Best Buys on General Aviation Aircraft

There are tons of light-sport aircraft for sale on the market. Read about the best buys in general aviation planes as well as the most undervalued aircraft.

Choosing A Six-Seat Single

Efficiency, comfort, modern technology and so much more

In our current era of financial belt-tightening, efficiency counts for a lot. Vero Beach and Wichita are really getting it right with their newest batch of six-seat singles. Why? Because today’s six-seat singles offer a great combination of comfort, baggage capacity, speed, ease of flying and modern technology for people who need to cover a typical 250-mile stage length with four to six passengers and a lot of luggage.

LSA Buyer’s Guide

Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry or Fudge-Ribbon Granola-Mocha Delight? How’s a pilot to choose which bird to buy?

As a prospective LSA owner, you might justifiably conclude that once you’ve made the crucial decision to buy an aircraft, the most difficult decision is behind you, yes? To quote Comrade Putin: Nyet!

The Hottest Four Seaters

A look at new fixed-gear, four-seat singles

If you’re looking to purchase a four-seat single, then you’ve got no shortage of models to select from. Aside from price range, the models encompass a wide variety of performance capabilities and equipment.

The Day Of The Personal Jet

No one can guess if the personal jet market will be as robust as many entrepreneurs think, but here’s a look at the current and projected crop of contenders

It’s a new world. VLJs and personal jets are on their way. Despite naysayer predictions, Eclipse Aviation is actively marketing its model 500 twin jet, with more than 100 aircraft completed and 50 delivered (as of mid-February), and there are at least another 10 models of small jets set to debut in the next three years.

The Cessna Buyer's Guide

Which one is right for you?

During the private flying boom in the early ’50s, America fell in love with Cessna Aircraft Company’s high-wing singles. By the mid-’70s, Cessna had built more single-engine airplanes than any other manufacturer (100,000 by 1978). In the late ’70s, production peaked for all new airplanes, including Cessna singles, and then sharply tapered off (the production line was actually dormant from 1987 to 1996).

25 Great Aviation Websites

Flying the Internet is shifting from a flight of fancy to an icon of information

Anyone looking to find the facet of flying that has grown the most over the past decade will discover that it’s the part of aviation on the Internet. What began as a mere curiosity some years ago is now a well-established component in most pilots’ lives. Never before have we been able to find so much information about the passion we share.

10 Sexiest Airplanes

…in the eye of the beholder

Okay, we freely admit it: What started as a simple exercise, to select the 10 sexiest airplanes in the world, has turned out to be one of the most difficult and divisive projects in which we’ve ever been involved. Part of that was to be expected. After all, when you put “est” at the end of a word (e.g., strongest, tallest, funniest, etc.), you just know it’s going to generate controversy.

10 Undervalued Classics

Given the way that prices on just about everything keep going up, it’s hard to believe there really is such a thing as an “undervalued” airplane. But such a thing does exist, especially when you look back at the older classics.

10 Cheapest Birds In The Sky

Don't Let Their Low Prices Deter You: These Planes Aim to Please

As much as those of us in the industry might wish it otherwise, flying is definitely one of the more expensive pastimes. Unfortunately, some pilots simply accept the realities of expensive flying costs without investigating the alternatives. Despite what you may think, there are ways to fly without busting the family budget. True, you won't be aviating at 170 knots in a shiny new A36 Bonanza or Columbia 400, but you can stay in the air for considerably less than the national debt of Peru.

Ultimate Showdown

Battle of the four-seat speedsters

Contrary to what many people think, there’s little to support the idea that general aviation’s glass is half empty. Examine the last dozen or so years of aircraft development. In that time, at least six single-engine, four-seat airplanes—all capable of cruising near or even well above the magic 200 knots—have emerged.