www.PSFmagazine.com | November/December 2021 | 17 16 | November/December 2021 | Powered Sport Flying Light Sport Aircraft Fly-In Fun by Sebastien Heintz Support Our Advertisers Kit aircraft manufacturer Zenith Aircraft Company hosted its 30th annual Homecoming (fly-in and open hangar days) on September 17 & 18 at its factory located on Mexico Memorial Airport (kmyj) in Mexico, Missouri. Zenith builders and flyers from around the country flew in to the Homecoming, one of the largest of its kind in the nation. The grass roots event provided both educational and fun activities for all visitors, made up primarily of Zenith builders, owners and pilots, as well as “want to be” builders and pilots, and enthusiasts from the outlying area. A highlight of the event is the stol (short take-off and landing) demonstrations. Zenith Aircraft is a pioneer in the stol industry, and has been designing and manufacturing stol airplanes since the 1980s well before they gained the popularity that stol and backcountry planes have today. Various engine and propeller manufacturers participated at the event to share information about their products and Zenith hosted various seminars over the two day event. Popular topics included stol flying, insurance and finance, avionics, and more. Several panel discussions were also held, including the popular engine panel discussion (with six different engine choices represented), and panel discussions on building and flying Zenith light sport aircraft. eaa’s Charlie Becker visited to provide an update on faa rules and initiatives affecting homebuilt aircraft and 2021 Zenith Aircraft Homecoming • A homebuilt sector with “greater range” is expected and with that a formalization of the professional build center concept that has been ongoing for some time. The Big Concept —All these changes are subject to a mantra within the faa: Keep Light Sport Aircraft “ light and docile.” What does that mean, exactly? Well, even the faa doesn’t want to define that. Instead, the faa wants industry and the flying community to define this. That means extra work for astm volunteer standards writers, but permits the recreational flying community to make these important decisions. Dan reported that he is pleased with much of what faa proposes. He noted, “These things have a way of changing in unexpected directions but since I’ve been listening to these rule writers for several years, I’ve gained confidence that most of the changes will be well received by pilots and manufacturers alike.” As to the show itself, Dan pointed out that, “The DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase is not an airshow, it is more of a trade show. While the public turnout could be low, every single person that comes in the gate is there to see these specific kinds of aircraft. And I heard from exhibitors that they wrote orders and collected significant leads.” Dan pointed out that, “The beauty of this show is that because there is less foot traffic, interested buyers can talk to the exhibitors for as long as they want and get all their questions answered. Plus, it is very easy to take a demo flight—we’re talking three or four minutes from the moment you decide to go fly until you are in the air. If you try that at [eaa] AirVenture, you’re going to use up half of a day to take a half-hour flight.” “At DeLand, it ’s the quality of the crowd that is important, not the size.” As for specific aircraft and equipment, Johnson reported on the following: “I was intrigued by a kit airplane called the Aeropup,” Johnson said, “which fits well into what I call the affordable aviation space. You can probably get in the air for less than $50,000 for a brand new airplane. I also liked the single-place Italian gyroplane called the Sprint Lite Gyro. And I loved the progress Viking Aircraft Engines is making with their modified 195-hp Honda 1.5L turbocharged automobile engines on the Zenith 750 Super Duty. Viking had one on display, standing up on giant tires with a big nose wheel suspension system. It looks like a monster truck in airplane form.” “The Zenith 750 Super Duty with a Viking engine is a very capable sport pilot kit. And if you have a sport pilot certificate, you could fly this airplane.” As to the outlook for the lsa and recreational flying markets, Johnson said lsa sales “ leveled off” during the past two years because of covid-19. “Plus, whenever the faa proposes a new regulation, it has kind of a cooling effect on the enthusiasm in the market because people question if the faa is going to change the rules. Should they buy now or wait, which creates uncertainty.” “We are poised for some really interesting future developments, some of which are related to the economy. I have discovered over my years in the industry that recreational aviation flows with the stock market,” he said. “If people see their stock portfolios are going up, they’ll be out buying recreational aircraft. If they see their stocks declining, they’re going to pull back. If the economy remains at least steady, I think lsa is going to do very well in the coming few years,” Johnson said.•
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