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Initial units reach builders as Van’s Aircraft prepares for increased production.

Sonex completed the first flight of its long-anticipated Highwing aircraft.

Last week, the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) weighed in on the controversy surrounding G100UL unleaded aviation gasoline from General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI). As an advocacy group for Experimental-Amateur Built (E-AB) aircraft, among others, EAA’s statement focused on specific concerns for E-AB builders and operators. While EAA noted that G100UL has been authorized for use […]

Sonex recently announced an increase in the maximum gross weight for all Sonex and Waiex aircraft equipped with 100-horsepower engines. The approval comes after extensive engineering studies and flight tests, the new limit is now 1,220 pounds, a 70-pound boost from the previous 1,150-pound cap. Mark Schaible, owner and president of Sonex, stated that these […]

As KITPLANES reported Saturday, Van’s Aircraft customers who ordered engines, avionics or propellers along with their kits will have until roughly mid-February to accept modest price increases on those items and have their existing deposits honored. Van’s announced Saturday that Lycoming engines will cost up to 12% more than when customers sent their deposits, Hartzell […]

Van’s Aircraft says 65% of customers have agreed to pay more for their kits and more than 100 of those kits have now been shipped. The company, which went into bankruptcy a month ago, says it’s ramping up kit deliveries but is still buried under email inquiries. “Our shipping throughput will increase over the coming […]

About 60 percent of the first Van’s Aircraft customers contacted have immediately agreed to continue with their orders despite an average 32 percent price increase and reduced flexibility in customizing their aircraft. At a bankruptcy court hearing into the company’s Chapter 11 filing on Tuesday, the company reported about 300 of the first 500 customers […]

Van’s Aircraft has confirmed it will raise prices for parts, kits and accessories an average of 32 percent to stem the bleeding from its struggling enterprise. It’s also changing ordering processes and making a fundamental accounting change in the way it handles customer deposits. In a post on its website on Saturday, first reported by […]

With the entire kit-built aircraft community reacting to the news of Van’s Aircraft filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, AVweb sister-publication Kitplanes has posted a reaction to the legal filing titled “How Did They Get Here?” While noting that Chapter 11 is the track typically resulting in reorganization and a continuation of the business, as […]

About 1,500 customers who have put deposits on a total of 3,500 orders for airplane kits, parts and complete aircraft at Van’s Aircraft will have until Jan. 15, 2024, to accept price increases or risk losing their deposits. As part of Van’s Chapter 11 filing on Monday (posted by a commenter on the vansairforce forum), […]