By TESA CULLI

tesa.culli@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — In the existing economy, one segment of aviation is showing an upward trend, and the Mt. Vernon Airport is hoping it puts the city on the map.

The Light Sport Aircraft Expo has been scheduled to be held at the Mt. Vernon Outland Airport in October, with the Jefferson County Development Corporation and the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce working with the airport and Eric Evans Aviation to ensure the expo is a success.

“The expo has two real purposes,” Evans said. “We’re trying basically to promote and educate not only the public but aviators about light sport aircraft. It’s a new piece of the industry that was created in 2005. At that time the Federal Aviation Administration projected there would be 20,000 LSA flying in the next 10 years. There are typically two customers for the aircraft — people who have never been around aviation before and those who are in aviation, flying larger aircraft and are looking to fly something smaller, more economical to operate.”

The expo at Mt. Vernon Outland Airport will be the largest LSA expo in the United States. According to airport manager Chris Collins, there is only one other LSA expo being held — in Florida — and manufacturers and support industries have been wanting a place in the Midwest to show their wares and bring potential customers, “putting the customers closer to the product.”

Evans explained the expo will be not only for LSA manufacturers, but insurance, banking, those who make and sell headsets, avionics parts and everything in between.

For JCDC Executive Director Mary Ellen Bechtel, the expo will be an opportunity to show off Mt. Vernon and the airport.

“The JCDC sees this as our beginning efforts to market Mt. Vernon to aircraft manufacturers, specifically, the light sport industry,” Bechtel said. “Our focus is going to be on development of industrial space at the Mt. Vernon Airport. Much of the infrastructure is already in place. Some may need some updating, but we won’t be starting at square one. Incentives are already in place, with the Enterprise Zone already at the airport. The goal is to get the opportunity to tell them about Mt. Vernon and the resources we have here.”

Chamber Executive Director Brandon Bullard said the expo is an chance to “showcase our area.”

“One of our pride and joys is the airport,” Bullard said. “We want to show our community, but also those coming here nationwide, such as manufacturers and aviators, that good things are happening in Jefferson County. Hopefully, some of these manufacturers are looking to base somewhere and we want to help them promote their business.”

Evans said the expo, “isn’t a Fly-In, a veterans reunion or an airshow. This is a chance for someone who may be in Omaha, Neb., who is in the market for a light sport aircraft, who has done the research, narrowed it down to what he’s interested in, and wants to come to Mt. Vernon to find out more or possibly buy an aircraft right here.”

Collins explained that one of the reasons LSA is showing an upward trend in sales, has to do with the ease of being able to get the certification and flight credentials.

“There are pilots who may not be able to pass the more stringent FAA physical for some aircraft,” Collins said. “They can fly these because of the light sport category.”

Evans explained that LSA flight regulations are “if you are healthy enough to have a driver’s license, you can fly.”

“You can’t have a driver’s license if you have eye problems, are too sick or unhealthy and have a medical issue,” Evans said. “Those who want to fly an LSA still have to have 25 hours of flight training, 25 hours of ground school, pass a written exam and a flight exam to get the light sport license, but the idea is that if you are healthy enough to drive a car, you are healthy enough to pilot an LSA.”

Additional information about the expo is available on the expo Web site at www.midwestlsashow.com.