LSA/Sport

Van’s Aircraft has shipped the 1,000th RV-12 kit, making it one of the most successful light sport aircraft to hit the market since its introduction in 2008. Van’s said it has shipped 937 RV-12 kit empennage packages, plus a number of fly-away S-LSA RV-12s built at the company factory in Oregon. More than 400 RV-12s […]

I’m generally biased in favor of anything that flies, but truth be told there have been a few light-sport aircraft that I haven’t enjoyed flying. I felt that those airplanes were so light on the controls that it was rather unsettling. While the Icon A5 looks cool, I was prepared for the worst when I […]

It’s a rare airplane that appears on the scene and hangs on, long after production has ended, not as a nod to nostalgia but because the airplane keeps letting pilots (or their bosses) do things they want to do. Be it making money transporting people and packages deep into mountainous terrain, keeping an eye on […]

Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters has sold the type certificate for its Part 23-certified CC18-180 Top Cub to Liaoning Cub Aircraft Corporation (LCA) of Yingkou, China, providing the company the ability to manufacture the airplane there. But the sale does not mean that U.S. customers are out of luck when it comes to buying a Top Cub […]

Aero Electric Aircraft Corp.’s first all-electric Sun Flyer trainer has hit the assembly line. Arion Aircraft in Shelbyville, Tennessee, has been contracted to build the initial two-seat prototype, which will feature an Avidyne touchscreen avionics system. “After extensive analysis of the options available for this critical phase of the development process, we have selected a […]

A large crowd gathered this morning at Icon Aircraft’s booth on the EAA AirVenture show grounds in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to witness the first delivery of Icon’s A5 amphibious light sport aircraft. Flanked by about 40 Young Eagles participants wearing matching outfits, Icon’s founder and CEO Kirk Hawkins handed over the keys to famed air show […]

A modern, jet-A-burning diesel engine is coming to the Piper J-3-inspired Legend Cub after American Legend Aircraft signed on as the launch partner for the 100 horsepower Gemini powerplant introduced by Superior Air Parts earlier this year at Sun ‘n Fun. The unusual 3-cylinder Gemini engine will be offered as a factory option in the […]

The highly anticipated Icon A5 has completed an FAA audit that will allow the start of full production of the sleek amphibian. Icon plans to deliver its first customer airplane next month at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This week, Flying had the opportunity to fly the A5. Look for the full report in an […]

George Bye, the developer a two-seat solar-electric trainer called the Sun Flyer, said yesterday that the airplane will fly with a touchscreen cockpit from Avidyne based around the all-important assumptions that the avionics be bright enough to read in full sunlight but not so powerful that they drain the batteries down to nothing. Bye is […]

Yakima, Washington-based CubCrafters announced a new Carbon Cub version at the Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In and Expo this week, improving upon the amateur-built airplane’s already impressive backcountry capabilities. The addition of what the company has termed the G-Series ailerons, flaps and tail feathers improves controllability, reduces the stall speed and provides greater trim authority. […]