Sunday, Sept 22 2024

Swan Producer Adds Two-Seat Version to Popular 103-Compliant

By A Mystery Man Writer

We live in an age of sophisticated two seaters, a large flock of wonderful aircraft of every description. Such two-place flying machines lead in sales and perhaps that’s to be expected. Around 80% of light aircraft buyers prefer three-axis fixed-wing aircraft. This is hardly surprising as that’s what nearly all pilots have used for primary training since the ’70s. To select another aircraft type means going out on a tree limb. This is especially true with what I call “alternative aircraft” — weight shift trikes, powered parachutes, motorgliders, and gyroplanes. It would include lighter-than-air, too, if we had more than a single entry. However, some three-axis fixed wingers also disregard Part 103-compliant aircraft. Some say, “Those things are flying lawn chairs,” by which they try to disparage the category hinting they’re too “flimsy.” Most who say this probably never sat in one let alone flew one. One entry I’ve written about (see my earlier report) appears to have be viewed differently, perhaps as it has a full enclosure and is built of composite materials.