The Aero Experience Week In Review: Wanted - Pilots, A&P Mechanics and LSA Aircraft

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience Week in Review looks back on several recent events that illustrate the current need to expand the aviation industry workforce and update the fleet for service into the next decade or longer. Here we feature our flight in Piston Aviation's Bristell LSA with CFII Lizbeth Chappell and the Piston Aviation exhibit at the Midwest LSA Expo held at Mount Vernon Outland Airport in Illinois last weekend. Also, we include a sample of the other LSA brands represented at the Expo, a Wright Brothers Award presentation, and the St. Louis Aviation Maintenance Association Symposium held at the Crowne Plaza St. Louis Airport Hotel. It has been a great week to celebrate Midwest Aviation's accomplishments and set future goals.

Piston Aviation Bristell LSA Flight and Midwest LSA Expo

After a run of cloudy and rainy days, we were finally able to schedule a demonstration flight in Piston Aviation's Bristell 912 ULS Light Sport Aircraft from Creve Coeur Airport with CFII Lizbeth Chappell last Wednesday. The footage was used for the Midwest LSA Expo promotional video shown below, and a full-length review of the Bristell LSA will be included with our full coverage of the Expo in the coming week.

The Midwest LSA Expo featured the top Light Sport Aircraft brands available in the U.S. Most designs are low-wing cruisers, high-wing STOL, gyrocopters or two-place ultralights powered by Rotax or similar power plants. Many of the LSA class aircraft, including the Bristell above, are used for training in flight schools around the world. Here we include a brief look at some of the types on display as a preview to our upcoming complete coverage series.

During the Midwest LSA Expo on Friday, Mr. Leland Widick received the FAA's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from FAA Springfield District Flight Standards Safety Program Manager Warren Smith and Springfield Office Manager Stan Swank. The award marks 50 years of safe flight operations by Widick, including flight instruction at Southern Illionois University - Carbondale.

St. Louis Aviation Maintenance Association (SLAMA) Symposium  

The 2022 SLAMA Symposium was held on Tuesday at the Crowne Plaza St. Louis Airport Hotel. The annual event, usually held in February, was postponed this year but still attracted several hundred A&P Mechanics for recurrent training sessions throughout the day. Between sessions, attendees visited the aviation industry exhibitors, including the Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation, to get first-hand advice from suppliers and service providers. Here are some views of the day's activities.

 

More great Midwest Aviation events are coming this month: