Think about this. If you land your Timber Tiger Jenny at any GA airport and taxi up to the ramp, you might have trouble getting out of the cockpit for all the admirers that will assemble around you.
Take a close look at this example built by John Youngblut. You are quickly charmed by fond images of an earlier period in aviation. Then you look deeper, noticing its shaped wood struts, leather trim, and classic analog guages. This draws you in further and I watched people get closer and closer as they examined the detail.
All that leaves out how well it flies, which developer Nick Pfannenstiel reported was the #1 appeal of the airplane. So after enjoying an easy, relaxing flight in your Jenny, you land to be swarmed by people who believe they’ve just witnessed a piece of history fly into their lives.
Jenny began life as a Curtiss, was recreated in scaled down form by Early Bird Aircraft (Gen 1) and kits are now manufactured by Timber Tiger Aircraft, which has reimagined again in slightly larger scale, better fitting modern Americans.
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American Freedom… More than a National Concept; This One Flies (and Is Remarkably Affordable)
This may be the finest, most memorable company and aircraft name among LSA, heck, maybe among all aircraft. I think these fellows were inspired when they named the aircraft “Freedom.”
Given the new company’s name is American Aircraft LLC, their model name choice makes it “American Freedom.” If that isn’t a name that works in this country, I don’t know what is.
This is a new company and a new aircraft making their debut in America. Discovering such new entries can be quite challenging on AirVenture’s immense grounds with more than 800 exhibitors. I almost literally stumbled upon them when I showed up for a duty hour at Flying magazine’s exhibit (video below). As I approached I thought it looked familiar and sized to be the kind of flying machine I usually report.
Where did American Aircraft come from and how does it relate to earlier aircraft associated with prolific Columbian aeronautical designer Max Tedesco (using his somewhat Americanized name)?
Kitplanes For Africa… Where Bushplanes Are Big — Really Big — and Capable
I first ran into Stefan Coetzee and KFA at Aero Friedrichshafen, my favorite light aircraft show in Europe. I was caught by the clever name. Easy to say, “KFA” sticks in your mind like a catchy tune.
Kitplanes For Africa sounds like a company making aircraft that should have superior bush capabilities. It was a handsome aircraft and I felt readers would enjoy it but they had no American representation at the time so I filed the discovery away under: “Promising.”
The bigger and more accurate picture is that KFA is yet another light aviation success story for South Africa*.
Almost half-way around the world, South Africa fell out of many conversations once the apartheid struggle finally ended in the 1990s. Yet despite years of ugly headlines, the country’s interest in aviation has been strong and building. Companies are producing lots of aircraft. (The Aircraft Factory alone produces 20 Sling aircraft each month, and has plans to increase to 30, employing almost 500 personnel.)
KFA was begun roughly when apartheid ended, so it shares no history with that difficult period.
Big Splash! — Vickers “Aggressively” Tests the Hull of their Wave LSA Seaplane
Oshkosh is nearly here again so it must be seaplane flying time. America’s north is rich with open water for fun or safety. When the summer season arrives, seaplanes are at their finest. Indeed, AirVenture’s Seaplane Base operation is a whole show alongside the main show; if you’ve never gone, a visual treat awaits you.
One LSA seaplane we’ve been anticipating for a long time is Vickers Aircraft‘s Wave from New Zealand. Lead by namesake Paul Vickers, the down-under company has been deliberate about development.
I wrote about Wave following its maiden flight. That splendid achievement awkwardly came immediately before Sun ‘n Fun 2022 launched. As a result, other show-related news quickly pushed down the Wave story on my home page.
That was unfortunate but unavoidable. The show must go on (and be reported). I’m always amazed at how many aircraft make first flights or other notable events just as some show is opening.
Top 50 — Beginning the Decade of Gyroplanes; Meet ArrowCopter and Those That Followed
A dozen years ago, fixed wing pilots thought very little about “gyrocopters” — as some people called them. Actually that word is a model name established by Igor Bensen, widely thought of as the father of this activity along with Juan de la Cierva of Spain, known for his pioneering autogyro work.
The preferred term these days is “gyroplane.” Names aside, what pilots care about is having fun in the air and being able to afford a flying machine. When an aircraft also looks terrific, heads turn.
From eleven years ago comes the #3 in our list of Top 50 Aircraft Videos. More than 450,000 views of this video show broad interest in ArrowCopter, quite the head turner in its day.
Gyroplane interest grew quickly after European designers took the lead from American manufacturers. Think back to the days of Ken Brock’s gyro or the former Air Command (now under new management).
TL Sport Aircraft
TL Sport Aircraft offers a range of LSA including the popular low-wing Sting, high-wing Sirius, tandem Stream, and now the bold new Sparker, a Light-Sport Aircraft made for Mosaic’s new larger aircraft rules.
From Aero 2023 to America — Beautiful Altus Motorglider Will Land in DeLand, Florida
It was one of those fortuitous incidents. For my next subject aircraft, I chose the Altus motorglider because this particular aircraft was personally intriguing to me. I enjoy soaring, gliders, and therefore motorgliders. However, it’s not an ego thing. Motorgliders have a very special niche in American aviation. I’ll get to that below.
What made this choice of topics lucky was that as I was doing some investigation of this company and aircraft, I reached out to a local aviator who hails from the same country: Hungary. His name is Doma Andreka and he is the importer of Magnus Aircraft and its aerobatically-capable Fusion.
He is also part of Aero Affinity, which helps international companies make inroads to the complex American recreational aircraft market. At Aero 2023, Doma and his former countrymen came to preliminary agreement. With steady progress, Altus may be available to Americans by next year.
Gyro Technic
Gyro Technic, builder of the GT-VX1 single-place gyroplane, has a machine-shop relationship that shows in this handsome fabrication. VX-1 comes with Rotax 692 or Rotax 912, making it one awesome performer that works well even in strong winds.
Aero ’23 Continued — Superpowered Niki Aviation Cruiser Gyroplane Shows Stylish Innovation
If the bright green didn’t catch your eye, the unusual placement of the propeller probably did. Or maybe it was one of a dozen other fetching attributes to this handsome rotary-winged aircraft.
What you could not easily see was the engine selection. As up-to-date as they can be, Niki is offering either a 141-horsepower Rotax 915iS or the just-released 160-horsepower 916iS. The latter with a lighter load can reportedly climb better than 2,500 feet per minute.
As I cruised the immense (basketball gymnasium-sized) halls of Aero 2023, I saw all manner of beautiful flying machines. In four days of the show, I find it unlikely you can even visit all of them much less become well informed about a majority.
When I happened across Niki, I remembered they had sent an invitation to come by and look at their engaging designs. Company co-owner Miglena Kopcheva was kind enough to show me around the green machine you see nearby.
Aero ’23 Day 2 — Handsome & Affordable… Introducing the All-Metal Belmont that May Fit Your Budget
Do you think you can find Latvia on a map? Do you know anything about the country? You’ll know more after reading this article.
I was underinformed about Latvia and had no awareness of its aviation capabilities. Hint: Latvia is east of Sweden, well north among the Eastern European countries. It is reasonably distant from hostilities in eastern Ukraine. One Latvian company’s ability to build a good-looking airplane is seen in nearby images.
I was alerted to visit Belmont by my journalist friend, Marino Boric, who suggested I have a look at Belmont primarily because it carries quite an agreeable price point: €96,000. At today’s exchange rate ($1 = €1.09), that translates to $105,000 before shipping and related transport expenses.
I realize everybody’s budget is different. Nonetheless, after the world has experienced at least 20% inflation over the Covid years (many experts believe inflation has been considerably higher), $105,000 for a airplane that looks like what you see in these images is, I believe, quite a bargain in 2023.
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