In April, lots of readers were clearly pleased with the “Vintage Ultralights” series. Thanks to our cooperation with Videoman Dave and his popular YouTube channel, we were able to present ten well-proven aircraft that could be purchased for well under $10,000 …assuming you could find one that met your needs and passed a careful inspection.
Bargains may not be the easiest aircraft to find and buy yet the effort can pay off with a flying machine allowed by your budget and which can bring a smile to your face. That seems worth the search.
However, our 10-aircraft review was not exhaustive. Even more choices are available! Some very modestly priced aircraft — Legal Eagle is one of several (yes, several!) possibilities — are available as a new aircraft purchases for a fairly small amount of money. Another is Hummel Aviation’s UltraCruiser (see lots of links below).
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Continental’s New “Jet-A” Engine Sets a New Course for the Big Powerplant Producer
Although airframes may present the look and offer the performance that stimulates an aircraft purchase, engines have long driven development of new airframes. One example is how jet engines completely transformed the design of airliners.
Around the world outside the U.S., aviation fuels like 100LL are not widely available. Rotax has done well in many countries as its engines can operate on — in fact, experts say they run cleaner on — premium auto gas that is available in nearly every country.
Likewise, because of the presence of airliners in every country, and for other technical reasons, fuels such as Jet-A are available in most locations. An airframe producer can make more sales to more countries if fuel is readily available.
LSA and kit-built owners may also want to visit Continental’s Titan engine website. The Jet-A series also includes the CD-135 engine with 135 horsepower that could meet many Light-Sport Aircraft needs.
Ultralight April 2020 — Tenth in the Vintage Series: Team Mini-Max
The grand finale to this series on Vintage Ultralights during the month of April 2020 focuses on an airplane that can be very inexpensive if bought used. However, even new models are quite the bargain brand new — $6,195 for a complete Mini-Max kit, not including engine, instruments, or paint — from Team Mini-Max LLC. The big difference is you must build a new one. For some this may be pure delight. Others want to fly sooner or don’t care to tackle the building effort.
As alert readers may have noticed, Mini-Max shares something with the third in this series, Fisher’s Koala. That also-mostly-wood aircraft was designed by Mike Fisher and Wayne Ison. The last man was the principal of Team Aircraft in Tennessee. Ison passed away in August of 2014 at the age of 90.
Wayne had a gentle yet determined way about him that I recall well.
Full-2019 Market Share Report for Light-Sport Aircraft and Sport Pilot Kit Aircraft
We have a new year upon us. With our new reporting capabilities for LSA and SP kit market shares, we can now quickly report results from 2019.
A huge thanks to our supreme “datastician,” Steve Beste for making such swift and accurate reporting possible. I assure you that I’ve looked high and low for every year LSA have existed to find no comparable information.
As always, be advised that our data comes from FAA’s aircraft registration database. That means it is impartial — hopefully meaning reliable and dependable — but it also means some massaging of the information is needed to be completely accurate. (See this article for more detail on the effort involved; it is not trivial.) Steve’s valuable ability to manipulate database resources combines with his knowledge of light aircraft to make an unbeatable combination.
As much as any data allows — and as the saying goes… “you can take this info to the bank.” It’s solid!
Sherwood’s Kub — Fun, Light Recreational Aircraft from Across the “Pond”
While occupied on some travel, I am pleased to provide a pilot report on a Part 103-type from across the Atlantic in the United Kingdom. Who better to report this to you than my counterpart in Britain, Dave Unwin. Dave has flown a huge number of aircraft of all sizes. When he writes about lighter aircraft, I enjoy presenting his views. Comments in italic are my amplifications. This time I present Dave’s article with minimal editing so you can enjoy his British style. This means it is longer than our usual fare but I found it a fun read and I hope you will, too…
All the great pictures were shot by photographer extraordinaire, Keith Wilson. Thanks to Dave and Keith for a great story. —DJ
As I turn onto final James Milnes’ voice suddenly crackles in my headset, “Golf Oscar Kilo Uniform Bravo, don’t forget it’s a tailwheel today!” The reason for James’ timely reminder was that when I’d flown the same aircraft a few weeks previously it had been configured as a trike, but today it’s a taildragger!
Badland Aircraft — Kitfox Lite, A True Part 103 Ultralight Aircraft, Returns to the Market
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?
Flying SD Planes’ SD-1 Highly Affordable Single Seat Aircraft
We again have the pleasure of a flight review from British aviation journalist, Dave Unwin. Here’s his report on SD-1… —DJ
Having strapped the SD-1 on (well, that’s what it feels like) I gesture at the fuel sight tube. “Looks like around five gallons,” I said to UK agent Jiri Krajca. “So, how much playtime do I have, about an hour and a half?”
“Approximately four hours,” Jiri replied with a grin.
While some aircraft companies seem determined to price themselves out of existence it’s always refreshing to discover a new, fun aircraft that is genuinely affordable: the SD-1, which can be flown away for the equivalent of less than $30,000. In the USA, this is available as a kit that further lowers the investment (see video below).
Visually, SD-1 looks a bit like TEAM’s Mini-Max although it is actually a clean-sheet design from Igor Spacek intended to meet Britain’s SSDR rules (very similar to FAA’s Part 103).
The Little Airplane That Could …Merlin Can, and It Will Not Cost Much, Either
A popular American childhood story called “The Little Engine that Could” relates to this article. The Merlin PSA (Personal Sport Aircraft) from Aeromarine-LSA is a modern single place airplane that does everything you want — well, other than carry two people — while remaining highly affordable.
Given that some Light-Sport Aircraft shoot past $200,000 (some even past $300,000!), Merlin looks very reasonably priced for the rest of us.
A large number of LSA enthusiasts have complained that present-day LSA have become way too expensive for their budgets. Back when we were still awaiting Light-Sport Aircraft many pilots thought LSA would cost $50-60,000 and it seems not many choices are available in that range. Some are, but most are quite a bit more costly. It’s important to be accurate. Understand that $60,000 in 2002 — when people were speculating about the price of a LSA — is the same as $83,000 today, when you calculate the purchasing power of either number at those times.*
Now think of Merlin’s price tag.
Sebring 2018 — Day One… “How was the first day?”
For all who could not attend, our title forms a common question. On day one of the fourteenth running of the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, even many onsite asked how the first day went; I’ll bet I heard the question a dozen times.
Short answer: A great start! The airport that hosts the annual event lucked out with a day of gorgeous weather, in the high 70s (25° C). Clear blue skies and modest breezes made for a beautiful beginning. They booked a full display of more than 100 vendors and plenty of shiny aircraft to examine.
Morning hours looked to have reasonably good attendance; the parking lot was on its way to a good fill at 8:30 AM. These shows rarely seem crowded — and that’s not a bad thing if you want to talk to an aircraft designer or take a demo flight — but at times various aircraft were surrounded by visitors.
Watch for a Whole New Look… Very Soon!
For thirteen years, ByDanJohnson.com has served the light aircraft community, covering Light-Sport Aircraft, light kit-built aircraft, and ultralight aircraft. Along the way, we’ve covered all manner of interesting light aircraft from the tiniest drones to the emerging new-style certified GA aircraft from producers of LSA. As my outgoing webmaster said, “It’s been quite a ride!”
Of, course, since ByDanJohnson.com has been live for 13 years (almost to the day, which will be April 1st, 2017), this website preceded social media and even giants like YouTube. The website you have been so loyally visiting was assembled using the fairly crude tools available at the beginning of this new millennia. However, now that we are 17 years into the new century, it is time for a change… a BIG change.
In just a few days, after we check and recheck, adjust and tweak, we will hit the button for our “beta launch” of an entirely new look and feel.
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