How do you take a laid-back approach to create a super exciting airplane? Schucks … it appears easy as falling off a log. The oversimplification denies how much energy and effort went into SuperSTOL. Because the folks at JustAircraft seem to be the most relaxed designers in America, don’t be fooled. Plenty of customers have seen the light that emanates from Walhalla, South Carolina. From the company’s unusual factory airstrip to the jaw-dropping performance of their super-duper STOL aircraft, Just Aircraft is a company you can’t — or at least shouldn’t — ignore. To gain more flavor of the extreme-looking but easy-flying aircraft, Just’s website has several videos that might fascinate you.
“Since the company was formed in 2002, Just Aircraft was focused on developing an aircraft that would excel in back country performance,” the company announced recently. “Starting with the Escapade, the company began shipping out kits.
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Just Aircraft’s Highlander
If you’re familiar with Avid Flyer or Kitfox aircraft, you know at least something about Just Aircraft’s Highlander. Its pedigree “path” is somewhat meandering but leads to an excellent flying machine born of a rich American airplane design heritage.
Dean Wilson was the originator of this now-proven design shape. The first departure from Wilson’s Avid Aircraft company was Dan Denney, who went on to offer the Kitfox. Denney’s prowess as a marketer brought international fame to the Kitfox and, over the years, the sale of nearly 3,000 aircraft. At one time Denney Aerocraft was among the country’s largest suppliers of kit-built aircraft. What had been an ultralight design evolved into a successful 2-seat homebuilt, but that wasn’t the end of the evolution behind Wilson’s original creation. Denney sold his company to Phil Reid, who renamed the Idaho company SkyStar.
A Well-Evolved History
Another break-off from Avid Aircraft and Denney Aerocraft was Flying K Enterprises, which introduced the single-seat Sky Raider.
Rotax Aircraft Engines Fly-In World Tour 2024 — Dates Announced for Global Series
For some years, Rotax Aircraft Engines has invited their worldwide flock to Wels, Austria. This charming town north of Salzburg is near the home of Rotax’s headquarters in Gunskirken.
On three separate visits to Rotax I was able to attend one of their Fly-in events plus a special visit just for aviation journalists.
Beautiful and inviting as Wels is, this is not an easy visit for folks from the company’s far-flung customer base in nearly every country on Earth. So, in addition to inviting the world to their headquarters event, Rotax is going abroad.
Get ready for Rotax’s World Tour 2024!
The Biggest goes Bigger
BRP-Rotax is the Austrian subsidiary of BRP Inc, “a leader in the development and production of propulsion systems for the recreational and powersports markets,” according to the company.
Founded in 1920, BRP-Rotax builds innovative Rotax four-stroke and two-stroke high-performance engines used in products such as Ski-Doo and Lynx snowmobiles, Sea-Doo personal watercraft, Can-Am onroad and offroad vehicles, as well as for karts and sport planes.
First One in the USA — Flying TL’s Luxurious, Mosaic-Ready Sparker Aircraft
Some pilots can hardly wait for Mosaic. It takes all kinds, of course.
Many aviators want to use Sport Pilot’s no-medical aspect to fly a Cessna or Piper that they can buy inexpensively (or already own). That makes sense. These affordable aircraft are familiar and proven, even if they are products of the 1950s with mostly analog instruments and powerplants that burn 10 to 15 gallons per hour of 100LL.
Another group, owners of modern LSA, wants a little more weight than allowed by current regulation. Still others may want to fly at night or in IFR or to use an economical LSA for some form of aerial work.
Then we have what I’ll call the Mosaic LSA crowd. These are pilots with larger budgets — perhaps they sold a Cirrus or Bonanza and have equity to put toward a new aircraft. These experienced pilots are accustomed to well-equipped aircraft with generous cruise speeds.
Keeping Aircraft Affordable, Blue Collar Aviation Has a Flying Machine for Everyman
Tabor Coates calls his business Blue Collar Aviation. Honestly, as someone who scours the globe for affordable aircraft, any business with this name was certain to grab my attention.
This isn’t simply adroit marketing. Tabor’s Maynard, Massachusetts operation is deep into affordable aviation. How affordable? Tabor’s most-expensive offering is the SkyRanger Nynja (featured in this 2023 article and this flight report). With every item needed in the kit to include engine, instruments and coverings that need no paint, this tried-and-true light aircraft sells for $65,000 and that even includes freight from across the Atlantic.*
How deep into affordable goes Tabor? He offers two versions of SkyRanger — Swift III and Nynja — with a complete kit for the former starting at $49,985. If that’s still high for your budget Tabor offers FlyLight’s line of superlight (nanolight?) weight-shift trikes. The simplest of these flying machines are ready-to-fly for around $15,000.
Top 50 Video: Back Yard Flyer — One of Most Requested Models Among Affordable Aircraft
Over many years, one of the most consistently requested aircraft is Back Yard Flyer. Even the name sounds affordable, doesn’t it?
While you can’t get this one any longer, about 20 are flying and some pop up on aviation sale listings. In its day — before Valley Engineering decided to cease building and focus on their Culver (wood) Prop enterprise — Back Yard Flyer attracted wide interest, rising steadily to be one of our Top 50 videos of about 1,000 produced.
Part of the reason for keen interest was an airframe that quickly folded in a unique for easier storage. Built primarily of welded aluminum, the airplane looked tough yet managed to stay within Part 103 tight constraints.
Another reason for strong interest in this simple flying machine was its four-stroke engine, modified from a Generac engine. At the time, 2010 or so, four stroke on genuine Part 103 ultralights was extremely rare.
LSA Pilot Review of a Multicopter: Lift Aircraft’s Part 103-Eligible Hexa
Ready or not, new flying machines are headed our way. Correction, they are already here and a wave of similar entries could follow (see earlier reports). The earliest market-ready arrivals qualify under FAR Part 103.
I believe this website needs to report these aircraft, so with pleasure, I announce the following to be perhaps the first multicopter pilot report from “one of us.” Scott Severen is a longtime LSA pilot, the importer of Jabiru aircraft, and the newly-elected President of LAMA, the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association. Scott offers his impressions as one of the very first non-company pilots to fly one of these aircraft.
Some call them multicopters (me). Some prefer eVTOL. C’mon, have you said a mouthful like “eVTOL” to any non-pilot? …or even to most pilots? They look at you blankly, “Huh?” Marketers of these aircraft have yet to settle on a catchy word to identify them.
Vickers Aircraft Claims a “World First” as their Wave LSA Seaplane Completes Flight Testing
“Vickers has achieved what others only dream about… a ‘World-First’,” the New Zealand LSA seaplane developer announced. The southern hemisphere company was reporting on the completion of their flight testing program.
“Wave performed exceptionally well, so well in fact that we believe we may have achieved a world-first, a 100% score, passing all criteria and requiring zero changes,” stated company CEO Paul Vickers. He suggested this achievement shows the prototype “is perfect and can enter production,” adding that fabrication of first components is underway.
Although in development for more than a decade, Vickers has indicated all along that their care in design would lead to a quickly approved product that could enter production quickly. The company appears to be reaching this goal.
Test Pilot Report
“In conducting our Flight Test Plan on the Vickers Wave proof of concept, an evaluation was made of the plane’s adherence to ASTM Light-Sport Aircraft industry consensus standards as accepted by FAA,” reported flight test pilot, L.
Midwest LSA Expo — Opening Day Highlights Strong Aircraft Turnout and Lots of Demo Flying
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.
Streaking through the Sky — Speedy Risen Continues our Top-50 Aircraft Series
When this series started, Icon’s shapely A5 LSA seaplane topped the list. Handsome as it is and like most seaplanes, A5 is not particularly fast. The subject of this second in the series of 50 aircraft is Porto Aviation’s Risen. You might say it is on the other end of the speed spectrum Risen rips!
This one challenges all others in the speed contest for LSA (and later, mLSA).
Our #2 video on Videoman Dave’s immense library has garnered 700,000 views. That’s particularly satisfying as Dave was able to use footage from my first solo video effort.
I was at Aero Friendrichshafen 2015 when Risen made its debut. Videoman Dave was not able to attend that year but I hit it off with developer Alberto Porto and he consented to work with me. I was just learning how to shoot a video so for this one to go over well speaks loudly about how much pilots love Risen.