Third-Year Event Attracts Wide Range Of Enthusiasts
Although Sebring, FL is home to America's oldest and most
famous road racing track, the focus this weekend is on light
sport aircraft's premiere four-day event, which brought hundreds to
Sebring Regional Airport Thursday to touch, sit in, and speak
with the dealers about all things LSA.
ANN will be in Sebring all weekend to cover the activities and
programs, and share directly from those-in-the-know what is coming
down the road for LSA and Sport Pilot.
Slick paint designs, state-of-the-art avionics, and prices under
$100,000 for ready-to-fly planes attracted the locals and the
not-so-local to Sebring on the first day. Older pilots were in
abundance early in the day, sitting in on seminars about sport
pilot certification... and later climbing into aircraft seats,
inspecting propellers, and kicking some tires.
For many, LSA is a way to remain in aviation, and hold onto
their dreams of flying to far away places. For others, it was a
reminder of just how much as changed in aviation since, said one
gentleman, his time teaching pilots in the original Piper Cub back
in the 1940s.
A younger, middle-aged crowd seemed to be more visible later in
the afternoon... looking under the cowls, talking in detail to
dealers, and comparing model specifications.
Also notable this year: Cessna is very much in attendance, with
numerous yellow polo shirts around the site and around Cessna's
prototype LSA to answer questions to a very interested -- and,
apparently, eager -- audience. No formal decision has been
announced regarding the future of that prototype... and Cessna's
possible entry into the Sport Pilot market.
"It's a great opportunity to bring more pilots to aviation,"
said John Doman, vice president of propeller American sales, about
the LSA market.
Many of the dozens of domestic and European sport pilot entries
would be happy to see Cessna enter the fray, validating the market
and creating more enthusiasm about the sport.
The 2007 Sebring Expo features 68 exhibitors. It's supported by
the EAA and sponsored by nearly two dozen local and national
businesses and organizations. General admission is $10 daily, $8 to
EAA card-showing members.
Since SP/LSA rules went into effect more than two years ago, 44
models of airplanes, tries, and powered parachutes earned FAA
approval, with more than 700 individuals having earned sport pilot
certificates.