approach to business. This has helped that manufacturer remain very stable but it also means delivery times now reach about one year. Rob indicated most customers are willing to wait. It was good to see him back in Mt. Vernon with his handsome airplanes and new trailer. For More Info — Aerotrek Texas Aircraft appeared at Midwest some years back when their Colt LSA was a new entry in the game (#151 on our List). Now the company reports they just delivered the first batch of airplanes to a nearby flight school and they are excited about the future of Mosaic with their new four-seat Stallion model  already flying in Brazil. In some ways, the Texas company, which is directly associated with the Brazilian organization, is ahead of the game because Brazil's ANAC has already created a very Mosaic-like regulation with minor differences. Approving that aircraft in their home country should make for a much easier entry to the U.S. market and this Hondo, Texas organization is ready to roll. For More Info — Texas Aircraft Bristell representative Piston Aviation reports running an active flight school operation. I plan to discuss this further with them to see how their flight school operates with the LSA of today. In the Mosaic preamble, FAA said extra weight was needed to make LSA into viable flight school aircraft, but I think they're missing that these aircraft are already working well in that environment, assuming good flight school management and properly qualified instructors. (To be forthright, Piston also operates Piper Cherokees.) Joe Ord's Piston Aviation operates at Creve Coeur airport in the St. Louis area. They offer a wide range of flight instruction and list their prices right on their home page. You can tell by the nearby image that this company has a sense of style and they had handsome, custom-painted aircraft on display. Again you see the commitment people make to the Midwest LSA Expo if Piston will bring aircraft that could be in flight training to display for you at the show. For More Info — Piston Aviation Vashon brought two of their Ranger LSA to Midwest perhaps five years ago and they've been back every year since and they don't come with just a single airplane. I hope you're starting to get the message that these companies like this show and they don't come here just to bond with their fellow vendors. They know they will meet people like you. Likewise, people that come to this event tend to be serious and ready to take their aviation interest to the next level. While Vashon's prices have risen slightly over the last couple years – along with virtually everything else you buy — they are still affordable to a wide range of pilots and have particular appeal to some by virtue of their use of a Continental O-200 powerplant. Lots of pilots and mechanics are familiar with that engine and, combined with a new and spacious airframe, the company is finding customers. Clearly, they find some of them right here in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. For More Info — Vashon Aircraft TL Sport Aircraft had two of their four models on display at Mt. Vernon. After a couple U.S. distributors that didn't work as well as expected, Trey Murdaugh's TL Sport Aircraft is bringing a more business-like approach. At Midwest LSA Expo he appropriately had on display a TL-3000 Sirius and an S-4 Sting. The latter (in an earlier model) was the #5 aircraft accepted by FAA as a Special LSA out of 158 now on our SLSA List. However, Trey is also nicely positioned for Mosaic with his other two aircraft that did not travel to Mt. Vernon. One is the tandem-seating Stream, which I flew with him after Sun 'n Fun 2022. That was a fine experience in a beautiful-flying aircraft. I look forward later this year to a flight in their side-by-side Mosaic-ready entry called Sparker that is the highest performing of their line. Of course, prices follow capability, so the Sirius or Sting may be the more affordable buy, but this company has got choices for you. For More Info — TL Sport Aircraft Zenith arrived with two of their popular Sport Pilot-eligible kit aircraft, Cruzer and Super Duty. Probably most readers of this website are aware that Zenith is the leading kit builder in the light aircraft space (as only one Van's model can presently qualify as an LSA). This should surprise no one as these aircraft are highly proven, and the manufacturing of their kits has become quite sophisticated under the leadership of Sebastien Heintz. The Mexico, Missouri based kit producer also hosts one of the largest events of its kind in the country, in fact, drawing even more people to it than the Midwest LSA Expo. Now in its 32nd year "Homecoming" is a must-go for any Zenith enthusiast. I've never been able to make it because it occurs right after the Midwest event but I hope many of you can and will attend. You can learn a lot at their event plus enjoy the camaraderie of others with similar interests. For More Info — Zenith Aircraft Magni Gyro rep' Greg Gremminger brought two of his gyroplanes as he often has. Greg is one of those regulars that has made every Midwest event along with a handful of others. It helps that he's based not far away, but this has proven to be a good event for him where he can give ramp-side talks about gyros to people that are interested. He's done this for years and every time I've seen quite a collection of people listening intently as he describes his rotary-winged aircraft and how they fly. A couple years ago my wife and I each took a flight with Greg and had a marvelous experience. I'm not qualified to fly gyroplanes solo, but I have learned from some experiences and I see the magic that so many enjoy. Greg was one of the original people to fight for 10 years asking FAA to finally allow fully-built gyroplanes. They wore him out without saying yes, but when Roy Beisswenger and I started our advocacy work, we took up the case again. Between his efforts and ours, I'm pleased that we will finally have factory-built gyros available for those enthusiasts. For More Info — Magni Gyro USA All this and more was available on opening day despite weather challenges to the east, holding up the arrival of some aircraft. BushCat is expecting two aircraft as is Jabiru. What I believe this list shows is that these companies are all willing to spend the money and take the time to bring multiple aircraft to the Midwest LSA Expo. One of the main reasons the show is popular and successful is the great ease of getting a demo flight in an airplane. Get on the schedule and when it's your turn, it takes literally a few minutes to get airborne. Marvelous! Plus… entry to the show and parking are FREE.

Mosaic and More

I will have more on other aircraft that are at the show and other activities that I observe. In addition, the whole place is buzzing with talk of Mosaic, as you might expect a month and change after FAA dropped their new regulation on America.

These members of Midwest LSA Expo's orange shirt brigade worked to keep flight demo operations humming and safe. Thanks to all the orange shirters!

I genuinely look forward to the question-and-answer session at the end of my two talks (Friday and Saturday at 11 AM). I'm pleased to give out what I believe is good information on the new proposed rule, but the most valuable interplay comes from pilots expressing their concerns and opinions. If you're in the area, please join us. If you can't make it. I will plan to video it and I'll get that up as soon as I can. Stay tuned for more from the Midwest LSA Expo 2023!

One sure way to know if a show works is to observe vendor participation over a number of years. As this is my 14th year attending the Midwest LSA Expo, I can tell you 2023 represents a strong turnout. Companies come back year after year because it works to connect them with interested customers. Both sides end up with smiles. In this article, I will give you a glimpse of what you can see if you can attend on Friday and Saturday. For those that cannot come, this will provide some taste of what happens in Mount Vernon, Illinois in early September. Hopefully, you can come in 2024. Every image you see below shows that vendors did not just bring one airplane to test the market. In every case, these companies brought two, three, or even four aircraft to show. That’s very rare even at AirVenture or Sun ‘n Fun. What this illustrates is that the Midwest LSA Expo (about an hour’s drive east of St.

Light-Sport Aircraft News: Oshkosh? E-Fan Ends! 1Q20 Numbers, Sling Academy, Refreshed EMS

By Dan Johnson || 3 Comments

In the rush of coverage of Vintage Ultralights and other late-breaking stories such as the Blackwing speed record, I had to set aside a few news items. Here's a catch-up… I am pleased to serve a need for news during a month when we should have been covering Sun 'n Fun and Aero Friedrichshafen. As everyone knows, those events are now rescheduled for 2021, both as a result of the global lockdown that has affected hundreds of other events. You hardly need any more coverage of the coronavirus craziness so let's get to aviation news and take a small break from these worldwide events. But first…

Oshkosh — Go or No/Go?

It has become one of the most-asked question in aviation. Will the big summer celebration of flight happen or go the way of every other airshow this year? Several sources close to EAA leadership have said a decision will come in early May, however, it doesn't take a genius to figure that. EAA is grappling with matters such as when hundreds of tents or thousands of portable bathrooms must be ordered, or finalizing the call to a not-small army of volunteers to begin the trek to Wisconsin. Such major plans must be started well in advance of the event slated for July 20-26th. If you back-calendar from when EAA needs those tents and so much more to be ready I think you get to a date that is fast approaching. Cancelling a show is frightening stuff for show producers (EAA, Sun ‘n Fun, Aero, etc.), especially when the event represents a substantial share of their annual budget (a lot for Sun ‘n Fun and Aero; somewhat less so for EAA). Other than their accountants and top leadership, few know the hard facts but it is clear these events bring in plenty of the dough needed to run the enterprises that organize the shows. I have heard all sorts of comments, such as "AirVenture accounts for upwards of 60% of the EAA's annual income." Honestly, I doubt that for EAA but for Sun 'n Fun and Aero, the percentage could even be higher. Oh, my! I hope for the best for all these vital events but I’m concerned.

So Long Airbus E-Fan

I reported some months ago about Kitty Hawk's Flyer going down despite funding from billionaire Larry Page. This month, we see another high-profile departure from electrically-powered aircraft by an even bigger company, Airbus, which partnered with Rolls Royce and Siemens… three of the largest corporations in Europe.

A prime motivator for E-Fan is Grazia Vittadini, Airbus' Chief Technology Officer. She wrote, "When I first started my career at Airbus, the notion of electric flight was considered a far-off pipedream. Today, it’s a reality." Yet that future may not involve their much-promoted E-Fan.

After a very public launch of the E-Fan X project in 2017, this month "Airbus and Rolls Royce have jointly decided to bring the E-Fan X demonstrator to an end," said Vittadini. "As with all ground-breaking R&T projects, it’s our duty to constantly evaluate and reprioritize them to ensure alignment with our ambitions. These decisions are not always easy." Her counterpart at Rolls Royce is CTO, Paul Stein, who wrote, "[The E-Fan project] involved creating a hybrid-electric power generation system … comprised of a gas turbine driving a 2.5MW generator and 3000V power electronics and an electric propulsion unit."

Airbus' E-Fan flight demonstrator flies at the Farnborough International Air Show 2014.

Stein continued, "As with all such leading-edge programs, we constantly evaluate the best way forward and it has become clear to both parties that the actual requirement to carry out a test flight with all the elements integrated is not critical at this time. As an aircraft, E-Fan X was always designed to be a demonstrator only and never for actual use as a product in service." However, that's not what they said earlier. In 2015 Flying magazine wrote, "VoltAir SAS in France [is] to build a family of plug-in and hybrid-electric light airplanes." Then-editor Stephen Pope gave details, "VoltAir's immediate aim is to build a factory in the south of France and begin producing the ­E-Fan line of small airplanes, beginning with a two-seat trainer called the E-Fan 2.0, powered entirely by batteries and electric motors and slated to reach the market in 2018. A follow-on, hybrid-electric four-seater called the E-Fan 4.0 targeted primarily at buyers in the United States will emerge soon after and is projected to go on sale in 2019." Airbus Group enlisted ­Daher, of TBM 900 turboprop fame, to produce the E-Fan 2.0 and 4.0 models at a new factory in Pau, France. It once looked so alive, but obviously, these goals were never reached and now E-Fan will retire to a museum somewhere, I suppose.

New GRT Replacement Instrument

For many years, one instrument could be found on all types of light, inexpensive aircraft. For example, nearly every powered parachute has the monochrome GRT engine monitor system. It has been a worthy element on many light aircraft, its modest $400 cost helping pilots stay aware of their engine's performance. Many other aircraft types also used the instrument. Thousands have been sold yet the original is showing its age in an era of iPhones used as avionics devices. Now, a new midwestern company has something new and fresh… This report is sufficiently early in the new product's development that I can't offer much detail, but you can see from the nearby image that is similar to the older model but features color and enhanced readability. At present the colorful EMS appears to be a panel hole-for-hole swap allowing owners of the older model to easily upgrade to the newer system. Proprietor Kyle Sulek promised to keep me informed as he pushes toward market launch. He is presently targeting release at Oshkosh, but that depends on the event progressing. Fingers crossed…

Sling Pilot Academy Steams Onward

While flight schools have been battered by lockdown orders, they have not been standing still. One clear success story is The Airplane Factory USA's venture into flight instruction. This west coast bunch did not tiptoe in gently; they cannonballed into the action; it appears to be working and well! Even during the lockdown, Sling Pilot Academy (SPA) is forging ahead. Leader Matt Liknaitzky said, "Our pilot academy is still operating on a skeleton crew. Our flight load is down about half. About half of our students and CFIs are still flying. We are doing all our ground school via Zoom. In the fairly short time SPA has been operating they have attracted 40 full-time students. Matt added that SPA has 15 Certified Flight Instructors and he amazed me adding, "We’re doing upwards of 1,000 hours of flight instruction every month!" "We operate 9 Slings, which we use for Private, Instrument, Commercial, CFI, CFII ratings." To address additional ratings, SPA also uses a pair of Tecnam P2006T twins for Commercial Multi and MEI ratings. This activity of airplane sales representatives or manufacturers also running flight school operations seems a new trend. Given the great need for pilot training, I expect we'll see more of this. Cessna found out decades ago that if you started flying in a Cessna 150, you tended to buy Cessna later. Will Sling (and the other brands pursuing flight training) make the same discovery? Only time can tell.

First Quarter 2020 Market Shares

Through the first two months of the year, few of us uttered the word "coronavirus." That ended abruptly when the stock market crashed on March 12th, 2020. While the following information covers only one quarter of the year and while it does not reflect much of the pandemic effects, we nonetheless found a few tidbits of interest. For the data hounds among you, we invite you to visit our market share and airplane registration database website called Tableau Public. In the first quarter of 2020, deliveries of Light-Sport Aircraft — either SLSA or ELSA — and Sport Pilot-eligible kits were up nicely over 2019 and 2018. If we extrapolate to the whole year, the industry may deliver 776 aircraft in 2020, up from 665 in 2019, a 17% gain, which was up from 635 or 5% from 2017. Though the industry appears to be in a reasonable growth mode, the virus lockdown is likely to affect the second quarter. A noteworthy point is that among all aircraft in this sector, the top five brands registering aircraft remain kit builders with one of those companies stronger in fully-built versus EAB kits. The top five are Zenith, Kitfox, Van's, Sonex, and Rans, in rank order. Van's is more vigorous in ready-to-fly models, at 14 of their 15 aircraft registered in 2020 being LSA, although 13 of the 14 were ELSA and only one was a SLSA model. None of the others recorded any LSA; they were all kits …but remember, these are registrations, not sales, deliveries, or completions. Among Special (fully-built) LSA registrations, Pipistrel lead the first quarter numbers with 9 aircraft, followed by Tecnam with 7 and The Airplane Factory's Sling with 5 units. We saw a five-way tie for the next rank at 4 units for each Aeropro/Aerotrek, Aeroprakt, Icon, Scoda (Super Petrel), and Vashon. Overall, the LSA segment (both SLSA and ELSA and exclusive of kit-built aircraft) was up 16% over 2019 when the numbers are annualized. By this measurement, it was a good start to the year and we will see how the industry faired in the more turbulent second quarter when we report again on July 1st, 2020. It's a Wrap …except for a parting comment from our wonderful "datastician" Steve Beste, "I think the term 'social distancing' is a misnomer. Physical distancing is what we're actually doing. Socially, I've been in closer touch with my family and friends… as we all check in on each other." Here at ByDanJohnson.com we wish you all the best getting through this weird period. Here's a fun ultralight airshow video to lighten your day.
https://youtu.be/jvav17CxISY

In the rush of coverage of Vintage Ultralights and other late-breaking stories such as the Blackwing speed record, I had to set aside a few news items. Here’s a catch-up… I am pleased to serve a need for news during a month when we should have been covering Sun ‘n Fun and Aero Friedrichshafen. As everyone knows, those events are now rescheduled for 2021, both as a result of the global lockdown that has affected hundreds of other events. You hardly need any more coverage of the coronavirus craziness so let’s get to aviation news and take a small break from these worldwide events. But first… Oshkosh — Go or No/Go? It has become one of the most-asked question in aviation. Will the big summer celebration of flight happen or go the way of every other airshow this year?

Oshkosh 2019… All Done! More Great Light-Sport Aircraft Stories (and Video)

By Dan Johnson || 2 Comments

The weeklong celebration of flight known around the planet as “Oshkosh” is now history. Although EAA was challenged by inclement weather before the show and as it opened, the weather gods smiled on the event and provided a wonderful week with all the action you can imagine. EAA announced attendance numbers identifying solid growth over last year, to 642,000 attendees*. That's a ways from the 800,000 back a couple decades but is solid growth from recent years. Especially as EAA had to work hard to overcome weather issues before the event, the organization is to be commended for handling a huge number of details with professionalism. The week of Oshkosh brought outstanding weather and only brief periods of rain. Those of us from hot states enjoyed the mild temperatures and beautiful cloud-dappled blue skies (photos). So, after getting back in the saddle after an intense week, here are a few stories of interest. One point given the nearby graphic. The logo seen in many locations was widely misinterpreted by those who thought EAA was celebrating 50 years of the event. Wrong. It has been in Oshkosh, Wisconsin for 50 years but the event itself is now 67 years old.

Rotax Meets a Need with 915iS

True to form as you might expect, Rotax followed through on a question I asked 15 months back. As reported in this review of the 915iS and 912iS the company’s top man strongly hinted at a fixed pitch version of this engine. Thomas Uhr has since moved up higher in the organization but at a journalist event last year, he answered a questions about fixed pitch on the 915 engine. He did not then answer directly but said, "Every engine Rotax has produced has been able to use a fixed pitch prop. Take from that statement what you will." Sure enough, the new powerful engine from the Austrian company will be available for used with fixed or ground adjustable prop by fall of this year. Good on Rotax and the well-spoken Mr. Uhr.

Magni Gyro has fit the 915 to models designated with "Plus."

Some countries allow constant speed or in-flight adjustable props but not the USA. FAA specified no in-flight adjustment in the current regulation. We believe this will change with the new reg (recent report) but that could be some years in the future. Until then, only fixed pitch can be used on American Light-Sport Aircraft. Rotax is enjoying good success with the 915iS fuel injected, turbocharged, intercooler power plant. More than 400 engines are now flying on aircraft and the number of airframe producers using the new engine continues to grow. More about Rotax success. The 915iS is also an important engine for the larger, up to four seat, aircraft to come in the LSA world as well as on kit-built aircraft and some models preparing for approval under the new version of Part 23 certification (that will use industry consensus standards modeled significantly after the LSA set of standards).

High from Low (wings, that is)

Two leading companies exclusively using low wings will be introducing high wing models in the near future. One is a trade secret for now, but another was announced at Oshkosh. What's interesting here is that both companies have exclusively made low wing models in various configuration. Neither has made a high wing. One of these is also planning the new, powerful Rotax 915iS engine (though both producers are using that power plant in one of the low wing models. For more on the entry from South Africa's The Airplane Factory Sling TSi High Wing, see the video below. What's interesting  is that this entry offer more seats and more capabilities. For the immediate future, Sling TSi High Wing will have to be kit built but as you read here, FAA will allow four seaters as basic Light-Sport Aircraft. Once again, TAF founder Mike Blythe is ahead of the game. He was the first producer I personally observed getting excited about what he could do with the 141-horsepower Rotax 915iS. Barely a couple years after I saw his mind working, he not only built the low wing Sling TSi but the new model promptly flew around the world, literally. I expect to see a plan for the high wing TSi to also make the globe-girdling flight.

LAMA’s Dual Award

For only the second time, the association awarded two persons their highest honor, the Presidents Award for Outstanding Individual. A few years ago, a rare tie produced a dual award. This year, voting for the 28th year of the LAMA award, resulted in another dual award. Hundreds of members of the business community for light aircraft offered nominations. The person with the most such wins; it's a very simple system to recognize hardworking, creative people who helped move light aviation forward.

Kerry Ritcher (L) and Scott Severen won the LAMA President's Award for 2019. photos by Randee Laskewitz

One of this years winners was Kerry Ritcher. With his father, Wayne, Kerry founded three aviation companies. He started manufacturing aircraft in 1977 and his enterprises have produced a total of more than 3,000 aircraft, continuing to the present. His best known design is the SeaRey from Progressive Aerodyne based in Tavares, Florida. A Private Pilot with over 12,000 hours, Kerry has designed a dozen varied aircraft including Hi-Nuski; Cobra; King Cobra; Sea Wolf; Carrera; Carrera 180; Buccaneer SX; Catalina; Colibri; SeaRey; Stingray; and, SeaRey LSX/LS. The latter are in active production by the company he founded. The second awardee is also a LAMA board of directors member. Scott Severen started flying hang gliders in 1973 and has since been active in several aviation enterprises. He also assisted many organizations supporting light aviation including the U.S. Ultralight Association; the Airpark Owners and Operators Association; the EAA Ultralight & Light-Sport Aircraft Council, and the LAMA board. In 2004, Scott joined IndUS Aviation, and was instrumental in the effort to be the first American designed aircraft to earn SLSA certification. Severen presently owns and operates US Sport Planes, involved in LSA sales, brokerage, factory authorized maintenance and major structural repairs in Denton, Texas. In 2018, he took over as the North American representative for the Jabiru line of Light-Sport Aircraft. Scott is a private pilot and has accumulated over 2,000 hours in numerous types of aircraft.

Part 103 Success Story

More than one fixed wing producer of conforming Part 103 aircraft expressed strong, continuing interest in these lightest flyers. Kolb and U-fly-It are both so busy building their 103 models that they are not focused on two seaters. Aerolite does not have a two-seat model and no plans for one. Kolb has the Mark III but the action is in their Part 103 models, said Kolb boss, Bryan Melborn. The good news continues…

Badland introduced their Part 103-compliant F-series at Oshkosh 2019.

The arrival of Badland's Part 103 entry F-series in five variations adds to such popular choices as Kolb's Firefly, U-Fly-It's Aerolite 103, Just's True 103 (still in development), models from Team Aircraft and Fisher Flying Products. This listing of Part 103 prospects is not meant to be exhaustive and leaves out players like Evolution's Rev trike or Infinity's Challenger 103 powered parachute plus others. The point being, Part 103 appears not only to be surviving but thriving! Oshkosh even had an entrepreneur that has organized to provide support to Canada's Lazair. Watch for a video on this interesting development and see the nearby image if you are not familiar with this once-popular ultralight aircraft. Especially while most LSA run well into six figures, Part 103 pilots enjoy the greatest freedom in aviation. The simple rule has been unchanged since 1982 and allows flight in an ultralight vechile without a pilot certificate, N-numbers, or aviation medical. A producer can sell you a ready to fly model without getting FAA approval. As with LSA, ultralights overcame early issues to become solid members of the aviation fleet. Other countries have similar regulations.

Coolest Rig Seen At Oshkosh

If you’re a good, red-blooded American pilot, I don’t see how you could not love this setup. Your luxurious motor home towing your Corvette and your Aerotrek A240 in a custom-built trailer that you can handle by yourself. I hope I didn’t drool on it as I looked it over. Built for recreation, this highly-customized trailer is towed behind the owner’s motorhome. It can hold his Aerotrek A240, requiring the tricycle gear model so as to fit the owners Corvette underneath. A clever system of ramps and winches allows him to load the aircraft and the car with no assistance. Both sides also open up to make it easier to stow the airplane ramps once the aircraft is secured and to allow proper tie-down of the Corvette. As a former Corvette owner, a former motorhome owner, and a lover of the Aerotrek aircraft, this setup looked to be about as close to aviation heaven as mere mortals can get. So, this apparatus gets my award for the Coolest Rig seen at the show.

Watch here as The Airplane Factory founder, Mike Blythe introduces the Sling TSi High Wing…

https://youtu.be/I9I7_ZBUDC4

Canada's Lazair may not returning to the market but parts for it are, a fact current owners should appreciate.

* The number 642,000 introduces different counting methods. I understand this number to mean the number of people passing through the gates, however, one person entering for several days is counted each day. Taken to task a few years ago, Sun 'n Fun now reportedly counts discreet individuals so the Florida show seems to have smaller numbers. Oshkosh is clearly a good deal larger but not as much as their reported numbers make it appear. Either counting method can be defended but this is comparing apples to oranges. And whatever the numbers, our glimpses of Oshkosh while zipping around doing videos and gathering story material strongly suggested great attendance in 2019.

Here's the lowest cost "aircraft" I found at the show. No doubt some youngster is thrilled to ride this baby around the neighborhood.

The weeklong celebration of flight known around the planet as “Oshkosh” is now history. Although EAA was challenged by inclement weather before the show and as it opened, the weather gods smiled on the event and provided a wonderful week with all the action you can imagine. EAA announced attendance numbers identifying solid growth over last year, to 642,000 attendees*. That’s a ways from the 800,000 back a couple decades but is solid growth from recent years. Especially as EAA had to work hard to overcome weather issues before the event, the organization is to be commended for handling a huge number of details with professionalism. The week of Oshkosh brought outstanding weather and only brief periods of rain. Those of us from hot states enjoyed the mild temperatures and beautiful cloud-dappled blue skies (photos). So, after getting back in the saddle after an intense week, here are a few stories of interest.

Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft (ELSA); Personalize Your Aircraft

By Dan Johnson || 4 Comments

You have more privileges than you may know with your Light-Sport Aircraft. One of the more misunderstood aspects of FAA's sweeping 2004 Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft regulation is ELSA or Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft. Some people call these "kit" LSA. While they can be sold that way, no percentage applies so a manufacturer could call an ELSA a kit by merely having the buyer apply a single decal. To gain its Special Airworthiness certificate, an ELSA must first be a bolt-for-bolt copy of the manufacturer's Special or fully-built version of LSA. However, once certificated, the owner can begin to make changes on his or her own. They can also become qualified to do all manner of maintenance themselves, assuming they so desire. An Airframe and Powerplant mechanic (A&P) or Light-Sport Repairman – Mechanic (LSR-M) can also work on ELSA as they can SLSA.

Aerotrek on Clamar composite floats attracted lots of looks at the company's display on the main entrance road of AirVenture Oshkosh.

Once certificated and in his possession the owner can change to ELSA status allowing him or her to do almost anything …change avionics or even swap engines. This also means they can add floats to their ELSA and that's the subject of this article. Before we talk about Aerotrek on floats, let's clarify that an ELSA can also be returned to Special LSA status assuming it is either restored to originally certificated* status or if the changes made are endorsed in writing by the airframe manufacturer. A SLSA can be used for paid flight instruction, can be rented, and can perform towing; an ELSA cannot, therefore an owner may wish to return to SLSA status before selling to increase the aircraft's utility and possibly its selling price. For much more detail on SLSA and ELSA directly from FAA, click on this link to view or download their PDF file.

Aerotrek on Clamar Floats

"I do not sell Aerotrek 220s or 240s on floats," said Rob Rollison of Aerotrek when interviewed at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018. He refers to the taildragger or tricycle gear versions of the design. "I deliver on wheels but for $300, an owner can add the float option, which provides mounting brackets attached to specially-reinforced fuselage points.” Adding floats is then a matter of taking the newly certificated Aerotrek to a qualified installer who can work out the hardware and bracketry to mount straight (no wheels) or amphibious floats. Most sellers know of a few businesses who specialize in such work. A proper installer does more than supply the hardware and perform the installation. They also do critical measurements and calculations to establish the correct angle of incidence. On floats you cannot rotate for takeoff as you do on a landplane so whomever does this install needs to evaluate each aircraft based on its weight and balance in order to assure the right mounting position. This specialized skill is one obvious reason why Rollison does not sell on floats and why you must shift to ELSA status after taking delivery of your Aerotrek. To learn more about Aerotrek aircraft through many articles and videos, please visit their dedicated page here. * "Certificated" implies the earning of an Airworthiness Certificate. It does not mean "certified." Light-Sport Aircraft are technically not certified by FAA; they are "accepted" after the manufacturer has demonstrated full compliance to ASTM standards.

You have more privileges than you may know with your Light-Sport Aircraft. One of the more misunderstood aspects of FAA’s sweeping 2004 Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft regulation is ELSA or Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft. Some people call these “kit” LSA. While they can be sold that way, no percentage applies so a manufacturer could call an ELSA a kit by merely having the buyer apply a single decal. To gain its Special Airworthiness certificate, an ELSA must first be a bolt-for-bolt copy of the manufacturer’s Special or fully-built version of LSA. However, once certificated, the owner can begin to make changes on his or her own. They can also become qualified to do all manner of maintenance themselves, assuming they so desire. An Airframe and Powerplant mechanic (A&P) or Light-Sport Repairman – Mechanic (LSR-M) can also work on ELSA as they can SLSA. Once certificated and in his possession the owner can change to ELSA status allowing him or her to do almost anything …change avionics or even swap engines.

Sebring 2018 Is a Wrap; Numerous Sales = Broad Smiles

By Dan Johnson || 1 Comment

The fourteenth running of the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo is history and if this is how the rest of the year goes, I predict a stronger year for LSA sales. Vendors were smiling by the end of the show and a good many customers are now anticipating a shiny new aircraft in their hangar. Based on my unscientific survey of vendors, I would estimate at least 15 aircraft sales and possibly more as I did not query every vendor. Of course, airshow promises don't always materialize but regardless of the precise number, it was amply clear that Sebring — and similar focused-venue shows that confine themselves to LSA, light kits, and ultralight — still offer their magic in putting customers and sellers together.

An Aerotrek A240 sits by greenery with ELA gyroplanes in the background.

Several vendors told airport executive Mike Willingham about having "pages" of solid leads. Even non-LSA exhibitors such as Cirrus reported to him that they found good prospects at the show. This reflects what I perceived as very good foot traffic on all days of the event. While vendors form the information side of these views, the fact is that aviator buyers are still flocking to the many great choices in this segment of affordable aviation.

BasicMed and Focused Shows

By another view, the push by AOPA and EAA for BasicMed appears to have hardly affected Light-Sport Aircraft interest. In fact, BasicMed may be helping. While new opportunities now exist for older pilots to keep flying their older GA airplanes, BasicMed (see earlier article with comments) has enough hoops to jump through that some are obviously electing to continue using their driver's license paired with their existing pilot certificate to fly Light-Sport Aircraft.

Duc-Hélices props are seen on this handsome Viper SD4 but the French brand was all over the airfield.

Putting a finer point on it, I believe the reaction of many pilots demonstrates that a brand-new, affordable, high-tech, roomy, and well-performing LSA holds genuine appeal. Sebring is the granddaddy of these LSA, light kit, and ultralight shows. It has spawned similar events like the Midwest LSA Expo and the DeLand Showcase plus it has inspired shows like Copperstate and Arlington to keep a focus on more affordable, recreational aircraft. These new events are no challenge to the majors such as Sun 'n Fun (starting in barely over two months) and AirVenture Oshkosh but they have clearly won a place in the airshow circuit. Some find it curious that three of the best shows for these events are in Florida but the state is obviously a national center for recreational flying.

Interest in gyroplanes continues to grow based on scenes like this and reports of strong 2017 sales from multiple vendors.

Weather at Sebring was good this year although fairly windy on a couple of the days. However, plenty of flying still occurred and the gyroplanes in particular appeared to have no problem with the conditions. Even the Ford Trimotor * — one of two flying examples remaining — flew steadily, cancelling operations only on one afternoon. The number of exhibitors at Sebring, the volume of attendees and the seriousness of these pilots about buying, plus the range of aircraft options — in both types and cost — is but one part of the success story that is Light-Sport and experimental amateur built aircraft. For more about the continuing success of the Sport Pilot/LSA concept FAA introduced almost 14 years ago, read this article.

A young prospective aviator already has the outfit down pat as she speaks with Big Screw Tie Downs developer, Greg Palmer. Lots of young folks toured Sebring 2018.

As the last sentence suggests, the Sebring Expo owes some of its success to jumping in as LSA debuted on the aviation stage. Mike Willingham reported that while Expo has not profited from the show itself the event has nonetheless been a success for the airport by putting it squarely on the aviation map and by helping to attract several new tenants including the large facility operated by leading LSA purveyor Tecnam. (Watch for our interview with Tecnam COO, Giovanni Pascale Langer in the weeks ahead.) * For more about this fascinating corrugated metal aircraft from the 1920s, go here.

At the Drone Zone starting line a couple pilots showed sector fashions. The activity clearly attracts a young crowd.

The fourteenth running of the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo is history and if this is how the rest of the year goes, I predict a stronger year for LSA sales. Vendors were smiling by the end of the show and a good many customers are now anticipating a shiny new aircraft in their hangar. Based on my unscientific survey of vendors, I would estimate at least 15 aircraft sales and possibly more as I did not query every vendor. Of course, airshow promises don’t always materialize but regardless of the precise number, it was amply clear that Sebring — and similar focused-venue shows that confine themselves to LSA, light kits, and ultralight — still offer their magic in putting customers and sellers together. Several vendors told airport executive Mike Willingham about having “pages” of solid leads. Even non-LSA exhibitors such as Cirrus reported to him that they found good prospects at the show.

DeLand is Approaching… Video Deluge Brings Attention to Exhibitors You Will See

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

My video partner must be working around the clock as he prepared a blizzard of videos for release starting November 1st. As you see in the list below, 20 videos will soon be available. I hope you'll enjoy them. Besides giving you info on various aircraft to see at the event, we hope to encourage you to attend DeLand #2. Videos are great and in them we try to ask the questions you would ask and to show you things you'd look for if you attended. Good as videos are, nothing substitutes for you being present to ask and look yourself. I hope you can. Videoman Dave and I will be on-site all three days of the event. We will likely be a blur in motion dashing from one fetching aircraft vendor to another to gather more article material and video interviews. We also hope to record more Video Pilot Reports, as we did last year.

Mark Your Calendar… Videos: November 1st — Show: 2nd-3rd-4th

According to a local newspaper, "More than 6,000 people are expected on the DeLand Municipal Airport Thursday, November 2 through Saturday, the 4th, to inspect more than 100 aircraft." The reporter went on to say that DeLand expects to "top the 1,000 flight operations recorded last year." Hours all three days are 9 AM to 5 PM. General admission for adults costs $20 each day, or $40 for a three-day pass. Lower prices are available for youth aged 11-17 and kids under 10 get in free. The entrance and free parking for DeLand Showcase are off Industrial Way on the northwest side of the airport. Here's the posting schedule for the gusher of videos you can watch. All these aircraft are expected at DeLand.

  1. Photo courtesy Tecnam by Philip Whiteman

    Nov. 1, 2017 5 a.m. Tecnam Astore — Tecnam's low wing update that celebrated the 65th anniversary of this leading Light-Sport Aircraft producer from Italy. Tecnam is likely the world's leading producer of these aircraft and Astore is one of their newest. https://youtu.be/oTaWXgnZHUs
  2. Nov. 1, 2017 6 a.m. Zenith Aircraft — The 25-year-old kit company's CH 750 Cruzer is the speedier version of their ever-popular CH-701 and CH-750 models sometimes referred to as the Sky Jeep. It may not be shapeliest light aircraft but it can get out of the shortest airstrips. https://youtu.be/ioPY_PnMbMw
  3. Nov. 1, 2017 7 a.m. Aeroprakt A22 — From Ukraine comes one of the great bargains in light aviation with prices well below $100,000. The aircraft is also obvious for its major use of clear panels that assure wonderful visibility. Take the yoke and see for yourself. https://youtu.be/3qhbxWFdCFA
  4. Nov. 1, 2017 8 a.m. Aerotrek A220 A240 — The steady-Eddie of the LSA segment may be Aerotrek run by the ever-affable Rob Rollison. Through up years and down, Rob sells Aerotrek tricycles or taildraggers on a sane, predictable schedule that buyers appear to prefer. https://youtu.be/7ISH7ZqM4-Y
  5. Nov. 1, 2017 9 a.m. AutoGyro USA — One class of aircraft buys more Rotax 9-series engine than any other and by a good margin. That class is gyroplanes and AutoGyro is the largest producer. Now, Andy Wall is bringing the brand to America with a fresh, new look. https://youtu.be/2EUgcO5e5jg
  6. Nov. 1, 2017 10 a.m. Beringer Wheels and Brakes — Everyone likes get up and go but at the end of a flight you have to get down and stop. Beringer has leading expertise in abundance and offers beautiful, versatile systems to help you roll and brake smoothly. https://youtu.be/E7nVrcl2kz8
  7. Nov. 1, 2017 11 a.m. Ekolot Topaz — If Topaz has not caught your eye yet, you are in for a visual treat. Ekolot's smooth composite Topaz is as nicely appointed as they come and flies pleasantly to boot. Here's one that deserves your attention. https://youtu.be/c5tzmyiUgDE
  8. Nov. 1, 2017 12 p.m. Evektor Harmony — Harmony follows Evektor's SportStar, which will always enjoy the distinction as the very first Light-Sport Aircraft to win FAA acceptance. Harmony takes the highly evolved SportStar to a whole new altitude as one of the sector's best engineered aircraft. https://youtu.be/WtptDzfjx5o
  9. Nov. 1, 2017 1 p.m. Flight Design CTLS — For nearly every year Light-Sport Aircraft have been for sale, Flight Design's CT-series has lead the sales rankings and for good reason. It's fast, roomy, clean and smooth, and superbly equipped. At DeLand 2017, come meet the new group managing this venerable brand. https://youtu.be/wPpd6nuZ7YE
  10. Nov. 1, 2017 2 p.m. Groppo Trail — A lot of handsome airplanes originate in Italy, known for its stylish invention. Groppo's Trail is more the rough-and-ready version able to take on less improved airstrips. Now it's available in tricycle gear or taildragger form. https://youtu.be/6qZKtIkF0vQ

  11. Photo courtesy Just Aircraft by Wayne Whitley

    Nov. 1, 2017 3 p.m. Just Aircraft SuperSTOL — Just Aircraft was already well known for their popular Highlander but when designer Troy Woodland sharply upped the ante with SuperSTOL, eyes at airshows everywhere turned to watch this outstanding performer. Seeing is believing. https://youtu.be/bQFoznvOO_k
  12. Nov. 1, 2017 4 p.m. KitFox Light Sport Aircraft — One the industry's most familiar shapes is that of Kitfox, whose several models bear the original appearance even as the current company continues to refine and improve their models. Their airshow models are always superlatively finished. https://youtu.be/Gs2FUw0UsAg
  13. Nov. 1, 2017 5 p.m. SuperPetrel LS — This is one you tend not to forget as it is a very rare biplane seaplane. While it may have a unique look, it works as well on water as any light seaplane model I have flown. The Brazilian company has a base in Florida, not far from DeLand. https://youtu.be/Si2hkU_CwE8
  14. Nov. 1, 2017 6 p.m. Pipistrel Alpha — This Slovenian company is known for their smooth, slender (and long) winged models made entirely of composite structures. Alpha is their most affordable model and you should look it over carefully. https://youtu.be/litphoYQLOc
  15. Nov. 1, 2017 7 p.m. Powrachute Powered Parachute — Powered parachutes offer one of the best viewing platforms in all of light aviation. They are also easy to fly and have the lowest hourly requirement to get a Sport Pilot license. Powrachute is the biggest supplier and their models warrant careful examination. https://youtu.be/Rg42_i3EcEU
  16. Nov. 1, 2017 8 p.m. Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey — We enjoy several great LSA seaplanes but only one boasts a long track record with a large fleet and that is Searey. Made in kit form only for years, you can now buy one ready-to-fly. Searey is made near DeLand in Tavares, Florida ...right on a lake, of course. https://youtu.be/7O7t1nJGPxo
  17. Nov. 1, 2017 9 p.m. REV Part 103 Legal Ultralight Trike — Among trikes available, the most deluxe and finished model is Revo from Evolution Trikes. However, this Florida company also made the fabulous Part 103 Rev for those on a budget or just look for solo fun in a well-made trike. https://youtu.be/oMK8myarZ94
  18. Nov. 1, 2017 10 p.m. RV-12 light sport — From the world's largest producer of kit aircraft, Van's Aircraft can now offer a fully built Special LSA RV-12 version through a collaboration with longtime kit-building partner, Synergy Air. Most RV-12s have been sold as kits, at which Van's is deeply experienced. https://youtu.be/PwX8FbTWdNc
  19. Nov. 1, 2017 11 p.m. Sling Light Sport Aircraft — The Airplane Factory-USA represents the Sling models, including the two seat LSA model and a four seat Sling 4 model that is built as a kit. Both fly wonderfully and have proven themselves uniquely by flying around the world, multiple times. https://youtu.be/3W0xzh0F7yo
  20. Nov. 1, 2017 12 p.m. SportCruiser — Known to the general aviation crowd as the PiperSport (thanks to a brand they know well), SportCruiser was before and has been since Piper's involvement a good seller under its original name. https://youtu.be/QcjW_X2v9Y0

Live! Soon! Go!

Catch all these videos anywhere you like, but even better, make plans now to attend DeLand Showcase 2017. The weather has cooled from summer heat but it should still be in the high '70s, low '80s so it should be a great time to look at airplanes and other gear. As you enjoy all these free videos, I encourage you to visit Videoman Dave's YouTube channel and click here to support the work. You can see most of these videos featuring Dan Johnson right here.

My video partner must be working around the clock as he prepared a blizzard of videos for release starting November 1st. As you see in the list below, 20 videos will soon be available. I hope you’ll enjoy them. Besides giving you info on various aircraft to see at the event, we hope to encourage you to attend DeLand #2. Videos are great and in them we try to ask the questions you would ask and to show you things you’d look for if you attended. Good as videos are, nothing substitutes for you being present to ask and look yourself. I hope you can. Videoman Dave and I will be on-site all three days of the event. We will likely be a blur in motion dashing from one fetching aircraft vendor to another to gather more article material and video interviews. We also hope to record more Video Pilot Reports, as we did last year.

Big Boy Tires (and More) for One of the Most Popular Light-Sport Aircraft

By Dan Johnson || 1 Comment

­Aerotrek has steadily risen from an unknown brand to the #9 position in the all-time-fleet market share. The brand is one of only ten that have registered more than 100 aircraft in the United States. Excellent prices help but that's not the whole story. You hear about some of the top brands all the time but Aerotrek is a hare-and-tortoise story where steady progress wins over flashier marketing and wow features. At the heart of this success is Rob Rollison, arguably one of the most experienced men in the LSA space. Pilots Like 'em Big — It seems pilots love an ever-bigger engine. …or ever-bigger digital screens. …or ever-bigger cockpits. Indeed, pilots may like all those things bigger but tires go right along with the big thing. If "tundra" tires are good, then "Alaska" tires are better, and even bigger Alaska tires are just right. …apparently. Well, alrighty then. Aerotrek is ready for you, tire-wise. "Funny enough," Rob wrote, "for the last nine years since I also began bringing the Aeropro taildraggers into the U.S., where I originally only brought in the tricycle-gear planes. Our sales have been almost exactly 50/50 tricycle/taildragger. In the last 10 months, though, the ratio has swung heavily to tricycle-gear." Why? "I think there are a number of reasons, including the people buying planes tend to be those who had been holding back a bit waiting for the new Medical rules to be a great deal more liberal than they turned out to be. I think they were hoping for the same as our LSA, no-FAA-medical-required rules." "Also, about a year ago I began promoting our A240 tricycle-gear plane with tundra tires, and people are sort of eating ‘em up." Rob said most people now order their new A240 with the standard tires and wheel pants, "but also with the optional wide front fork kit so they can quick and easy switch between standard tires and wheel pants to biggie tundra tires." "Our regular A240 tundra tires are an 18-inch diameter tire on the mains and a 15-inch tire on the front. We can also put a 22-inch tire on the mains and an 18-inch tire on the front (photo)," explained Rob. "This works really, really well!" "Of course, with our A220 taildragger we can put even bigger tires on the plane." Pictured is the most recent A220 delivered with the 26-inch diameter Alaska Bushwheels tires. Regarding instrument panel options, Rob added, "Our latest-version instrument panel allows for an full-size (9.7-inch) iPad to be mounted on the panel horizontally with ADS-B showing the FAA aircraft traffic and weather. This makes for an extremely user-friendly and information rich panel that makes flying easier and safer. We offer the 2020-compliant ADS-B In/Out system for just $1,495 as an option for our planes."
I have known Rob Rollison for more years than either of us might feel comfortable acknowledging. We've both been in the sport and recreational aircraft scene for many years. Over those years, I have come to recognize Rob's wisdom and I enjoy asking him for his thoughts. Here's a sampling… Aerotrek kits — "I get lots of email and calls asking about 'kits.' We don’t sell kits, never have, and never will sell the Aeropro planes as kits (Aeropro is the European manufacturer of his Aerotrek aircraft.) "I refer them to [other companies] though they usually figure out they will probably do better to buy one of our ready-to-fly SLSA planes than buy a kit." Still climbing the charts — "Business is going good. We’re sold-out until the two planes that will arrive in early-November, and last week I sold one of those two planes." For years, Rob has sold out his aircraft in process. In speaking to many of his customers at airshows and elsewhere, I cannot think of one that did anything but rave about Rob's sense of customer service, no doubt a reason for his continuing success. “BasicMed” — "This thing has, from everything I can tell, turned-out to be a bummer/non-starter for just about everybody that might have been interested in LSA-type aircraft. Some of these were holding back, hoping that the pending new rules were going to just do away with the Third Class Medical completely.  Instead, what we got [BasicMed] really won’t work well, or whatsoever, for most people that might buy our sort of LSA planes. So, they are back." What Rob says here is similar to what I have heard from many other LSA or light kit vendors. While I hear the new program is working well for some GA pilots who want to keep flying their older certified fill-in-the-blank airplane, BasicMed nonetheless comes with complications and challenges. Meanwhile, Rob continues to rack up sales and climb the charts while putting smiles on the faces of his pilots. You have to applaud that performance.

­Aerotrek has steadily risen from an unknown brand to the #9 position in the all-time-fleet market share. The brand is one of only ten that have registered more than 100 aircraft in the United States. Excellent prices help but that’s not the whole story. You hear about some of the top brands all the time but Aerotrek is a hare-and-tortoise story where steady progress wins over flashier marketing and wow features. At the heart of this success is Rob Rollison, arguably one of the most experienced men in the LSA space. Pilots Like ’em Big — It seems pilots love an ever-bigger engine. …or ever-bigger digital screens. …or ever-bigger cockpits. Indeed, pilots may like all those things bigger but tires go right along with the big thing. If “tundra” tires are good, then “Alaska” tires are better, and even bigger Alaska tires are just right. …apparently.

US Flight Expo Wraps First Year Event in Arizona

By Dave Loveman || 2 Comments

Arion's sleek and slippery-looking Lightning is built in Shelbyville, Tennessee. It is available as a kit or Special LSA.

The Marana Regional Airport, in Marana Arizona was the site of the first annual U.S. Flight Expo May 3-6, 2017. The west coast of the U.S. appears to lack major aviation events of the sort commonly seen in the easter U.S. This is especially odd considering the large number of pilots and aircraft in western states! (Some have observed how western populations are spread over a much larger area, which possibly accounts for this disparity. —DJ) One of the most successful annual aviation events not sponsored by a member organization is the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring Florida, which will celebrate it’s 14th year in 2018! Others have followed (Midwest LSA Expo &DeLand) but these sector-specific shows are still concentrated in the east.

The tricycle gear version of the very successful Aerotrek line; A220 is the taildragger version.

So it was about time for another western event other than Copperstate, which will celebrate its 45th year in 2017. Using the template that original director Robert Woods used to make Sebring such a success, Greg Hobbs — one of the leading organizers of the U.S. Flight Expo — set out a year ago with a group of local aviation enthusiasts and volunteers to organize the show. This group deserves a great deal of credit for the time and hard work they put into laying out and setting up the show. Arriving aircraft exhibitors had easy access to their display booth’s and to the runway for demo flights.

Ed Ricks is now representing the Paradise from Brazil. After early success the brand disappeared but is now returning to the U.S. after a change of owners.

Those attending the show were treated to a range of Light-Sport Aircraft, from leading LSA manufacturers or their dealers. These included Lightning West with the Arion Lightning. John McBean sent a representative with a KitFox. Bryan Gorman from Certus Aircraft showed a SportCruiser. Ed Ricks brought a Paradise Aircraft P1. Jerry Hain displayed a beautiful Stemme motorglider. Director of Marketing, Rick Paul was on hand with the Merlin LSA from Glasair. Aeropilot USA dropped in with their L600. Arizona Ultralights had a number of aircraft on display including the Aerotrek A240 which they use in a flight training environment; they also exhibited a CGS Hawk, Quicksilver Sprint, and a fully functional and flying B1 RD antique ultralight from Robertson Aircraft. The latter dates back to the very earliest days of ultralight aircraft. For those interested in weight shift aircraft, Neil Bungard had both a single seat and two seat AirCreation trike on display and Evolution Trikes had a new REV single seat Part 103 ultralight weight shift trike.

B1 RD was a very early ultralight, a design by Robertson that put the engine up front and swung a large prop.

For those looking for information on Autogyro’s, CFI’s Britta Penca and Ben Pedersen representing AutoGyro Arizona were on hand. Aviation accessory suppliers Aircraft Spruce, California Power, Chandler Avionics, and Sensenich Propellers were on hand with product and staff to answer any questions attendees might have. For those looking for a real thrill rides were available in one of the few remaining B-25 bombers. One of my close friends had an opportunity to go up in it and he is still flying on cloud nine! Last but not least I have to give a shout out the the guys and gals from the Sky Ryder Café located by the main terminal of the airport. If you are ever in the area you need to drop in for great food and service in a one-of-a-kind setting. I hope to see you all next year at the U.S. Flight Expo in Marana, Arizona.

The Marana Regional Airport, in Marana Arizona was the site of the first annual U.S. Flight Expo May 3–6, 2017. The west coast of the U.S. appears to lack major aviation events of the sort commonly seen in the easter U.S. This is especially odd considering the large number of pilots and aircraft in western states! (Some have observed how western populations are spread over a much larger area, which possibly accounts for this disparity. —DJ) One of the most successful annual aviation events not sponsored by a member organization is the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring Florida, which will celebrate it’s 14th year in 2018! Others have followed (Midwest LSA Expo &DeLand) but these sector-specific shows are still concentrated in the east. So it was about time for another western event other than Copperstate, which will celebrate its 45th year in 2017. Using the template that original director Robert Woods used to make Sebring such a success, Greg Hobbs — one of the leading organizers of the U.S.

Aerotrek — A240 & trailer (0414)

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Aerotrek supplies a popular and well-priced everything but, you know, having a nice airplane isn't enough. Why not have a traveling hangar and home to go with your great Light-Sport Aircraft? With the money you save buying Aerotrek (half as much as some high-end LSA), you'll have money left over for other great toys, like a custom trailer. Your savings might not also cover the motorhome in this video, but watching may motivate you to work harder to acquire such a nice rig. Come have a look.

Aerotrek supplies a popular and well-priced everything but, you know, having a nice airplane isn’t enough. Why not have a traveling hangar and home to go with your great Light-Sport Aircraft? With the money you save buying Aerotrek (half as much as some high-end LSA), you’ll have money left over for other great toys, like a custom trailer. Your savings might not also cover the motorhome in this video, but watching may motivate you to work harder to acquire such a nice rig. Come have a look.

Aerotrek — A220 and A240 (04/13)

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Aerotrek and their dual models -- the A220 taildragger and the A240 trigear -- have been an impressive performer in the market share race, steadily moving up our chart. At Sebring 2013, we spoke with U.S. importer Rob Rollison about how these handsome, very well priced Special Light-Sport Aircraft can work in a flight school environment. Having acquired more than 1,500 hours in a training environment, Rob said the Aerotrek still looks and flies great and some European models have more than 4,000 hours. Hear more in this video.

Aerotrek and their dual models — the A220 taildragger and the A240 trigear — have been an impressive performer in the market share race, steadily moving up our chart. At Sebring 2013, we spoke with U.S. importer Rob Rollison about how these handsome, very well priced Special Light-Sport Aircraft can work in a flight school environment. Having acquired more than 1,500 hours in a training environment, Rob said the Aerotrek still looks and flies great and some European models have more than 4,000 hours. Hear more in this video.

Aerotrek — A220 & A240 (0912)

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

MIDWEST LSA EXPO 2012 -- One of our series of many short videos from the fall show, this one on the Aerotrek A240. We'll also consider the A220, the taildragger. Both these two Light-Sport Aircraft are selling well and no wonder. They have an excellent price (around $80,000 in 2012) yet they are made very well with quality evident with a close inspection. Join us for a few details.

MIDWEST LSA EXPO 2012 — One of our series of many short videos from the fall show, this one on the Aerotrek A240. We’ll also consider the A220, the taildragger. Both these two Light-Sport Aircraft are selling well and no wonder. They have an excellent price (around $80,000 in 2012) yet they are made very well with quality evident with a close inspection. Join us for a few details.

Aerotrek — A240 & A220

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Aerotrek is the new name for a pair of Special Light-Sport Aircraft, the tricycle gear A240 and the taildragger A220. These reasonably priced aircraft (mid-$60,000 range) offer a good cruise in a lightweight, quick handling aircraft. The wings fold easily so you can make a trailer your hangar.

Aerotrek is the new name for a pair of Special Light-Sport Aircraft, the tricycle gear A240 and the taildragger A220. These reasonably priced aircraft (mid-$60,000 range) offer a good cruise in a lightweight, quick handling aircraft. The wings fold easily so you can make a trailer your hangar.

Succeeding the Old Fashioned Way: Getting It Right

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Aerotrek importer boss Rob Rollison stands in front of his EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016 display.

Aerotrek importer boss Rob Rollison stands in front of his EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2016 display.

Media people (like me) flock to airshows looking for the new stories, new airplanes, new avionics, new company developments... whatever is new. Journalists pursue what's new because they believe that's what their customers readers want to read (or perhaps because it interests them as a writer). Nevertheless, sometimes the story is what's not new. Aerotrek, importer of the A240 and A220 has not made major changes to the aircraft.

Why? Simple. The airplanes don't need to change.*

Aerotrek's planes are very well built, fly predictably and efficiently, handle nicely and perform near the top of the category at modest operation cost. They are simpler, not fancy carbon fiber, but rely on trusted construction methods using familiar materials. As important as any quality, Aerotreks are modestly priced, affordable to many budgets.

Not breaking new ground means getting familiar ways down pat, honing the building skills and techniques to a fine degree. Aeropro in Europe can execute the aircraft in a repeatably professional manner. All this may not be as sexy as a flashy new design but once aloft, being able to depend on your flying machine is worth a lot.

One more thing. Always updating a product can add to the cost of production which has to raise the selling price.

In this panorama shot, you see the entire Aerotrek display. To the left is a handsome trailer that can house an Aerotrek under which the owner drives his late-model Corvette. Nice!

In this panorama shot, you see the entire Aerotrek display. To the left is a handsome trailer that can house an Aerotrek under which the owner drives his late-model Corvette. Nice!

Company owner Rob Rollison is a calm businessman who moves steadily toward his goals. Deep-voiced and intimately aware of his product Rob presents authoritatively with a broad smile. He has earned the trust of many airplane owners and has built a loyal following, people who have come to really like the Aerotrek aircraft and doing business with the importer.

A few of the Aerotrek owners assisting at Aerotrek's AirVentrure 2016 pose in front of a group of airplanes representing many of of the popular model variations offered.

A few of the Aerotrek owners assisting at Aerotrek's AirVentrure 2016 pose in front of a group of airplanes representing many of of the popular model variations offered.

Rob got into LSA early. He was the Flight Design CT dealer before the LSA rule was released. He has represented several brands and types over his years in business. These learning experiences brought him to Aeropro more than 13 years ago and he remains very happy with the supplier. Through the upheaval of the recession in 2008 and subsequent roller coaster ride, Aerotrek maintained a largely steady business while other company got in trouble.

At AirVenture Oshkosh 2016, Aerotrek exhibited nine airplanes on the field, challenging any other brand for most aircraft in their exhibit. You could see A220 taildraggers, A240 tricycle gear models in a number of bright colors and fitted with different landing gear from hard surface and wheel-panted tires to large tundra tires. As Aerotrek is distributor-direct-to-customer operation, the importer was aided in their Oshkosh display by owners of the aircraft available for visitors to review.

Aerotrek models come well equipped while offering a few options to allow you to personalize. All have folding wings, a task that can be done in 10 minutes ("easily") by a single person. A folded wing still supports itself through the clever design by Dean Wilson, the original creator of a good number of airplanes that look very similar. No wonder. Dean was a brilliant, efficient designer and this planform works very well. Why change what works?

* Aeropro has made numerous refinements over the years while sticking with a basic design that works well as is.

Media people (like me) flock to airshows looking for the new stories, new airplanes, new avionics, new company developments… whatever is new. Journalists pursue what’s new because they believe that’s what their customers readers want to read (or perhaps because it interests them as a writer). Nevertheless, sometimes the story is what’s not new. Aerotrek, importer of the A240 and A220 has not made major changes to the aircraft. Why? Simple. The airplanes don’t need to change.* Aerotrek’s planes are very well built, fly predictably and efficiently, handle nicely and perform near the top of the category at modest operation cost. They are simpler, not fancy carbon fiber, but rely on trusted construction methods using familiar materials. As important as any quality, Aerotreks are modestly priced, affordable to many budgets. Not breaking new ground means getting familiar ways down pat, honing the building skills and techniques to a fine degree.

The Age of YouTube & Video Pilot Reports

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Videoman Dave almost literally bending over backwards as he checks the Garmin VIRB camera on the SkyReach BushCat.

Ron Waechter poses beside his "Ferrari Red" Aerotrek as used for the VPR.

We look over the shoulder of SportairUSA's Bill Canino while flying the 180-horsepower Zlin Outback. Note the very light camping gear in the foreground; it all packs down small for bush duty.

Onboard the "see-through" Aeroprakt A-22 with U.S importer, Dennis Long.

When this website went live a few months before the Sport Pilot & Light-Sport Aircraft rule was announced at Oshkosh 2004, it began life as an archive of several hundred pilot reports I had written for a number of print magazines in aviation. That launch seems a long time ago ... it has been eleven and a half years. (Development started only a few years after the World Wide Web emerged and ByDanJohnson.com went live in April 2004.) One year after going live, I began to add news via a blog, which I called "Splog," for Sport Pilot web log. Videos started in 2008 and by 2015, news and video have become the primary content items. You might be surprised to hear ByDanJohnson.com predates YouTube, which began when three former PayPal employees created a video-sharing website. The Internet domain name YouTube.com was activated on February 14, 2005 and the website went public in November of that same year. Google subsequently bought it but even Google is only 17 years old; it went live on September 4th, 1998. New as it is in the world of aviation the SP/LSA rule is actually a couple months older than YouTube. I don't know about you but I find that rather amazing. For about seven years, Videoman Dave and I have been making 5-10 minute videos about Light-Sport Aircraft, light kit aircraft, ultralights, and light GA aircraft. We have partnered on more than 400 of these and many more are coming. See most of them here, organized for easier location, or find all of Dave's 1,000+ videos on his YouTube channel. Some of these are approaching one million views and the group generates more than 1.5 million minutes of viewing every month. Along the way we began to make what we now call Video Pilot Reports or VPRs. In the age of YouTube, this is the equivalent of detailed pilot reports or aircraft reviews I used to write for several aviation magazines. I find it exciting to return to the roots of this website albeit in the electronic form that dominates culture today. The videos are watched around the globe although I regret my Chinese readers cannot currently view these YouTube-hosted videos; perhaps things will change in that fast-evolving country. Making VPRs is significantly more work than doing the interviews that make up the bulk of our video library. These are longer videos, up to 30 minutes or so, sometimes broken into two parts. As we work on these videos, we are attracted to locations like Mt. Vernon, home to the Mid-West LSA Expo. We like the airport run by the very capable and popular Chris Collins as it is far easier to achieve these video productions. The airplanes are readily available and — after we've found camera locations and mounted them — we can in literally five minutes or less climb on board and be in the air. No other event, with the possible exception of Sebring, offers such swift access to the runway. Also, the airport itself is large and wide open and the surrounding area is accessible for in-flight maneuvering without having to stray too far away. That is hugely valuable. The work effort begins as we mount a number of cameras. We use up to seven Garmin VIRB cameras plus Dave uses his larger camera to shoot takeoffs and landings from the ground. To provide many views, VIRBs are mounted outside in multiple locations and we use three or more inside, two of which capture audio from our cockpit communications. The effort is broken into three segments. Shot on the ground before entering the cockpit we cover ... How and where the airplane is built, its construction and materials, the powerplant, gear, canopy, and other major or distinctive features. We present a basic description and may compare the subject to other aircraft. After entering the cockpit, we cover such "human factors" as entry, cockpit layout, visibility, seats and rudder pedal adjustment, ventilation, instrumentation, switches, and control systems along with any special characteristics of the subject aircraft. Finally, we roll out to the runway and go aloft for a 30-60 minute flight exploring taxi, ground steering and braking, takeoff techniques and measurement, evaluate initial and en route climb. We will do a full regimen of stalls including power-off or landing approach stalls, power-on or departure stalls, and accelerated or stalls in turns. We will evaluate handling qualities in dutch roll coordination exercises, do steep turns, turns-over-a-road, aileron- or rudder-only turning, and high and slow speed handling. We will measure high and low speeds and finally return to the airport for some landings, attempting to investigate (if conditions permit) normal, short, and soft field techniques with flap use and slipping as recommended. So, VPRs have become a valuable part of this website and the enterprise of Videoman Dave. I leave you with this thought: Every minute of the day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week ... 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. We are pleased to be part of that tsunami of content and hope you continue to watch and enjoy. As the Frito Lay company used to advertise about their Dorito-brand snack chips ... Consume all you want. "We'll make more." Even better than Doritos, all our videos are free.• In October Dave and I are traveling to the Flying Aviation Expo in Palm Springs, California and immediately afterward to the Copperstate show south of Phoenix where we will add many more videos to the library. • We offer our videos for free but they are definitely not free to make. Your support of Dave's YouTube channel and this website are essential if we are to keep making more.

When this website went live a few months before the Sport Pilot & Light-Sport Aircraft rule was announced at Oshkosh 2004, it began life as an archive of several hundred pilot reports I had written for a number of print magazines in aviation. That launch seems a long time ago … it has been eleven and a half years. (Development started only a few years after the World Wide Web emerged and ByDanJohnson.com went live in April 2004.) One year after going live, I began to add news via a blog, which I called “Splog,” for Sport Pilot web log. Videos started in 2008 and by 2015, news and video have become the primary content items. You might be surprised to hear ByDanJohnson.com predates YouTube, which began when three former PayPal employees created a video-sharing website. The Internet domain name YouTube.com was activated on February 14, 2005 and the website went public in November of that same year.

Midwest LSA Expo 2014 Highlights

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

The sixth annual Midwest LSA Expo just concluded. These LSA-only events offer a more intimate setting where you can speak at length with an aircraft or other product representative. They don't offer the dense traffic of the big shows but the valued trade off is that nearly everyone who shows is interested. People came from as far as California and I witnessed many demo flights. The Mt. Vernon airport is as good as it gets for this purpose with easy access to big broad runways and plenty of open airspace. Lead by energetic Chris Collins, a team of volunteers made it work again. When the event isn't swallowing all their time these folks have a little fun. Don't worry about the nearby picture; TSA and Homeland Security can calm down. This was a planned promotional venture on the side of a great new restaurant called Rare, a chop house. The airplane suffered a crash and the tail is all that escaped undamaged; thankfully, the pilot suffered only minor injuries. Now it's immortalized ... though the N-number was altered to protect the owner's privacy. Be creative and win an iPad. That's the news from Sportair USA, importer of TL Ultralights (Sting and Sirius) and the Savage line of "Cubalikes," to borrow Sportair boss Bill Canino's word. Now the "Cub" part has to go. "In our enthusiasm for the Cub-S we overlooked something when we introduced it at AirVenture 2013 in Oshkosh," said the Arkansas company. "The word 'Cub' is a registered trademark in the USA [that was purchased from the originator of the name, Piper]. Even though many manufacturers of kits and ready-to-fly airplanes do use Cub in the names of their products, that word belongs to someone who asked us to stop using it." Being a respectful company, Sportair will cease using the "Cub" name. Indeed, that's why they're using a contest to rename the airplane. Sportair sells variations called Savage Cub, Bobber, and Cruiser but it was the Titan Stroker 180-horsepower Savage Cub-S that really raised the red flag for the name owner, perhaps as Cub-S is only $128,000, tens of thousands less than some other Cubalikes! So, if you come up with a winning name for this powerful variant, you could win one of three prizes worth several hundred dollars. Visit Sportair's Name The Plane page. Looking all bush, Cub-S — as it shall be known for a short time — is capable of landing on a creek bed or a lumpy turf field. Bush capability on Light-Sport Aircraft is more available thanks to new product releases. At the Midwest LSA Expo, RANS displayed their S-20 Raven on big tundra tires (video coming) as did Just Aircraft and Aerotrek. The Indiana company that sells the affordable A240 trigear and A220 taildragger — with a list price of $88,950 — can now be ordered with large tundra tires and this is on a nose-dragger. Nearly always such bush capability comes on a taildragger which configuration is not right for everyone. Insurance companies know tailwheel training is less common than it was many years ago and therefore getting coverage may require more training or experience. With the A240 in tundra tires for the same low price, you can have bush capability without a large investment. Aerotrek is a stable and successful importer that has steadily climbed the market share ladder now appearing in 10th place nationally and their order book stays full. Just Aircraft just can't sit still on their SuperSTOL. The airplane is selling briskly and chief designer Troy Woodland keeps improving this amazing aerial animal. It's already a fascinating airplane to watch make incredibly short takeoffs and even shorter landings. Now, it will have even more control at its crawling approach speed because Troy added spoilers to the wings (arrow), joining movable slats, vortex generators, tip plates, and large-volume flaps. My longtime interest in gliders and soaring gives me familiarity with spoilers. I feel they are an underused flight control that can have a significant effect on the wing's lift and, unlike flaps, they can be retracted quickly without adverse results. Indeed, when I flew the Cumulus ultralight motorglider extensively I became very accustomed to using them intermittently, in short on-off bursts, to control approaches to landing. For a super-short-field performer like SuperSTOL, this may prove a compelling idea and one more reason to consider this intriguing design. Just Aircraft has sold more than 500 kits and is going strong ... no wonder with this steady development work they're doing. Rotax largely owns the LSA space so far as powerplants go at somewhere around 80% market share. Of course, Continental is never to be counted out with their O-200 series that lifts many airplanes including the new batch of "LSA 4.0" GA-like aircraft and Jabiru also serves both LSA and homebuilt fleets (the latter with no less than seven firewall forward packages). Plus, we have the D-Motor coming and Florida-based Viking remains busy in the homebuilt space. At the Midwest LSA Expo importer Robert Helm told us "most of the work is complete to make the ASTM declaration" for the UL Power engines to become available on Light-Sport Aircraft. The Belgium company hasn't made a final decision to enter fully built aircraft due to liability concerns but Robert says he's very busy handling warm response from homebuilders. He recently signed a deal with Wicks Aircraft to handle parts fulfillment, giving him more time to work with tech support for installers and maintainers. KMVN is one of the best places for my video partner and I to shoot video pilot reports (VPRs). Over three days, we gathered footage for several new video interviews and VPRs. For the first time we used a new set of the new Garmin VIRB cameras. We installed a total of six cameras in or on each airplane plus shooting takeoffs, landings, and low-and-slow passes. Doing these VPRs takes one to two hours each — 30-45 minutes just to mount all the cameras. The slower pace of Mt. Vernon is excellent for these more comprehensive video productions. Once we leave the field, the real post-production work begins but watch for videos on the 180-hp Savage Cub-S, Rans S-20 Raven, Zenith 750 Cruzer, ICP Savannah plus several new video interviews. We hope you'll enjoy them.

The sixth annual Midwest LSA Expo just concluded. These LSA-only events offer a more intimate setting where you can speak at length with an aircraft or other product representative. They don’t offer the dense traffic of the big shows but the valued trade off is that nearly everyone who shows is interested. People came from as far as California and I witnessed many demo flights. The Mt. Vernon airport is as good as it gets for this purpose with easy access to big broad runways and plenty of open airspace. Lead by energetic Chris Collins, a team of volunteers made it work again. When the event isn’t swallowing all their time these folks have a little fun. Don’t worry about the nearby picture; TSA and Homeland Security can calm down. This was a planned promotional venture on the side of a great new restaurant called Rare, a chop house.

Sebring No-Show Bargains Will Attend Sun ‘n Fun

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Photographed before snow invaded the Midwest, you see the very distinctive BushCat in Safari-wear.

Aerotrek is available in trigear or taildragger for a modest price.

The unique offering from Adventure Aircraft is going through flight trials (see video).

Not long ago, I posted about Kitfox tending to business and expressing regret that they chose to stay home in Idaho versus making the trip to the Sebring LSA Expo 2014. Team Kitfox was not the only one, however. In addition, AeroSport didn't bring their BushCat, nor did Aerotrek bring their A220 or A240, nor did Quicksilver show with their SLSA candidate, Sport 2S, or their joint venture Electric Motor Glider (a very cool project from the west coast about which I will do a further update in the future). The reasons for these no-shows were varied but the good news is that they'll be at Sun 'n Fun. Oh, and one more thing about all four aircraft mentioned below: each of them offers a purchase value that defies the current mindset about the cost of modern LSA. BushCat by SkyReach is one of those SLSA that easily answers the lament, "These LSA have become too expensive." Too many pilots say this without considering their other choices. Sure, if you want all-carbon fiber with huge glass panels, autopilots, and endless bells and whistles, you'll need to be prepared to pay for those goodies. They'll cost you a literal fraction of what the same gear on a new Type Certified aircraft will cost (for example, a new Cessna 172 lists for more than $400,000!). Yet if you need to watch your budget but desire a capable aircraft, BushCat offered in the USA by AeroSport has an answer. President Daniela Knoll wrote, "Unfortunately we had to cancel our flight to Sebring. The brutal temperatures we have been having in the Midwest are just horrendous." At the extreme temperatures the Midwest has seen this winter problems can arise with engines and other hardware so AeroSport made a decision based on safety. "We plan on being able to make it down for Sun 'n Fun as we also have a booth reserved," finished Daniela. Be sure to check out this modestly priced aircraft with its numerous unique features that make it stand out from the herd. Another no-show that wanted to be at Sebring was the also-reasonably-priced Aerotrek. Proprietor Rob Rollison wrote, "As much as I appreciate every opportunity and venue to display and promote our Aerotrek aircraft, [we are fortunate to be] sold-out until late-August 2014." Rob has been a steady participant at Sebring, and said, "Over the years the Sebring event has been very worthwhile because it is an event focused on LSA-type aircraft. So, even though we skipped Sebring for the first time this year, we have every intention of being there next year." Rob hasn't been sitting around idly though. He added, "At Sun 'n Fun 2014, we are increasing our aircraft display area. We'll be right across from Cessna at the East end of the Main Area." Why buy such a large space? Well, some ideas aren't ready for public distribution yet but a primary one we can talk about is the effort to create, as Rob put it, "a sort of an annual 'Aerotrek fly-in' for as many of our aircraft owners as can make it to this great event. So, we need lots more room for lots more planes at our display. One more company that was absent at Sebring but will be present at Sun 'n Fun is Quicksilver Aeronautics, and their joint venture with Adventure Aircraft and their Electric Motor Glider or EMG (see video below). Quicksilver, the producer of more than 15,000 kits over the years, has been head-down to earn their SLSA approval from FAA. The company was audited in December and is tweaking final elements to gain agency acceptance. They hope to roll out their new SLSA-version of the ubiquitous Sport 2S at Sun 'n Fun. The EMG is a fascinating project from LSA maintenance gurus Brian and Carol Carpenter. Their website has a great deal of info on their project but the goal is no less than a Part 103 electric-powered motorglider ... one that can accommodate other powerplants so as to remain versatile while electric power continues its furious pace of development. Thinking of aircraft like EMG, Chip Erwin — who debuted his superlight (Part 103-legal) and low priced Zigolo at Sebring — may show at Sun 'n Fun with the electric power version of this charming aircraft from Italy. You'll have lots to see at Sun 'n Fun 2014; I hope to see you in the Sunshine State! Here's a compilation video of the new EMG project:

Not long ago, I posted about Kitfox tending to business and expressing regret that they chose to stay home in Idaho versus making the trip to the Sebring LSA Expo 2014. Team Kitfox was not the only one, however. In addition, AeroSport didn’t bring their BushCat, nor did Aerotrek bring their A220 or A240, nor did Quicksilver show with their SLSA candidate, Sport 2S, or their joint venture Electric Motor Glider (a very cool project from the west coast about which I will do a further update in the future). The reasons for these no-shows were varied but the good news is that they’ll be at Sun ‘n Fun. Oh, and one more thing about all four aircraft mentioned below: each of them offers a purchase value that defies the current mindset about the cost of modern LSA. BushCat by SkyReach is one of those SLSA that easily answers the lament, “These LSA have become too expensive.” Too many pilots say this without considering their other choices.

Aerotrek Moves Up, Up, and Away (like Santa?)

By Dan Johnson || 2 Comments

Aerotrek's A220 taildragger fitted with Alaskan Bushwheels' Airstreak 26-inch tires.

Wheel penetrating skis allow snowy operations.

Aerotrek has attracted owner participation on its Sun 'n Fun display space.

Thanks to U.S. Sport Aircraft for loaning Santa a SportCruiser this year.

You may have missed it. If so, this article provides another look at a LSA provider that I consider something of a "sleeper" ... and if you do not know that term, it's meant to be positive yet refer in this case to a company that does its thing well if somewhat quietly. I am writing about Aerotrek Aircraft and its two models, the taildragging A220 and the trigeared A240. These airplanes may look familiar — itself a good thing as they are based on a very well proven original design — yet they have seen steady updating and improvement that makes a distinct airplane as we head into 2014. Proprietor Rob Rollison has shown a very steady hand at the tiller and recently updated his company's news. "Sales of our Aeropro planes continue to be good — sold out until late-August 2014," wrote Rob. "We will show 10 planes delivered in calendar year 2013." However, his company also sold one to Mexico, so that one will not show up on our third quarter 2013 market share report to be published next week. Two more Aerotreks are aboard an ocean freighter so will be counted as 2014 deliveries. Another pair are reported complete but will not be shipped until after the new year. This suggests Aerotrek will continue a steady climb up from 2013. (Spoiler alert: Aerotrek will rise into the Top Ten this year.) "From European producer Aeropro's view, they completed 14 planes to ship to Aerotrek in 2013," Rob noted. He added that the conservative manufacturer might have shipped even more but has devoted resources to planning installation of Rotax's 912iS fuel-injected engine for possible future sale. "Also, the UK market is presently very good," so some production has been diverted to England. Undeterred by these non-U.S. demands, Rob hastened to add, "Aeropro continues to be great to work with." Earlier in 2013 for the bush piloting enthusiast Aerotrek began offering the 26-inch Airstreak tires as an option for their A220 taildraggers. Since we're now in the snow season at least in the northern climes, the Indiana importer also has wheel-penetration snow skis available for the taildragger. Aerotrek buys these from Summit Aircraft in Oregon. The first installation went on Karen Smith's A220 in Canada with more presently being installed on an A220 in eastern Pennsylvania and in Alaska. Early adopter Karen gave the skis a great report. Having referenced a female owner/pilot, it's worth adding that in 2013, three A220 taildraggers have gone to women pilots: Karen in Ontario; Patty Yould in Alaska; and Brenda Richards in San Jose, California. Welcome to all three adding to the guys that have bought and enjoy Aerotrek LSA. It's all good for Aerotrek it seems so this last bit is worth observing: the company will not be at Sebring 2014, their first absence if I recall accurately. Rob wrote, "I hate missing [the upcoming event]," but because he has committed to enlarging his space at Sun 'n Fun and has long run his business carefully plus with deliveries already quoting well into 2014, he made the tough decision. "I expect to display at Sebring again in 2015," he assured. The new Aerotrek space at Lakeland Linder airport is a big corner location near the east gate out to the runway, "almost in sight of Paradise City and across from Cessna." Why does the company need such a large space? Well, Rob is keeping one idea a secret for now but another is this: "Starting at Sun 'n Fun 2014, I'm planning to start making this sort of an annual 'Aerotrek fly-in' and see if we can get a dozen or more of our aircraft owners joining us." He's done well at attracting customers in the past and, given steady sales success, believes he will need "lots of room for lots of planes!" Good for Aerotrek! As this goes to pixels on Christmas Eve, let me wish our readers a very Merry Christmas! All of us hope all of you can enjoy a fine holiday with your families. We sure appreciate your regular visits to ByDanJohnson.com and we want your holidays to be warm and wonderful.

You may have missed it. If so, this article provides another look at a LSA provider that I consider something of a “sleeper” … and if you do not know that term, it’s meant to be positive yet refer in this case to a company that does its thing well if somewhat quietly. I am writing about Aerotrek Aircraft and its two models, the taildragging A220 and the trigeared A240. These airplanes may look familiar — itself a good thing as they are based on a very well proven original design — yet they have seen steady updating and improvement that makes a distinct airplane as we head into 2014. Proprietor Rob Rollison has shown a very steady hand at the tiller and recently updated his company’s news. “Sales of our Aeropro planes continue to be good — sold out until late-August 2014,” wrote Rob. “We will show 10 planes delivered in calendar year 2013.” However, his company also sold one to Mexico, so that one will not show up on our third quarter 2013 market share report to be published next week. Two more Aerotreks are aboard an ocean freighter so will be counted as 2014 deliveries. Another pair are reported complete but will not be shipped until after the new year. This suggests Aerotrek will continue a steady climb up from 2013.

2012 LSA Market Shares — Cubs & Surprises

By Dan Johnson || 3 Comments

Our annual review of LSA Market Share brings our updated fleet chart and a second chart showing prior-year registrations. While sales of new SLSA remains below par, the market appears to be experiencing spotty but regular recovery from earlier low points. The first half the year foretold a better recovery but the last half of the year stalled somewhat. Regardless, based on traffic to this website, LSA interest is higher than ever. For January 2013, ByDanJohnson.com set all-time records in Unique Visitors and all other measuring criteria Thank you for your support! 2012 Market Share report — Nearby, we present our standard market share numbers. Our original chart remains consistent, illustrating the "installed base," or "fleet size." Because we know many of you seek recent-year information we are repeating the Calendar Year chart that debuted last year. For the second year in a row Cessna lead in 2012 with an impressive 94 registrations though this is down 30% from 134 in 2011. While Cessna looked to set a new record with 76 registrations (152 annualized) in the first half of 2012, their pace slowed sharply in the second half, adding only 23, perhaps a result of their announcement about switching to Primary Category as a means of entering the European market. The Wichita giant is singlehandedly restarting Primary Category with the first such application in nearly 20 years, a decision that may inspire other companies to go this route. Perhaps the most noteworthy story in 2012 registrations is an even better performance by CubCrafters. The Washington State company added 48 new registrations, up 33% from 36 in 2011. Company marketing boss John Whitish reported 52 SLSA sales, which prompts us to ask that you read the notice at the end of this article. Congratulations to CubCrafters, clearly a company to keep watching. A remarkably steady climber is Aerotrek, which took the #3 slot for 2012 registrations, a notable improvement from their #5 spot in 2011. Despite some reports that all SLSA are expensive, Aerotrek has a very attractive price point and an impressively built, folding wing aircraft available in tailwheel or trigear. Aerotrek consistently replies to our listings, with the goal of making our FAA registrations report more precise. This happens, for example, when sales occur to Canada with no N-number assigned or when a SLSA drops down to ELSA perhaps as the owner wants to make design changes (which is allowed as is owner maintenance). Other companies also see differences explained by deregistration, accidents that remove the aircraft from the registry, or simple errors in data entry after a sale. Regardless of the variables in counting registrations versus sales, bravo to Aerotrek! Based on their faithful feedback we have been able to improve our accuracy. Other top guns in 2012 include perennial leaders like Flight Design, which remains convincingly atop the overall fleet and added 11 more registrations during the year and American Legend which revived from a sluggish 2011 to add 11 SLSA in 2012. SportCruiser importer US Sport Aircraft fulfilled the last of the PiperSport orders and rewrote their distributor agreement with Czech Sport Aircraft; they added another 10 SLSA in 2012. In a pleasant but unexpected turn, importer Phoenix Air USA added an impressive 10 SLSA registrations of their extremely lovely motorglider. Congratulations to all these leaders. A member of the exclusive Over-100 Club listing only eight SLSA producers is Tecnam. The Italian company showed renewed vigor logging six registrations in the second half of the year. They also successfully completed an FAA audit in Italy. Among their five SLSA models, four are high-wing models yet their low wing Sierra has 51 units flying in America, more than any other Tecnam model. Another European producer with facilities in Italy is Pipistrel, which overcame regulatory hurdles in mid-year and has begun delivering SLSA to Americans. They also logged six in the last half of the year. Both Tecnam and Pipistrel report active sales outside the USA. Unfortunately, one former high flyer, Remos, lost its U.S representative and has become very quiet though earlier this year, their CEO said they had recovered from the previous CEO's high-spending ways. We are watching a few companies not on our fleet chart. One new entry to the SLSA scene is Bristell, in a new partnership with fractional ownership provider, AAP. They join some other companies that have not been active long enough to get on the fleet chart, but nonetheless deserve attention. These companies include World Aircraft Co., which is bringing all production to their Paris, Tennessee facility. Breezer is now established on the Sun 'n Fun campus and more is expected from them. Sky Arrow producer Magnaghi has new life and may resurge. Aero's AT-4 (formerly known as Gobosh) is back with new representation. Just Aircraft got rave reviews on their SuperSTOL model and this mostly kit company is enjoying a solid run of business something like 100% kit producers Zenith Aircraft and Sonex. While mentioning kit builders (not on our SLSA list), we must include Van's Aircraft, which has seen registration of 203 RV-12 kits. We are also watching the pulse on seaplanes lead this year by Progressive Aerodyne, which earned SLSA approval even as FAA increased their oversight via highly detailed audits. Congratulations to the SeaRey team for this significant accomplishment. This brief look at the LSA market is not complete. One observation is that the "All other producers" category is now the largest percentage, indicating small producers continue to develop sales. Some companies not reflected in our Top-20 and Top-10 charts may emerge into these lists in the future. Others that have been in the Top-20 but which are no longer producing new aircraft were omitted. However, all SLSA models are covered in our SPLOG reports and you may also examine our Featured Aircraft (right column of most pages) for more exciting Light-Sport Aircraft and other aircraft Sport Pilots can fly. As I have said for years, a loud shout-out is owed to Jan Fridrich of the Czech LAA for the LSA Market Share report. Jan is also head of LAMA Europe and a tireless worker for the advancement of Light-Sport aviation. He invests many hours to analyze data for each report. Thanks, Jan, on behalf of all ByDanJohnson.com readers. During 2013, we will work to solicit comments from producers to evaluate the sales versus registration numbers. This is not an easy task and no promises are made yet the effort seems worthwhile in the pursuit of better information. Notice: As always, we observe for you that all numbers here are derived from FAA's N-number registration database and are subject to data entry errors. Figures presented are not identical to sales recorded by the companies though over time the numbers draw closer. UPDATE 2/13/13: GAMA held a press conference today where they released their industry numbers. Get more on GAMA here, but this is where their figures relate to the Light-Sport market. Piston aircraft, singles and twins, suffered a minor drop, only 1.9% down; GAMA did list some LSA in their report but did not use them in summary tables. Turbines were up and GAMA added agricultural crop-spraying planes to their membership; many ag planes are turbine powered. Jets were down slightly more at minus 3.4%. Like the Light-Sport industry, GAMA is hoping for improvement in 2013 and they announced some interesting initiatives to this end.

Our annual review of LSA Market Share brings our updated fleet chart and a second chart showing prior-year registrations. While sales of new SLSA remains below par, the market appears to be experiencing spotty but regular recovery from earlier low points. The first half the year foretold a better recovery but the last half of the year stalled somewhat. Regardless, based on traffic to this website, LSA interest is higher than ever. For January 2013, ByDanJohnson.com set all-time records in Unique Visitors and all other measuring criteria Thank you for your support! 2012 Market Share report — Nearby, we present our standard market share numbers. Our original chart remains consistent, illustrating the “installed base,” or “fleet size.” Because we know many of you seek recent-year information we are repeating the Calendar Year chart that debuted last year. For the second year in a row Cessna lead in 2012 with an impressive 94 registrations though this is down 30% from 134 in 2011.

Sunny Skies for England’s LAA Rally

By Dave Loveman || Leave a Comment

Fokker Eindecker replica photo by Dave Unwin

Aeropro EuroFox (Aerotrek in the USA) photo by Dave Unwin

New Groppo Trail with 85-hp Sauer S2200UL engine photo by Dave Unwin

Lambert 108 photo by Dave Unwin

Pioneer 300 retractable version photo by RJ Seed

See more of Dave's work at DaveUnwin.com

Our roving British journalist, the always-entertaining Dave Unwin, reports on the UK's LAA Rally event, giving ByDanJohnson.com readers a taste of light aviation in England. After an even grimmer British summer than usual — we've just experienced the "wettest drought" since records began; a dry spring followed by flooding rains — the weather Gods smiled benignly on the 2012 LAA Rally. The Rally is basically the UK's version of Oshkosh (albeit several orders of magnitude smaller) and is run by the Light Aircraft Association, formerly the PFA or Popular Flying Association, which is the Limey equivalent of the EAA. The event has been staged at several different airfields over the years, and is currently held at Sywell in Northamptonshire. Despite the parlous state of the economy, this year's Rally had a real buzz, and it wasn't just all the two-stroke engines. In spite of EASA's best efforts it would seem that the lighter side of UK aviation continues to thrive. There were dozens of different engine and airframe manufacturers, plus lots of other types of traders, and the "aero-jumble." SSDR aircraft (roughly the British equivalent to America's Part 103 —DJ) generated a lot of interest, and the Airbike, GSAL Eindecker and Reality Aircraft Kid all appeared attractive options for the cost-conscious fun-flyer. I also saw plenty of interest in the EuroFox glider tug. I had witnessed a demonstration a few months previously, when a Eurofox (Americans know Aeropro as Aerotrek —DJ) proved what a capable tug it is by towing a Pilatus B-4. As an experienced tug pilot myself, I must say that the climb rate looked impressive. It was interesting to see the partly-finished fuselage of a Groppo Trail, which was fitted with a Sauer S2200UL engine. This 85-hp air-cooled flat-four is based on the ubiquitous VW 'Beetle' engine, and is about half the price of an 80-hp 912S. The Trail is also an interesting machine in its own right. The folding wings should certainly help reduce hangarage costs. The designer of the 'Flitzer' biplane, Lynn Williams, was at the show and delighted in showing me some very interesting drawings for several different aircraft, including a two-seat Flitzer and a scale replica of the Polikarpov I-16 "Rata." Now fitted with the Rotax 912iS, the Belgium-designed Lambert 108 Mission also drew considerable interest. I lucked out on the Sunday, when an old friend suddenly and unexpectedly found himself with two aircraft that needed to be flown home. The choices were an immaculately restored Auster, or a very nice Pioneer 300. As I've never flown an Auster I liked, I chose the Pioneer 300. This is a super little aircraft, from Italian airframer Alpi Aviation. Although its retractable undercarriage, constant-speed prop and 130 knot cruise speed preclude it from being registered in the US as an LSA, at only 560 kilograms (1,232 pounds) it is certainly light enough! As the photos show, the weather really was most agreeable, which probably explains the 1,900 movements over the three days, with 865 on the Saturday alone. In conclusion, not the busiest LAA Rally I've ever attended, but still a great little show.

Our roving British journalist, the always-entertaining Dave Unwin, reports on the UK’s LAA Rally event, giving ByDanJohnson.com readers a taste of light aviation in England. After an even grimmer British summer than usual — we’ve just experienced the “wettest drought” since records began; a dry spring followed by flooding rains — the weather Gods smiled benignly on the 2012 LAA Rally. The Rally is basically the UK’s version of Oshkosh (albeit several orders of magnitude smaller) and is run by the Light Aircraft Association, formerly the PFA or Popular Flying Association, which is the Limey equivalent of the EAA. The event has been staged at several different airfields over the years, and is currently held at Sywell in Northamptonshire. Despite the parlous state of the economy, this year’s Rally had a real buzz, and it wasn’t just all the two-stroke engines. In spite of EASA’s best efforts it would seem that the lighter side of UK aviation continues to thrive.

First Half 2012 LSA Registration Update

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

BRM Aero's Bristell appears to be an up-and-comer.

Jim Lee has quietly been logging a slew of orders for his smooth motorglider.

Aerotrek continues to be a solid selling aircraft, and offers one of the lower price points among LSA.

We've been getting requests for market share information and I am happy to provide an update, thanks to my European associate Jan Fridrich who does the hard work of sifting through FAA's database. I remind you that his efforts are not merely tallying whatever FAA publishes. In fairness, Jan has to evaluate many pieces of information and judge accuracy of the entries. This isn't because FAA's registrars are bumbling fools that cannot enter data accurately. The challenges come from sheer number of brands (90) and models (127) over a mere seven years... unprecedented in aviation history. To that add the variations of Experimental Amateur Built (EAB), Special Light-Sport Aircraft (SLSA), Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft kits (ELSA) and converted two-place ultralights to LSA status. Then factor in that some standard category or homebuilt aircraft meet the LSA parameters of weight and speed and such so some people consider them "LSA," when in fact they mean they can be flown by some possessing a Sport Pilot certificate. My onetime EAA associate Ron Wagner coined the phrase "Sport Pilot eligible" to describe these aircraft. So now we come to the first half of 2012. Cessna appears the clear and away winner of the registration sweepstakes with an impressive 71 registered aircraft logged in six months (11.8/month). Jan reports a good number of these are registered in Cessna's corporate name so they do not equate to deliveries though they are newly hatched LSA. In all of 2011 Cessna registered 11.2/month so Shenyang Aircraft in China is finding a steady pace of production. Following well behind but still leading the rest of the pack is CubCrafters with 28 more registrations in the first half (4.7/month), a faster pace than their 2011 performance of 36 (3.0/month), indeed greater than 50% more production than last year when they also came in second after Cessna. American Legend managed to slightly up their 2011 pace to register seven new LSA in the first six months of 2012, trailed by Flight Design with six, followed by a tie between Jabiru U.S. and SportCruiser at five each. One surprise is Phoenix, the sleek motorglider builder, whose U.S. importer registered four in 2012 but reports having sold 20. "We cannot keep up with orders from customers," Jim Lee reports, "even though the production rate has increased." Bristell registered three and was followed by a chain of companies registering two apiece: Arion and their Lightning, Renegade and their Falcon, World Aircraft and their Spirit, and Canadian Light Aircraft and their Bush Caddy. Quite a few more companies at least got on the log and I think it's fair to say the first half of 2012 represents an improvement over 2011. That's great and we'll hope for more progress in the Light-Sport Aircraft sector. Update 9/5/12 — Shortly after we released the nearby chart, we heard from Aerotrek that we had undercounted their registrations. Besides our regrets — we do strive for accuracy — we repeat the comment that FAA's database can be a confusing place. Aerotrek's Rob Rollison sent detailed information to support his registration of six new LSA (the earlier report was for two) in the first half of 2012. He reported three each of the A240 tricycle gear models and A220 taildragger models were registered. Aerotrek continues to enjoy positive developments. In defending his registrations, Rob wrote, "Every plane I receive from [manufacturer] Aeropro is already sold — we are sold-out eight months in advance at the present time (and it's been this way for over a year)." Contratulations to Aerotrek and Aeropro. We looked into the data more deeply and corrected the chart. DISCLAIMER: As always we remind readers that the information presented in the text above and in the nearby graph is derived from registrations as logged by FAA Registration Branch. Figures are not sales or deliveries though over time, these values will tend to be very close. Also, the registration database used for this report may no longer include aircraft that were removed from the registry, slightly altering the numbers. Such removals can occur when an aircraft is shipped out of the USA, is destroyed by an accident, or is taken from Special LSA category to another category like Experimental LSA. Every effort has been made to report the most accurate information available.

We’ve been getting requests for market share information and I am happy to provide an update, thanks to my European associate Jan Fridrich who does the hard work of sifting through FAA’s database. I remind you that his efforts are not merely tallying whatever FAA publishes. In fairness, Jan has to evaluate many pieces of information and judge accuracy of the entries. This isn’t because FAA’s registrars are bumbling fools that cannot enter data accurately. The challenges come from sheer number of brands (90) and models (127) over a mere seven years… unprecedented in aviation history. To that add the variations of Experimental Amateur Built (EAB), Special Light-Sport Aircraft (SLSA), Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft kits (ELSA) and converted two-place ultralights to LSA status. Then factor in that some standard category or homebuilt aircraft meet the LSA parameters of weight and speed and such so some people consider them “LSA,” when in fact they mean they can be flown by some possessing a Sport Pilot certificate.

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