Experimental Aircraft / Homebuilts

Cash prizes have been big motivators in aviation. The first flights across the Atlantic, the first man-powered flight, the first flight into space by a nongovernmental program — to name a few — were brought about, or at the very least hurried along, by the lure of a big payday. Not to say that honor […]

Evektor, a Czech builder of light sport airplanes and ultralights, has flown the first production-conforming EV-55 Outback utility twin, an airplane that promises to dramatically raise the company’s profile when it enters the market. Evektor test pilots flew the EV-55 from Kunovice Airport this month for a short flight ahead of a test regimen that […]

Garmin’s Team X has developed new equipment for experimental and light sport aircraft, providing new audio panel options and an electronic flight instrument. Garmin’s GMA 245 and remotely mounted GMA 245R audio panels provide “home theatre sound quality to the cockpit,” says Carl Wolf, Garmin’s vice president of aviation sales and marketing. The new audio […]

A new airship-like aircraft called Airlander 10, produced out of Great Britain by Hybrid Air Vehicles, is being readied for its first flight, which the company hopes to achieve this spring. The engines, fuel module, payload beam (added to carry external cargo), fins and what the company has termed the mission module — the cockpit […]

High-school science teacher Ross McCurdy is planning the first transcontinental flight using aviation biofuel in a certified light aircraft. McCurdy will launch from North Central Airport near Providence, Rhode Island, in a Cessna 182 around April 16 to fly 2,500 nautical miles to Santa Monica, California; he’ll depart from Santa Monica on Earth Day, April […]

When legendary airplane designer Burt Rutan announced his retirement in 2011, a collective gasp rang through the aviation industry. Airplane enthusiasts wanted to see more of Rutan’s ingenious and sometimes whacky designs. Fortunately it wasn’t long before a sigh of relief followed the shock when details emerged of Rutan’s latest project — SkiGull. SkiGull is […]

Pilot and environmentalist Jeremy Rowsell is planning a groundbreaking flight for August 2016 — traveling 3,000 miles from San Francisco to Anchorage, Alaska, in a plane fueled by plastic waste. Rowsell was inspired to embark on the project after seeing devastating plastic pollution while flying over the Pacific Ocean. “I believe that the problem can […]

Watch out, Aerion. There may be some competition in the development of supersonic passenger airplanes in the not so distant future. NASA announced yesterday that it has awarded a $20 million contract to Lockheed Martin for the primary design of a commercially viable supersonic flight demonstrator aircraft. The ultimate goal is to produce a supersonic […]

Sonex Aircraft has introduced two new airplane kits, the Sonex and Waiex B-Models. The Oshkosh, Wisconsin, plane builder says the new B models offer more room inside, more panel space, more fuel capacity, additional engine choices, and more standard features “combined with reduced build time and the same great Sonex and Waiex flight characteristics.” Sonex […]

Many voices crowded the advisory frequency as I approached Paso Robles, but by the time I was on the 45 the other pilots had landed and silence reigned. I landed long on 19, turned off at the end, and found a parking spot at the end of a long line of visitors to the annual […]