The LSA Bright Spot

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Amid all the news of job cuts and downturns, the light sport aircraft sector just keeps on cranking. Dan Johnson, chairman of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association, estimates that about 11,500 people attended the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo just over a week ago in Florida, a new record for the show, and about 20 airplanes, worth about $2.5 million, were sold over the four-day event. “Every exhibitor I spoke to will return for Sebring No. 6 in 2010,” Johnson wrote at his blog. In addition, he announced that two new regional LSA shows will be held this year — the HOT (Heart of Texas) LSA Show will be held in March in Bryan, Texas, and the Midwest LSA Show will follow in October, in Mount Vernon, Ill. Johnson also noted that two new U.S.-built LSAs made their debuts at the show: M-Squared‘s Breese 2 and RANS‘s S-6 Coyote. The Breese, built in Alabama, sells for just $34,995, fully built from the factory. The Coyote is a ready-to-fly version of an airplane that has been one of the top-selling homebuilts, with almost 2,000 copies in the air. Other new aircraft introduced at the show were the Flaeming Air FA-04 Peregrin, built in Germany and imported by Hansen Air Group in Georgia, and the Skyteton K-10, built in the Ukraine.

If you missed any of AVweb‘s exclusive coverage of the Sebring event, you can still catch up at our video coverage and at our AVweb Insider blog.

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