LSA - Light-Sport Aircraft

More popular than ever, light-sport aircraft (LSAs) are here and flying. Discover the latest trends in sport planes and see the aircraft that are making the dream of flying a reality for thousands.

Backstage With A Rock Star

An exclusive look into flight-testing one of the most anticipated light-sport aircraft: the Icon A5

“Rock star.” It’s a phrase you frequently hear when talking to Kirk Hawkins, founder and CEO of Icon Aircraft in Los Angeles, Calif.

You need go no farther than a summer air show buzzing with a vibrant, colorful contingent of light-sport aircraft to see what the excitement has been all about and sense where it might take us. The LSA movement is a living, breathing example of the sheer innovation, quality and giddy diversity that has characterized personal flight from the very beginning in 1903.

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!

LSA Lineup

With more than 1,400 aircraft registered in the States, the phenomenon keeps growing!

What exactly is a light-sport aircraft (LSA)? To qualify as an LSA, an airplane must be a maximum two-place, single-engine, fixed-gear machine that weighs no more than 1,320 pounds (1,420 for watercraft). It must have a level, full-power speed of no more than 120 knots, a clean stall speed no faster than 45 knots and a fixed-pitch propeller.

10 Things To Look For In An LSA

Use your heart and your brain when considering your LSA purchase

Aviation is experiencing an exciting transformation. At one point, a GA aircraft wouldn’t show signs of obsolescence for, let’s say, 30 years or so, give or take a decade. Those days are gone. Today, technological advances find their way into airframes and cockpits at an ever-increasing speed.

The LSA Boom!

Private and sport pilots alike have driven the market to new heights

Looking back to Sun ‘n Fun 2005, it’s fair to say that was when the light sport aircraft bell was rung, and since then, they’ve been off to the races. In the short four months between early April and early August, 14 new aircraft received airworthiness certificates in the special light sport aircraft (S-LSA) category. Although several of these airplanes have been flying in Europe for years and the number of additional new aircraft receiving approval will certainly slow down over time, the figure is remarkable nonetheless.

Light Sport Aircraft Are Here And Flying!

Now, there’s no argument whether or not LSA designs will become a reality

As some pilots may have heard, the FAA finally handed down its completed rulemaking regarding light sport aircraft (LSA) and sport pilots this past April 15 (perhaps, more than coincidentally, tax day) at the Sun ’n Fun Air Show in Lakeland, Fla. The LSA regulations were several years in the making, the consummation of extensive lobbying efforts by virtually all of aviation’s alphabet groups. In fact, the final rules reflect extensive input by the EAA and AOPA, an example of what can happen in that rare instance when the government actually listens to the people it represents.