Sun 'n Fun 2012: Day Five

In contrast to last year's tornado and 90+ destroyed or damaged aircraft, this year's Florida spring weather has been clear, in the 80s, and breezy enough to keep the long hours in the sun from melting down your wetware.

Back in 2008, the Sky Arrow, a tandem S-LSA (#18 to achieve ASTM compliance) with a clean pod and boom design, went out of production.
That didn't keep the sturdy pusher on the ground, thanks to the efforts of Jon Hansen and the Hansen Group, and as you may remember from recent stories it has been successfully put to good works by Able Flight as a trainer for student pilots with disabilities.
What is not as well known perhaps is that Sky Arrow, originally produced by 3I (Iniziative Industriali Italiane), was also FAR Part 23 certified.

The announcement of Sky Arrow's return to production was made by
Magnaghi CEO Giorgio Iannotti, 2nd from left, at the Hansen AirGroup booth (Mike, Jon and Mitch Hansen at right)  

Just announced at the show is the good news that the tandem trainer will be brought back into production by the Magnaghi Group, (the website will have info soon, says media rep Riccardo Filippi), an Italian aerospace manufacturer with 600 employees.  Magnaghi will re-introduce the all-composite aircraft at Oshkosh in July.  Production will begin soon on the updated bird.
Upgrades will include reduced weight, larger wing tanks for 6 hour range, refined aerodynamics and state-of-the-art avionics.

Both S-LSA and FAR 23 versions will be offered and production has already begun, with a production capacity of 3-4 airplanes per month.