Here at the magazine we always anticipate Sun ‘n Fun, the big show in Lakeland, Florida, because the general tone is a good way to gauge the health of the industry going into a fresh flying season. There were some jitters this year with the looming threat of tariffs and the havoc they can create in an already inflated market.
Penny-pinching pilots who flagged us down begged for even more articles in Aviation Consumer that would help save them money, because those tariffs—on top of the eye-watering price increases on engines and avionics—are concerning. “I can barely afford my little airplane now and if the price on parts and insurance keeps rising, someone’s gonna get a nice Skylane,” one told us in a vendor tent. Having owned the airplane for 25-plus years, his bank account was still recovering from the sting of an engine swap that was priced nearly 40 percent higher than the last one.
There were a couple of standouts in the new airplane department. One of them was the French-made Aura Aero Integral R aerobatic trainer and sport plane, pictured above. Aerobatic competitor Mike Goulian was promoting the machine, noting that the market needs more modern aerobats. The Integral R sports a Lycoming IO-390 engine, Garmin G3X Touch avionics and side-by-side seating that, according to Goulian, could make for a much better training environment than a tandem aerobat. Look for a flight trial in a future issue of Aviation Consumer.
Over at the Epic Aircraft exhibit, the company was showing its latest E1000 AX turboprop single. The latest variant of the E1000 sports over 25 new features, including electronic brake hold, Garmin Autoland and autothrottle, a tight new Garmin GWX 8000 weather radar with a redesigned radome, CoolView cabin windows, intelligent lithium-ion batteries and a pod that houses the Starlink Mini Wi-Fi terminal.
As expected, there was unleaded fuel buzz and George Braly, cofounder of General Aviation Modifications Inc. (GAMI), presented a forum on his latest efforts to bring GAMI’s G100UL unleaded avgas to market. He also shared two of his reasons for not participating in the ASTM approval process for his fuel blend. First, he feared theft of his intellectual property after decades of developmental work and testing on G100UL. He said that after his first meeting with the ASTM board, he later discovered that one of the ASTM committee participants (an employee of a major fuel company) had later filed for a patent for GAMI’s G100UL formula. As for the claims that the G100UL fuel was causing fuel leaks and even damage to paint work, he had stats proving that in most cases the fuel tank sealant was applied improperly or simply needed to be reapplied because it was original from the factory many years ago.
In the vendor hangars, Garmin was showing off its GCO 14 CO detector. It sells for $549 and interfaces with the Garmin GTN Xi navigators and a variety of Garmin flight displays. There was also the update to the GTR 205, which (through a software enablement) adds a built-in intercom and an audio switching capability that can control two radios—including third-party models. It’s a real problem-solver for a lot of basic panels that would otherwise need an audio panel to handle two VHF radios.
Over at Dynon, the company had proof that it’s making slow but steady progress earning STC approvals for the Skyview HDX Certified avionics suite, the latest for Mooney and Beech Barons.
Next stop: AirVenture at Oshkosh.