Ownership

Last week, just as I was girding to launch into the savage hinterlands of central Florida where Sebring is situated, I got a note from Sebastien Heintz, of Zenith Aircraft. At the Sport Aviation Expo, he wanted me to build a rudder from one of the company’s new match-hole kits because he wished to make […]

At the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, AVweb saw a new aircraft tiedown called theBig Screw EZ Tiedown. Greg Palmer gave us the sales pitch. view on YouTube

Five years ago, one strain of conventional wisdom predicted that the demise of the Third Class medical would equal the demise of the light sport aircraft market, too. With BasicMed firmly entrenched, the reality is proving more mixed according to an AVweb canvass of the flight line at the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring this […]

Rotax is about ready to roll out its new 915 iS engine and it will soon be available in uncertified form as a powerplant choice for experimental amateur built aircraft and high-performance LSAs. At 141 HP max for five minutes and 135 HP continuous, the Rotax 915 iS occupies a unique niche for factory-provided engines. […]

The FAA on Tuesday issued an Airworthiness Directive (PDF) that affects nearly 19,000 Piper PA-28 airplanes, but compliance is fairly simple and cheap. The AD requires aircraft owners to inspect the fuel-tank selector cover to verify the fuel-tank selector placards are located at the proper positions. If not, the placards must be replaced. Piper told […]

While the National Airspace System remains open and accessible to all aircraft, the government shutdown, which began Saturday morning, could affect thousands of owners, operators and pilots if it persists. Air traffic control and all the associated operations are designated as essential services but most of the FAA’s ground-bound services will be shuttered during the […]

In 2016, the FAA terminated its certification of certain ELTs manufactured by Ameri-King, and this week, Orolia announced it has developed a new version of its Integra model that has been specially adapted and packaged to make it easy to replace the affected ELTs. The new Kannad Ameri-Fit pack is available through Aircraft Spruce, Mid-Continent […]

Discovery Aviation has started production of a new version of the XL-2, a two-seat trainer first FAA-certified in 2004, the company announced last week. The IFR-certified XL-2 features a Garmin G500 dual-screen flight display, as well as DME, ADF and an option to add an autopilot. The XL-2 runs an IOF-240 engine from Teledyne Continental, […]

Dynon effectively stirred the avionics-for-certified-airplanes pot at EAA AirVenture 2017 when it announced that its experimental-only Skyview HDX glass suite would be available for certified aircraft—with the first STCs expected by the end of the year. As an integral part of the program, it was launching an entire product line called Dynon Certified. The first […]

Some financial analysts predict that the tax reform recently enacted will see corporate earnings grow in the 8 to 12 percent range in 2018. As all of us in the general aviation industry know, this projected growth could have a positive trickle-down effect for our market. In my segment of the industry – avionics manufacturing, […]