Once we had Avid Flyer. It begat Kitfox, which begat many models before returning to the starting point by creating a Part 103 ultralight vehicle* called Kitfox Lite …what else? At that time Kitfox was owned by its principal, Dan Denney.
A good marketer Denney’s Kitfox once employed a whole staff of sales people following up on loads of leads that the then-new design was generating. Even now, decades later, Kitfox, doing business as Fox Air, is building one of the most successful kit-plane designs in aviation history. (For the facts and market position of Kitfox visit our Tableau Public page of LSA and SP kit statistics.)
While the Dan Denney version of Kitfox Inc., addressed strong demand, they also began working to widen the market they served. Kitfox had found success as a two seater in various configurations but did a market exist for a single seater?
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Flying Into Oshkosh — An Eye-Opener, but What If You Were Really Young, and in an Ultralight Aircraft?
Happening right now as this is written …a young pilot, with impressive support from his father and sister, is flying to Oshkosh. Have you ever done it?
I’ve frequently had the pleasure to fly into KOSH during the show. Every time, it’s been an eye opening experience, literally and figuratively. See this article describing one such experience.
Now, imagine making such an epic arrival in an ultralight aircraft… ‘er vehicle, cruising at 40-50 mph. Of course, a Part 103 ultralight means flying solo, so you do your own head-swiveling to look for traffic. Your planning better be solid to make this a reasonable task.
Go even further and imagine doing all this while you are 14 years old! Sound crazy? Yeah, it might seem that way but in an hour-long conversation with father William Scott, I came to admire the preparation for son Henry Scott‘s flight.
Celebrating 15 Years of Reporting Light-Sport Aircraft, Sport Pilot Kits, and Ultralight Aircraft
After the rush of daily reporting from Sun ‘n Fun 2019 and Aero Friedrichshafen 2019 and after a short break following these wonderful, if intensely busy, shows — it’s slightly past due to wish this website a Happy 15th Anniversary!
From a handful of readers back in 2004 — when the World Wide Web was a mere nine years old — today this website reaches a global audience that draws more than 60,000 monthly viewers.
ByDanJohnson.com launched April 1st, 2004. This seemed clairvoyant when later that year, the long-awaited Light-Sport Aircraft / Sport Pilot regulation was released (in September of 2004).
In that decade and a half, the LSA or LSA-like fleet around the world has swelled to more than 66,000 aircraft (see our chart) and this website communicates to nearly all of them sometime during every month. Viewed globally, this remains aviation’s fastest-growing sector and we try to cover it all.
Sun ‘n Fun Day 1 — Affordable Aircraft: CGS Hawk Ultra, Evolution RevX, Kolb Trifly, Thatcher CX5
Videoman Dave and I never left Paradise City’s exhibits in our first day of video interviews. Yet we found several airplanes worth reviewing that fit comfortably into the affordable aviation space this website reports.
Hawk Ultra — Despite some speculative rumors, all is well with the dual CGS Hawk project involving two-seat Hawk specialist and primary components fabricator Terry Short paired with the father and son team of Bob and LB Santom handling the single place Hawk 103, Hawk Ultra and Hawk Plus.
Hawks developed a strong following in the U.S. and several countries with more than 2,000 flying. As the design emerged in 1983, it was only single place. Once Part 103 aircraft were growing and need for a two-seat trainer became apparent, the Hawk Arrow series debuted in several variations. With one or two seats, Hawks won a place in the hearts of many aviators and that continues unabated to this day.
Aero Adventure, Offering Affordable Seaplane Fun at DeLand (FL) Airport
In mere days now, DeLand Showcase starts. The new event closes out the year’s shows. Find out more at their website.
DeLand is a thriving year-round sport and recreational flying airport. It has very long been established as one of the world’s premiere skydiving centers. More than 30 parachuting-oriented enterprises employing hundreds of people keep DeLand humming all year with skydiving activity. It is known around globe by enthusiasts.
Matter of fact, the timing of the DeLand Showcase leaned heavily on what Showcase director Jana Filip found upon collaborating with the skydiving community as she chose a date.
Early November offers reasonably predictable weather and, true to form, the first two years of this show were wonderful with temperatures in the low 80s and lots of blue sky. I have my fingers crossed for a repeat of this year, but its hard to dispute years of carefully kept records by the skydivers — who also depend on good weather.
Sun ‘n Fun Day 2 — Just Aircraft Solo 103, LSA Mall, and DeLand’s Reception
After a damp opening day, the sun returned on day #2 at Sun ‘n Fun 2018. A beautiful blue sky was enjoyed by crowds that appeared to grow quickly. Many likely saw yesterday’s forecast and put off attending for that day. By the end of Wednesday, though, parking aircraft filled the grounds, nearly every one of 58 display spaces in Paradise was occupied, and campgrounds were reported so full that additional area was opened.
The LSA Mall hosted by LAMA also filled up to include quite an eclectic collection of light flying machines from a 140-pound twin-engine genuine Part 103 ultralight homebuilt (Lightning Bug), a one-of-two-in-the-USA motorglider to highly affordable choices, speedy LSA cruisers, and bush-ready aircraft.
DeLand Showcase, the new airshow in early November (1st-2nd-3rd in 2018) sponsored a reception and attracted a large crowd that was fed a wonderful meal, served drinks, and entertained by live music all within clear view of the light plane area turf runway.
New from Aero Adventure: Powerful Aventura S-17 (Still a Bargain)
Today I got a good look at the new Aventura S-17 built in DeLand, Florida — also home of the Aerolite 103 and the DeLand Showcase …plus a large volume of sky diving.
In a word, S-17 is hot! One word is not enough, though. This light kit seaplane is also an unusually good value for a long-proven airframe that Aero Adventure has significantly beefed up.
The business is Aero Adventure, run by Alex Rolinski who bought the well-known design five years ago. He’s a high-energy fellow who quit his bank officer job to go full time and the operation has plenty to keep him busy.
S-17 gets its name from the use of a AeroMomentum Suzuki-based engine outputting 117 horsepower. By using an infusion process rather than hand layup fiberglass, Aero Adventure reports saving substantial weight while maintaining strength. “Yes, it’s more work work to use this method,” said Alex but the time consuming process more than offsets the 30 or so extra pounds of AeroMomentum’s AM 15 compared to a Rotax 912.
DeLand Showcase 2017 Records Growth — Customers Flew & Bought — Vendors Smiled
The second year of the DeLand Showcase is over. Most folks I asked judged it a success. Year #2 year of this three-day event again logged weather that could not have been better. Sunny blue skies dappled with puffy Cumulus clouds, modest winds, and temperatures in the 80s (high 20s C° for our metric readers). DeLand is two for two!
What more could you ask? Well, that depends.
Customer traffic “was up every day over the same day last year,” observed show director Jana Filip. That is certainly trending the right direction. Was it enough growth to satisfy a key component of these shows, the vendors? That depends on whom you ask.
One prominent company told me they did not know if they’d be back next year, but few will be surprised to see them return anyway. After spending money on the exhibit space and the logistics of moving aircraft, preparing for the show, and housing staff on-site, vendors seem ever to yearn for more “foot traffic.” While acknowledging the yearning, most sales pros know that the question that truly counts is… Did enough customers show enough interest that you took orders or at least obtain qualified leads?
You Love YouTube Videos. We Love YouTube Videos. See a Batch as DeLand 2017 Arrives!
Are you a YouTube fan? I don’t mean the company or its owner Google/Alphabet (which has removed videos for reasons only a YouTube censor could comprehend). What I’m a fan of is YouTube content creators.
Like literally billions of other people, I’ve come to depend on YouTube videos, whether for pure entertainment or when I’m trying to fix something in my house or on my car. As you probably know, YouTube will almost certainly have not one video to help or delight you, but dozens …on the same topic. More than 300 hours of video are uploaded to Google’s computers every minute of the day, 24×7. Amazing! More than 5 billion videos are watched every day by more than 1.3 billion people (and that’s without China’s 1.3 billion people as the government does not allow YouTube in that nation).
However, this post is not to sing the praises of YouTube but to bring to your attention the yeoman’s work done by my video partner, Dave Loveman, whom I’ve come to call “Videoman Dave,” because unlike yours truly, he tends to shy away from being the on-camera guy or even promoting his name.
DeLand Showcase #2 Coming in Early November… What to See
Given a successful Midwest LSA Expo, you could say the “LSA show season” is underway. This is proven by the upcoming DeLand show — the second annual event — followed by the 14th Sebring LSA Expo. Even before DeLand, for those in western U.S. states, is Copperstate (which is not a pure play LSA event but does have a good representation of them).
Why go to DeLand over November 2-3-4 of this year?
Several reasons come to mind. First, Showcase executive Jana Filip — who earned her stripes managing Sebring for several years — said exhibitor sign-up has been strong, meaning you can see many great light aircraft …more on that below. Second, weather in early November in Florida should be marvelous, even as the northern states head toward winter. Third, DeLand is one of those aviation-sports airports featuring one of the world’s most active sky diving operations.