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Eclipse Aviation has the biggest presence ever at AirVenture, including two type conforming copies of the 500, one of which didn’t come out of the factory until two weeks ago. However, in contrast to the Mustang’s splashy arrival, AirVenture patrons could be forgiven for missing the arrival of the first two flying Eclipses to be […]

Mustang Hits The Ground Running Cessna left little doubt as to how serious it is about claiming its share of the very light jet (VLJ) market with the splashy arrival of its Mustang prototype at EAA AirVenture on Tuesday. With Cessna CEO Jack Pelton at the controls, the latest stablemate in the Citation line did […]

An interesting wrinkle in the carefully refined rules that define Light Sport Aircraft is its “conforming standards” provision. What it all means in the practical world of instrumentation, is glass, glass, glass. Of the thirteen aircraft on display in EAA’s Sport Pilot Mall at Oshkosh 2005, multiple examples incorporated multifunction wonder-boxes placed prominently (dare we […]

A total of 13 airplanes are now fully approved under Special Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) provisions and now the push is on to put pilots in them and the dozens that are sure to follow. It’s only been a few months since the first ready-to-fly planes were approved and not much longer since the first […]

It’s Finally Here. Now, Who Will Use It? Light Sport Aircraft may find its largest markets on either end of the active pilots’ life cycle. That is, by attracting entry level “I just want to have fun” pilots on the front end, or by providing a last ride for pilots whose financial means, comfort, or […]

Think you’ve got the right stuff to fly a commercial spaceliner? Get in line. Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn said the company has received more than 4,000 applications for pilot jobs in its new enterprise and estimates it will need about 75 after the full flight schedule is in place. “We will be looking for […]

On Monday, hundreds of people crowded the Aeroshell Square area to watch the (somewhat firm) landing and rollout of the bulbous aircraft duo — SpaceShipOne and White Knight. The occupants were greeted by EAA President Tom Poberezny and other EAA officials (who drove up in one of EAA’s equally bulbous roofless Volkswagen Beetles). Rutan and […]

Rutan, Branson Steal The Show With SpaceShip Plans The SpaceShip Company — that’s the straightforward name of the next (publicly announced) venture for Burt Rutan, announced last night at Theater in the Woods, here at Oshkosh AirVenture. Rutan and Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic took the stage before an overflow crowd and said they […]

And that notorious Wisconsin weather that seems to always be a thread in Oshkosh coverage got an early start disrupting things. Severe thunderstorms and tornados reportedly prevented the mass arrival of Bonanzas that helps kick off the fly-in part of the show on Saturday. The horrific weather also played havoc with those trying to set […]

Sometimes, AirVenture offers a good opportunity to catch up on some old stories that began with fanfare and then didn’t seem to amount to much. Such is the case with Bombardier’s highly publicized (and even a little mysterious) launch into the GA engine industry. Two years ago, the aerospace giant’s V220 and V300T geared V-6s […]