One of Czech Republic’s leading LSA makers, Evektor-Aerotechnic, has upped the ante with its Turbo-powered SportStar MAX, a lovely LSA that I flew with the standard powerplant recently and will have a report in Plane & Pilot coming up soon. *** The new muscle comes courtesy a turbocharged Rotax 914 UL, which takes the MAX way higher than sport pilots can legally fly: all the way up to 28,850 ft.! Can you say pressure suit? Climb rate, already pretty peppy, jumps to 1,320 ft/min, and of course it jumps off the ground a lot quicker too. *** Thinking about mountain flying in the U.S.: you could legally fly this wee beastie at 16,000 feet over the Rockies. Now there’s a thought. *** The first Turbo MAX went to a Canadian customer. I’ll hope to get an update hop at the Midwest Expo in 3 weeks.
Search Results for : Evektor
Not finding exactly what you expected? Try our advanced search option.
Select a manufacturer to go straight to all our content about that manufacturer.
Select an aircraft model to go straight to all our content about that model.
LSA Euro-Factory Tour: Evektor, Czech Republic
On the same field in the southeastern Czech Republic as used by Czech Aircraft Works is Evektor, builder of the #3-selling SportStar. Coincidence? Not at all. This region, including nearby Slovak Republic and Poland, forms an aviation-intensive region that has attracted many companies. CZAW occupies buildings used in the Soviet era by Let Aircraft, a major producer of transport aircraft. In newer quarters on the opposite side of the airport is Evektor. *** Beside producing the first SLSA in America, Evektor is an engineering and design powerhouse. Of their several hundred employees, the company has nearly 200 engineers doing work for the aircraft and auto industries (which helped their success at being first to meet ASTM standards). Evektor builds an all-metal airplane using many components subcontracted to businesses in the area then assembling them into the beautifully finished LSA we see here in the U.S. According to Evektor America, more SportStars are in use in U.S.
Evektor Introduces Sportstar Plus at Sebring
Evektor America requested their Czech supplier, Evektor Aerotechnik to perform an engineering study of the design. The result? By slightly raising the stall speed to ASTM standards (45 knots), the company was able to add 55 pounds of useful load. The newly capable model will be called the Sportstar Plus. *** On a visit to their Kerrville, Texas base (the same city/airport that is home to Mooney Aircraft), Evektor America‘s Jeff Conrad also told me that deliveries have now exceeded 42 Sportstars and that the importer plans to bring in 60 aircraft for 2007, growing steadily to over 100 units by 2008. Evektor’s surprising success has been in the GA flight school market where they currently have 15 schools using 18 Sportstars. “We believe this is the best penetration of any SLSA,” said Jeff. *** In addition to having the first certified LSA Sportstar, Evektor America is gearing up to sell Evektor’s four seat Cobra model, to be certified under Part 23 regulations.
It’s Almost Here! — Sun ‘n Fun 2023 Theme “The Magic of Aviation” and “The Island”
Whoo, Hoo! It’s almost showtime! April 2023 seems destined to finally overcome all the Covid baggage as attendees sign up in droves for Sun ‘n Fun.
With a delicious 10-day spacing between them — time to rest up a bit after a vigorous week — later in April comes Aero Friedrichshafen. Get ready for plenty of reporting from these two events.
Both events have new leadership in 2023. A time for changes. Fresh ideas are emerging. What can you expect at this years airshows? With Sun ‘n Fun 2023 starting in about two weeks as this is written, let’s focus on Lakeland, Florida first.
Organizers of the 49th event announced major plans for this popular airshow that kicks off the recreational flying season. My focus is on LSA, Sport Pilot kits, and ultralights. At Sun ‘n Fun, that means Paradise City, where big things are happening. You would not be wrong if you scanned this article and saw increased interest in this part of the overall Sun ‘n Fun grounds.
Follow the Skyleader 400 — Czech Producer Offers Wide Variety in Light Aircraft
When Light-Sport Aircraft arrived on the scene almost 20 years ago, one early model that caught my attention was Kappa KP-5. This was one of the first of several brands unknown to Americans then. Others went on to become fixtures in the LSA space: Flight Design, Tecnam, Evektor, and Aeroprakt, among others.
Over some years, light aircraft models that arrived under the name Kappa were rebadged as Jihlavan and then Skyleader. In truth, it’s been Jihlavan all along but Americans have an easier time saying Skyleader. The company has been a busy development engine lead by engineer Antonín Píštěk while the enterprise is lead by CEO Radek Filip, also an engineer.
In the center of the model lineup, Skyleader 200 to Skyleader 600 are descendants of that first Kappa KP5. Contrarily, GP One and UL-39 Albi (article) are distinct designs that do not derive from the 200-400-500-600 series.
It’s Almost Time! Oshkosh Launches An Airshow Summer and Fall 2022
Get ready for summer’s big celebration of flight. It starts Monday, July 25th for the week. Of course, I’m writing about EAA AirVenture Oshkosh… what else? The world’s largest collection of aircraft meeting every description and pilots all over the country and from other nations were flying to Oshkosh and many have arrived, including successful 48-State Challenge aviator Dave Tillema (article).
On Saturday, the field was hit with significant thunderstorms that did some damage as vendors across the field were trying to set up. However, Sunday has cleared and weather for the next couple days looks very promising.
I am onsite starting Sunday the 24th looking for stories and aircraft of the type commonly reported here: Light-Sport Aircraft, kit aircraft Sport Pilots can fly, and ultralights. I will do my best to report daily…
While Oshkosh will dominate aviation news for the next couple weeks at least, I want to preview addition LSA-related events for the rest of 2022.
NEWS Update — Started at Sun ‘n Fun… Preparing for AirVenture Oshkosh 2022
My moment of truth is fast approaching. Will I succeed or fail to predict the future?
I have been repeating my forecast that FAA will announce a draft of their newest regulation, called an NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) at EAA’s big summer celebration of flight. I’m not betting the farm, though. I think it’s a fairly safe prediction.
To win an increase in their budget a few years back, FAA agreed to complete a new regulation by December 31, 2023. That new reg is widely known as Mosaic; its full name is Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification. Because FAA has said the agency needs 16 months to read every comment and adjust the final regulation language accordingly, seeing the future is simple math. Go back in time 16 months from the end-of-year deadline in 2023 and you end up at… yep! — AirVenture Oshkosh 2022. We will see if they meet their goal.
PREVIEW: Sun ‘n Fun 2022 — What I’m Checking Out at the Season-Opening Airshow
When Sun ‘n Fun 2022 starts, a signal can be heard ’round the world. The message? It’s time for a new season of recreational flying.
After we got the LSA Mall set up to receive a flock of airplanes, I was able to get around the sprawling Sun ‘n Fun campus to see what else I planned to cover as the show begins. It starts Tuesday the 5th and runs through Sunday the 10th. I hope you can make it but if not, I’ll be reporting on the aircraft that I think may interest you.
One extra treat — for me and for you: my YouTube partner, Videoman Dave has been able to escape Canada and turned up at Sun ‘n Fun. We’ll return to our usual drill of roving around doing video interviews. I’m happy as Dave is highly knowledgeable about the same kind of aircraft I report and we’ve learned to work well together, making somewhere approaching 1,000 videos.
Better News on Proposed LSA Regulation — Clearing the Air on FAA’s Latest Information
In about one year, FAA may announce their new regulation for Light-Sport Aircraft.
This rule, sometimes called MOSAIC, proposes wide changes for the light aircraft segment, including an entirely new term: Light Personal Aircraft (LPA).
Here in early summer 2021, new information was discovered that shines additional light on what is ahead.
I am privileged to have recent information in which I have very high confidence.
While we do not know everything yet — neither does FAA itself — we are getting a clearer picture. Nonetheless, you should remember this is a proposal still in deliberation. It is not a completed regulation. We will know definitely what FAA recommends only when the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) is released. My best guess for that is EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2022 …about one year in the future. The final rule, after assessing all comments, is not expected until the end of 2023.
Not Just Any Ultralight — Introducing Top Rudder’s Solo 103 and Ruckus
When I first reported about — and did videos about — Just Aircraft’s Part 103 entry back in 2017 and 2018, lots of readers got excited. Here was the company that astounded everyone with their thrilling SuperSTOL that can take and land on what seems little more than a postage stamp. With a background in Part 103 models from an earlier enterprise, Just seemed to be perfect to bring a new model to market …and let me remind you how active is the 103 industry.
Those who watched our video (viewed more than 350,000 times), saw my article, or viewed it themselves at Sun ‘n Fun 2018 knew the new Part 103 aircraft as the Just Solo. Now welcome new producer, Top Rudder. This change represents neither a sale nor divorce.
“Our 103 Solo is manufactured by Top Rudder Aircraft LLC, not Just Aircraft LLC,” explained associate Amy Minnich.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 15
- Next Page »