Search Results for: light sport aircraft what when how

Bell Helicopter reports it needs only software approval to notch Canadian type certification for its new Model 429. The light twin rotorcraft has completed all component trials in more than 1,800 hours of flight test involving five aircraft. Approval from Transport Canada is expected by the end of this month, with U.S. FAA approval following […]

In June 2006 a Beech B36TC Bonanza, fresh out of annual inspection, lost power while cruising at 5,000 feet on the way from Kalamazoo to Ypsilanti, Michigan. Although conditions were day VMC, the 950-hour pilot had filed an IFR flight plan. He advised the controller of the situation and asked for a vector to the […]

Texas Sport Cub (Photo: EAA / Jim Koepnick) Each month, Flying answers questions about the new sport pilot/light sport aircraft rule with assistance from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), the authority on the opportunities available within the category commonly known as “sport pilot”: Q: I weigh 330 lbs. Am I foolish to think I can […]

Just as gourmands judge a meal by the quality of the dessert, nonpilot passengers rate a pilot’s skills by the landing at the end of the flight. No question, based on their recent “landing” Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeff Skiles, of US Airways Flight 1549, have gotten top marks for their […]

“Measure twice, cut once,” was my small contribution to Steve Parker as he took a utility knife to a pair of ceiling panels. Steve is one of the family members who operate Somerset Airport in New Jersey, where I keep my airplane. His grandfather founded the airfield in 1946, and it’s been managed by three […]

In 2007, two airplanes crashed a month apart, in somewhat similar circumstances. Both were light sport aircraft of European manufacture; both had two aboard; both stalled and spun from low altitude. In its findings of probable cause in the two accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board raised issues that should be of concern to light […]

Zenith Aircraft stands by its Zodiac CH-601XL light sport aircraft design, despite calls from the NTSB to ground it. The recommendation marks the first time the safety agency has addressed an issue with an aircraft classed in the light sport category. The basic Zodiac design in question has been in production as a kit since […]

Citing six recorded in-flight breakups leading to 10 fatalities since 2006, the NTSB has asked the FAA to ground the Zodiac 601XL. Previously available as a kitplane, it was certified as a light sport aircraft in 2005. It is based on an original configuration created by designer Chris Heinz, of Switzerland, in the early 1970s. […]

Eagle Creek Aviation Services, based in Indianapolis, has completed and delivered one of its signature Grand Renaissance Twin Commanders to Kern County, California. The county will use the revitalized twin turboprop in two distinct roles; as a command-and-control aircraft for spotting and fighting wildfires; and as VIP transport. Grand Renaissance Twin Commanders incorporate upgraded Honeywell […]

At a recent dinner gathering, a few days after the wonderfully well-omened US Airways ditching in the Hudson, when several guests had been grilling me about bird strikes and ditching procedures, someone commented that her worst nightmare was being in an airplane when the pilot had a heart attack. “How often,” another guest asked me, […]