Purchasing

Icon Aircraft hopes to deliver 15 aircraft by the end of this year and ramp up to 200 for 2018. In an interview at AirVenture 2017, CEO Kirk Hawkins said six aircraft have been delivered to customers who have so far been pleased with the aircraft. “Customers love it,” said Hawkins, who added that resumption […]

Nothing says Cub like the iconic yellow-with-lightning-bolt paint scheme of the J-3 but some buyers of Cub derivatives are looking for something a little more distinctive. CubCrafters’ John Whitish showed an especially dynamic design at Sun ‘n Fun earlier this year. view on YouTube

As the FAA sorts out the mess created when its drone registration rule was struck down by the courts, it’s already thinking about taking the registration requirement to the next level and requiring operators to transmit their registration information. The drone website wetalkuav.com reported that the first meeting of the FAA’s UAS Identification and Tracking […]

A few years ago, SAM Aircraft built an LSA with a retro look that gathered some interest but not many orders. Zenair took over the project and the result is a high-performance taildragger that looks and feels like what the original company might have been looking for. view on YouTube

A Washington court has quashed the FAA’s drone registration program. The court ruled Friday that the registration rule violates the FAA Modernization and Reform Act, passed by Congress in 2012, that specifically bars the FAA from creating “any rule or regulation regarding a model aircraft.” Since December of 2015, the FAA has required drone owners […]

At Sun ‘n Fun, after I’d interviewed the soon-to-depart Mooney CEO Vivek Saxena, I found myself fairly perplexed about his comment on seeking the “next-generation piston aircraft.” As he was telling me about that, of course, Diamond was busily introducing it 5000 miles away at Aero. (Reason number 237 why I should have gone to […]

At Sun ‘n Fun 2017 in Lakeland, Florida, Maule Air was showing updated versions of its M-series aircraft, including the M4-180V S2, which is equipped with a 180-HP Lycoming O-360 engine, has Maule’s signature cargo doors and is priced just shy of $200,000. In this video, Aviation Consumer editor Larry Anglisano took a look at […]

Never one to stand still, French aircraft maker Daher unveiled the TBM 910 at Sun ‘n Fun this week. Although it’s not a complete revision of the popular TBM 900, the 910 features new avionics in the form of the Garmin G1000 NXi, the follow-on to the G1000 suite that has become the de facto […]

AOPA says the FAA is about to approve more liberalization of aircraft certification by relaxing some requirements for GA aircraft. In a story on its website, AOPA says the agency is ready to adopt less stringent standards for software, electromagnetic protection and lightning strike survival for equipment in light aircraft. Current standards apply to all […]

For a little less money (sometimes), the Aeronca is a better flier, roomier, faster and easier to land. But it will always lack the Cub’s cachet. While pilots grow old waiting for the FAA to reform the Third Class medical, light sport flying remains the last refuge to stay in the air (Editor’s note:this article […]