Cubcrafters‘ News Update, a Record OSH and more!

EAA reported that AirVenture 2022 set records for attendance at this year's EAA Oshkosh AirVenture Fly-In from July 25-31. There were, as usual, more than 10,000 airplanes that made it to one of the airports that many pilots fly into for the Oshkosh week, and there were a lot of warbirds (369), classics and show planes, too, along with 137 ultralights---which had a blast flying their twilight circuits. There were more than 12,000 campsites, with 100% occupancy for most of the show, and tons of foreign visitors and media types, too. Explaining the amazing week, EAA Chairman and CEO Jack Pelton said, "There were several factors involved in the record attendance this year, in addition to the great weather. Programs such as the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force contributed to exciting aerial displays all week, and it was a joy to welcome our international visitors back in full force for the first time since 2019." AirVenture 2023 is slated for July 24-30, 2023.

At Oshkosh AirVenture, Yakima, Washington-based backcountry aircraft manufacturer CubCrafters announced that it would go public, making a stock offering though a program designed for smaller companies. Plane & Pilot spoke with CubCrafters' Brad Damm at AirVenture, and he told us that the offering's early days were the hottest such opening its management company had ever had. Damm said that following the death of founder Jim Richmond in 2021, CubCrafters wanted to keep the company's interests close to home, and it weighed all of its options before deciding on this route. Among other possible plans for the funding that's to come, Damm said increasing production capacity for the maxed-out Yakima factory is tops on the list, but with new plane development being another priority. The offering, as it's set up, allows would-be stock buyers to reserve the purchase option with a stock reservation of as little as $400 for stock at $5 per share. In other comparable offerings, the average buy is around $2,700, according to CubCrafters, whereas the Yakima plane maker's average has been around $8,000, a good sign of a strong interest all around. After reserving the stock buy, purchasers then have the option to buy the reserved number of shares at the pre-offer price of $5 per share.

It's seldom that a politician flying somewhere makes headlines, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) flying to Taiwan was the exception. A polarizing trip, Pelosi flew to Asia despite pleas from President Biden not to, and her trip was panned by many allies and lauded at by nearly as many opponents, as China rattles sabers regarding the Island national of Taiwan, which it regards as a rogue province. How big a deal was the trip? Online flight tracking site Flightradar24 said that Pelosi's flight was the most tracked in its history, with more than 700,000 users keeping an eye on the C-40C (military-designated 737) as it made its way to Taipei, Taiwan's capital city.

A Piper PA-28-RT201 landed gear-up on a remote stretch of North Carolina Highway and came to rest crosswise in the travel lanes. No one, thank goodness, was injured in the forced landing, and the Arrow looks to be in surprisingly good shape, to boot. Great job, pilot! The PA-28-201T is a late-70s development of the uber popular Piper Arrow. It added a single-horsepower, a T-tail (popular at the time with marketing types) and turbocharging---a previous model had the same configuration but with a standard empennage. No word yet on the cause of the crash, but the Feds are investigating.

Vero Beach, Florida,-based Skyborne Airline Academy is partnering with Delta Airlines to provide training through the airline's Propel Pilot Career Path Program (PPCP). To qualify for the program, applicants need to be a three-year Delta employee, possess at least a Private Pilot certificate, go through an interview process and more. But those who are accepted get a terrific deal, with applicants getting a conditional offer from the airline and then, upon completion of the ATP program at Skyborne, getting a gig at a Delta regional partner and then with the major carrier itself. Skyborne says the training typically takes just under a year. While it sounds like a great pathway, it isn't free. The trainee pays full fare, and in a market where pilots are at a premium, the deal would presumably lock the would be airline pilot into a deal with Delta, even if they want to fly for another carrier. Moreover, the trainee doesn't keep getting their Delta wages while they're training, though they would probably get a gig with Skyborne as part of their journey toward the 1500-hour total time ATP threshold that all U.S. airline pilots need to hit before they get that airline gig.  Skyborne has partnered with other airlines as well, including United with its Aviate program geared toward providing opportunity to people underrepresented in aviation.