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" 10. Lancair Evolution  Lancair&amp;#039;s latest turboprop kit will cost from $750,000 to $1 million to complete depending on engine (new or used) and avionics choices. The basic kit sans engine, prop and avionics runs $250,000 and takes less than 1000 hours to build--so they say. The carbon fiber, four-seat speedster will cruise at 338 knots at 25,000 feet on just 35 gallons-per-hour. Fuel capacity is 140 gallons. That makes it faster than some Very Light Jets with a lower fuel burn.  Customers can chose from a wide menu of avionics by either Chelton or Garmin. The aircraft can also be fitted with the ballistic recovery systems (BRS) parachute, which can lower the entire aircraft to the ground safely in an emergency. Customers complete a two-week training course and then the kit is shipped to an authorized builder assistance center, where customers are expected to contribute at least 51% of the labor to qualify the aircraft for certification under the &amp;quot;amateur built&amp;quot; rule (wink-wink, nod-nod). High-end kit planes that include a lot of &amp;quot;builder assistance&amp;quot; are driving the FAA to propose substantially tightening the rules and may force some manufacturers to redesign their kits.    RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  9. Robert Noll&amp;#039;s Van&amp;#039;s Aircraft RV-9A  After an estimated 2500 hours of build time, Bob Noll completed his kit plane in February with help from his daughter Katrina. At this year&amp;#039;s AirVenture the plane was officially recognized as the 30,000th amateur-built aircraft on the FAA registry. Van&amp;#039;s is the world&amp;#039;s most prolific builder of kit planes, with more than 5400 currently flying. Since the company&amp;#039;s planes are all metal, they&amp;#039;re far easier to put together than other kit planes (like #10, the Evolution). There&amp;#039;s nothing particularly special about Noll&amp;#039;s model, but 30,000 seemed like a landmark number in amateur-built planes in a time when new materials have made it harder for home plane builders to assemble kits without professional help. The RV-9A can cost as little as $60,000.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  8. Sbach 342  The Germans Are Back! For years, the unlimited class world aerobatic championships were dominated by Russian Sukhois and German Extras. Then the French came to the fore with the slick CAP-232 and won 11 world championships. But now the Germans may be back--with an Extra 300 on steroids, the Sbach 300, and its two-seater sibling, the Sbach 342. The slick, carbon fiber Sbach features one-piece wings and dual wing spars. Power comes from a 330-hp Lycoming &amp;quot;Thunderbolt&amp;quot; engine. It has a top speed of 220 knots, rolls at a neck-snapping 380 degrees-per-second, and climbs at 2500 ft.-per-minute. The airframe is rated at +/- 10G. The Sbach is imported and distributed by SLO Air of San Luis Obispo, Calif.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  7. Boeing 747-LCF &amp;quot;Dreamlifter&amp;quot;  Boeing&amp;#039;s outsize and squared-out 747-LCF (Large Cargo Freighter) is one of three custom-built by cargo airline Evergreen with the purpose of hauling parts for Boeing&amp;#039;s 787 &amp;quot;Dreamliner.&amp;quot; That is to say, the Dreamlifter was built to lift the Dreamliner&amp;#039;s wings and fuselage sections. Based on the 747-400, the Dreamlifter LCF is slightly longer and wider, with a swing-tail used for loading and unloading major 787 subassemblies constructed in Italy and Japan. The LCF uses custom-built 118-ft.-long cargo loaders. It has a range of 4200 nautical miles and is 20 knots slower than an unmodified 747-400.  The LCF illustrates the just-in-time inventory approach Boeing is taking with the 787, a plane that&amp;#039;s already plagued with substantial program delays. While it would be far cheaper to ship large subassemblies by sea, that could take up to one month, while the LCF can deliver the parts in just eight hours. Beyond that, the LCF symbolizes what major airframers such as Airbus and Boeing have become--assemblers of monolithic structures produced by global, risk-sharing partners--as opposed to solitary, self-financing and vertically-integrated manufacturers. Modern jetliners have made the world a smaller place--for the passengers and the airplane makers themselves.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  6. Rocket Racing League Velocity Rocket Racer  Ever since the national air races were kicked out of Cleveland in 1949, people have been looking for ways to reinvigorate air racing as a profitable and mass spectator sport. At its apex, the Cleveland races attracted more than a million spectators, making NASCAR look like curling. In April, Rocket Racing League Composite Corporation acquired the assets of kit plane maker Velocity and announced plans to use modified Velocity airframes fitted with rocket motors for &amp;quot;Formula One&amp;quot;-style air races on 5-mile courses at speeds up to 250 knots. Original Velocity planes were four-place, pusher-engine kit planes. The RRL version replaces that engine with a rocket motor. The League put on two exhibition races this week at Oshkosh, to the delight of crowds. Additional exhibitions will be held at the National Championship Air Races in Reno in September. Pilots currently signed up to fly RRL racers include championship aerobatic pilot and performer Sean Tucker and former NASA astronaut Rick Searfoss. The RRL will provide race teams with their approved aircraft and support equipment for a package price in the neighborhood of $1.5 million.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  5. John Travolta&amp;#039;s Boeing 707  This 1964 short-body Boeing 707-138B was a real showstopper when it arrived in AeroShell Square this week, painted in its original Qantas livery. If only this airplane could talk. John Travolta has owned and flown the airplane for the last decade, but previous owners have included Frank Sinatra and billionaire investor and casino mogul Kirk Kerkorian, among eight others. Only 13 short-body 707s were built--all originally for Qantas. In 2002 the Australian airline hired Travolta to fly the airplane on a 35,000-mile &amp;quot;Spirit of Friendship&amp;quot; tour, and the actor continues to have a promotional relationship with Qantas. The aircraft was long ago stripped of its original airline interior and now sports a more spacious executive configuration. Travolta and his crew seem to relish their roles on the 707--they don matching blue uniforms. Travolta is thought to be the last private owner/operator of this old fashioned kind of plane.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  4. Quest Kodiak  High gas prices mean one thing: Turboprops are back! They may be slow, but they&amp;#039;re far more fuel efficient than similarly-sized jet airplanes. If pilots think good old-fashioned 100LL Avgas is expensive here, they should try hunting it down in Africa or South America, where it is more than double the U.S. price--that is if you can find it at all. The Kodiak was developed in response to the conundrum facing missionaries flying piston-powered Cessna 206s and similar aircraft in remote areas. It can run on Jet-A fuel, which is easier to find overseas. The Kodiak is a modernized bush plane with an oversize cargo door. It cruises at 185 knots and can hold a hefty 3325 pounds in its rather uninspired and boxy fuselage. It sort of looks like &amp;quot;Honey, I Shrunk the Cessna Caravan!&amp;quot; Power comes from a single 750-hp Pratt &amp;amp;amp; Whitney PT6A-34, which gives it plenty of authority for air strips shorter than 1000 feet and for spirited obstacle clearance. (Rate of climb is 1540 feet-per-minute at sea level.) A variety of interiors are available, from a basic hose-down floor to executive leather-covered seats and cabinets. Prices start at $1.4 million and the aircraft can be fitted with floats for water landings. While the Kodiak received FAA certification last year, production did not start in earnest until recently. The airplane is made in Idaho and will fill a small, but growing, customer base.   RELATED STORIES * PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  * EARLIER: Planes For The People  * GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  * PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  3. ICON A5   This plane was clearly the winner of this year&amp;#039;s &amp;quot;wow factor&amp;quot; award. Several of Burt Rutan&amp;#039;s former prot\u00E9g\u00E9s have designed an amphibious Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) that has folding wings and can be towed home on a custom trailer. And it looks cool, with automotive-style contoured seats and instrument displays that look like they were torn out of a BMW. There&amp;#039;s even a plug-in for your MP3 player so you can groove to the Top Gun theme while you splash and dash. Want to fly to some back-country lake but don&amp;#039;t have the cash for a resurrected DeHavilland Beaver? Here&amp;#039;s the ticket. This thing has fun written all over it. Unlike many other LSAs, the ICON&amp;#039;s styling is neither stodgy nor flimsy. It looks like a real airplane. The ICON&amp;#039;s power comes from a rear-facing 100 HP Rotax 912, which means it can run on either 100LL Aviation Fuel or regular car gasoline. Just taxi on up to the dock at your local marina and fill &amp;#039;er up. Useful load is up to 530 pounds. Maximum speed is 105 knots and range is estimated at 300 nautical. ICON says the A5 will take off or land in 750 feet. Price should be around $140,000. A prototype first flew July 9; read more about the plane here. Production is scheduled for 2010--if the company can raise the necessary capital.    RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  2. Cessna 162 &amp;quot;Skycatcher&amp;quot;  Cessna&amp;#039;s artful adaptation of the more lenient light sport aircraft (LSA) rules to build a cheaper two-seat primary trainer has struck a chord in the community: More than 1000 of the $111,500 airplanes are on order and Cessna plans to build up to 700 per year. At that rate and at that price, the SkyCatcher could chase many of the less well-capitalized LSA entrants (like the ICON A5) from the marketplace. Cessna&amp;#039;s intention with the 162 is partly to get LSA customers interested in larger and more expensive aircraft. Both the styling and the components on the Skycatcher reflect this. No typical Rotax 912 engine under the cowl here--the plane sports a Continental IO-200 as well as Garmin G300 glass panel avionics. Key stats on the 162: Maximum gross weight, 1320 pounds; speed, 118 knots; useful load, 490 pounds. Customer deliveries should start next year.    RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos  1. Cirrus SJ-50 &amp;quot;Vision&amp;quot;  The &amp;quot;verification prototype&amp;quot; of Cirrus Design&amp;#039;s single-engine personal jet touched down at Oshkosh on Wednesday after first flying in early July. Since then it has accumulated about 25 test-flying hours and reached the not-so blistering speed of 200 knots. Further down the test card the plane will, of course, go faster. The Klapmeier brothers founded Cirrus more than 20 years ago in the hopes of putting a jet engine into their pusher-propeller VK-30 kit plane. The SJ-50 is the culmination of that very long-held dream. The SJ-50 is aimed squarely at the owner-flown market. Its flexible tracked seating cabin layout is remarkable and includes two jump seats for passengers weighing less than 100 pounds. The plane also has a heated external baggage compartment large enough for golf clubs. Its V tail and centerline over-fuselage engine positioning resemble the U.S. Air Force&amp;#039;s Global Hawk UAV. The engine is canted at a 20-degree angle and descends along the slope of the fuselage. Power comes from a single Williams International FJ33-4A turbofan. It is designed to fly below 30,000 feet at up to 300 knots and will have a price in the range of $1 million. The SJ-50 is designed as a step-up aircraft for pilots flying high-performance piston singles. The integrated glass panel flight deck will make the plane flier-friendly. Unlike other single-engine &amp;quot;personal&amp;quot; jets, customers will actually be able to stuff a fair amount of passengers and baggage in an SJ-50. Deliveries could begin as early as 2011.   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PLUS: ICON A5 Folding Plane Looks Like Sportscar  \u2022 EARLIER: Planes For The People  \u2022 GALLERY: Inside Mojave Air and Space Port  \u2022 PM NEWS: B-2 Stealth Bomber Crash Scene Photos                      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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