LightSport Aircraft

I was pleased to read a posting made on Yahoo Groups Avid_Flyer by Brett McKinney back on December 10.  Brett announced that he has obtained ownership of Airdale from previous owners and is moving operations to Rhinelander, WI. 

 

The story as he shared it with us indicated that he was originally looking for an STOL plane that was safe and fun while being as easy on the pocketbook as possible.  Paul Seehafer, who generally chairs the Seaplane Base Operations during Air Ventures at Oshkosh and has owned a number of Avids, got Brett interested.  To that end, Brett was able to locate and purchase a partially completed Mark IV project right there in Wisconsin.  He stated that he has thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of building it.     

At some point in mid summer of 2008, Brett was helping Paul unload his new Kitfox project into the hanger.  Paul told him at that time that Jerry may be interested in selling Airdale.  Many of you who are familiar with Avid already know that Jerry Matison has been a major part of the Avid and Airdale journey from the very beginning.

 

Jerry and Brett both volunteered later in 2008 at the OSH seaplane base during Air Venture when they decided to talk about the possibilities.  Brett and Jerry had time over the next few months to consider a deal, which appeared to have many hopes.

 

Now Brett has actually purchased the company and was recently in the process of getting operations moved to Rhinelander.  He said that Jerry and Stan are eager to help make the transition as smooth as possible. John Larsen who is credited with designing the Airdale, has also offered his help and knowledge. 

 

I believe I speak for many owners and otherwise interested aviators in saying thank you Brett.  Also, I thank Jerry, Stan and John for hanging in there to see Brett get off to a good start.  This is already being seen by Avid Owners and members of the Yahoo Group. 

Brett has decided to stick with a similar company name of Airdale Sportplane and Supply.   Plans are to continue with parts supply and repair.  He said the website is slowly being updated and he expects it to have a highly expanded list of parts.  As I understand, the Airdale LSA with a Mark IV fuselage (standard or stretched) is in the works and there are plans to reintroduce the Airdale airframe with a demo plane.

Only a month has passed since Brett has asked that we be patient while they get the shop moved and operations into swing.  His intention is to eventually have an inventory built up on the regularly requested items to eliminate delays.  Improving upon the things which Jerry has built and held together seems to be the key focus.  We all want to keep the Avids flying!  Go to http://www.airdale.com .You can also write or call Brett at:

 

Airdale Sportplane and Supply
Brett McKinney
W175 Hildebrand Lake Road
Rhinelander, WI 54501
(715) 369-1343

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Now here is some good news for those of you who would like to build and are tired of reading about how people got there fabulous aircraft through buying parts and services that are simply out of reach from a financial perspective. 

 

I was glad to read an E mail today that announced EAA is resurrecting the EXPERIMENTER Magazine in an electronic format.  Those of you who are just beginning your journey into building and flying your own homebuilts will likely be encouraged to continue on the journey by having access to this.

 

The editor is Patrick Panzera who states the goal is “to bring back the hard-core, hands-on experimental aviation that we all miss.”

 

Those of us who have been long time EAA Members have watched the organizational focus transcend from grassroots low cost and sometimes labor intensive building right into elaborate and expensive machines that are simply too cost prohibitive to consider.  Patrick says, “There won’t be stories about $20k paint jobs, the $75k certified engines, full leather interiors and all those hired-gun aircraft that we’ve all grown tired of seeing in print.”

The EXPERIMENTER of the past and hopefully of the future has focus on the things that are foreseeable to interested and capable people wanting to build it themselves.  We all don’t have the kind of cash required for elaborate and pricey.  Patrick says the magazine will have one-of-a-kind projects, plans-built articles, modifications, improvements and stories of success and failures.  I truly do miss the learning part of EAA.  I can afford to build, but certainly don’t have interest in spending upwards of $100,000 on a sleek fast composite design with complex systems and major dollars invested for hi tech avionics.      
Patrick also states that Paul Poberezny is taking an active role in this.  Most of you who have been around homebuilts for years know that Paul is a true grass-roots experimental aviation professional.

 

The January 2009 issue can be found on this link. Read through the entire article and be sure to respond to the survey.  Pass the word to your friends and let EAA know we would like to get back to KEEPING IT SIMPLE.

 

http://eaa.org/experimenter/issues/0901.html 

 

Pat guarantees that all EAA eyes and ears are on this effort and that your comments will be read by the editorial staff at EAA.  It sounds like a great opportunity to help EAA get back on track! 

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