Also: SUN ‘n FUN’s EarlyBird, Rotax Advanced Start, Girls in Aviation Day, Lockwood RV-916! The recently concluded Midwest Aviation Expo, hosted by the Mt. Vernon Outland Airport is a modest but overtly positive event in the sport aviation scheme of things. Led by Airport Boss Chris Collins, one of the best in the business, the event has been going on for 17 years and emphasizes a close and personal opportunity for companies to display their wares and for potential customers to spend time looking them over… There are a LOT of SportPlanes out there and while ANN’s Chief Test Pilot, Jim Campbell, has flown well over a 1000 unique types, there are still a lot of birds on his “Must-Fly’ List. One of them was the Flight Design F2. Jim says the F2 IS NOT a modified CT series bird… it is distinctively different and is most definitely not your Father’s CT. The Rotax 912iS powered F2 is a spacious, easily accessible high wing, trike geared, side by side bird devoid of wing struts and utilizing two mongo-sized doors on either side. Another bird that was long awaited for a test flight was the Vashon Ranger… possibly the only real LSA configured bird on the field using an honest-to-God Continental O-200 powerplant… just like we all flew in way too many Cessna 150s back in the day… but undoubtedly a bullet proof engine. All this — and MORE in today’s episode of Airborne!!!
