Check out the April 2012 issue of Kitplanes Magazine for a flight review of the Dakota Hawk.  It will be on the magazine stand just before the Sun-N-Fun airshow at Lakeland Florida.  We will be in our normal booth in the Light Plane area (Paradise City) in space LP032 from March 27th to April 1st .   We will have a Dakota Hawk on display as well as a number of customer flown-in aircraft.   Hope to see you there!

Click here to download a copy of the Kitplanes Article

We often get asked "What exactly comes with a Quick Build Kit?".    We recently shipped a Quick Build FP-202 Koala to Japan so we decided to take a photograph of the kit laid out just before packing.  

As you can see, the QB Kit has a substancial portion of the assembly done for you.   All of the ribs, main and rear spars, the complete tail group, fuselage sides, bulkheads, and wingtips are assembled.  The balance of the kit consists of our complete hardware kit including welded fuel tanks, all fasteners, cowling, covering material, wheels, and any metal part needed to complete the plane.    On the FP-202 the quick build kit reduces the building time by approximately 200 hours.   

Quick Build kits are available for all our aircraft and have a similar level of pre-assembled parts.

A lot of exciting things are happening now that we are in our new building.    The most exciting is the addition of two new people to the staff.   Jessie is doing dual duty between the factory and helping out in the office.   She might be making your quick build parts one minute and answering the phones the next.   Gord is a master woodworker and is working part-time in the factory.    Here they are hard at work:

We are also happy to announce that we are now a STOCKING dealer for Superflite fabrics and finishing system.   We have been including Superflite fabric and adhesives with our kits for years, but now we are able to supply a complete finishing solution.   This is especially important for our Canadian customers who will now be able to purchase these products without having to deal with cross-border shipping or customs.   We are just finalizing the price sheets and will be posting them shortly.  In the meantime, if you need any finishing materials or a quote, give us a call!

Another new product I am happy to announce is the availability of the GSC fixed pitch, ground adjustable and inflight adjustable wood props.   We received one that we are going to be using on the company FP-505 demo plane and were just blown away by the quality of the prop.    We were so impressed that we arranged to become a dealer for these great props.   The props are made in the city of Vernon, British Columbia here in Canada.    They are available for two stroke and some four stroke engines and are made of beautiful clear maple with precision machined aluminum hubs.    Again, the price pages are being finalized so give us a call and we can quote you what you need!

Production lead-times vary according to the work level we are experiencing in the factory.   We make pretty much everything to order with the exception of some hardware and accessories which are stocked.  This section will be kept up to date to show what the current expected lead-time on orders are:

Partial Airframe Wing or Fuselage - 4 weeks

Hardware Kits - 8 weeks

Full Airframe kits - 8-10 weeks

Full Airframe Quick Build Kits - 12 weeks

Plans orders are shipped within two days of receipt of order

Small Parts orders ship within 7 days

At Oshkosh we introduced our new lightweight tailwheel that is designed for our single seat aircraft as well as the Super Koala and Classic.  This new tailwheel assembly is only 1.6 lbs and is a great replacement for those "shopping cart" or "scooter" setups that typically are found on ultralights and Light Sport Aircraft.   The cast aluminium fork with CNC machined pivot and 5/8" diameter mounting hub will fit most light aircraft and is a direct swap for older FFP aircraft.   The assembly comes with a soft, yet durable 4" dia. solid wheel that has sealed bearings.

The complete tailwheel assembly (including wheel) is $129.

The wheel can be purchased separately for $34.

** note that this tailwheel comes standard with newly ordered aircraft kits **

Campbell Aviation, who is our sales agent for New Zealand and Australia have released a new video of the R-80 Tiger Moth both on the ground and in flight

The video can be viewed  by clicking the picture above.

You can learn more about Campbell Avation on there website www.campbellaeroclassics.com

The video shows the performance and fun of flying a Fisher R-80 Tiger Moth.   The aircraft are powered by the Suzuki/Geo auto conversion engine.    This is an excellent option for this aircraft as it is a 90hp 4-cylinder inline engine that easily fits under the cowl.   Reports are that it is an good solid performing engine.   Plans and parts for the conversion (including complete engines) are available from Raven Rotorcraft and Redrives Inc