The optional configuration goes for the hefty price tag of $85,000 and comes complete with a BRS whole-airplane recovery parachute system, strobe and position lights, leather seats, digital engine gauges, wheel pants and gear leg fairings, drooped wingtips and more. Most CT buyers-by the end of the year there were more than a dozen in line for one-have chosen one of the most sophisticated navigation packages available, the Garmin GPSMap 296 handheld, for the panel (well, to be mounted on the panel, anyway). Also available is a night lighting package.
Will the price of the CT prove too high? Time will tell, but so far FlightStar is selling the airplanes as fast as they can get them in, and Peghiny believes that demand will far outstrip supply for some time to come.
The CT makes one thing abundantly clear. Pilots who decide to, or are forced to use their driver's license to fly an LSA for medical reasons, will not be relegated to airplanes that are too slow or small for some very real cross-country travel.
With considerable ramp appeal thrown in for good measure.
2005 Flight Designs CTThe airplane flown for this report was outfitted with the deluxe equipment package that features leather seats, digital engine gauges, a BRS whole-airplane recovery parachute system, wheel pants, gear leg fairings, high-lift wingtips, window vents and strobe and navigation lights. Performance figures are from the manufacturer and are for standard conditions at sea level unless otherwise noted.
Price, as tested: $85,000 Engine: Rotax 912-ULS, 100 hp TBO: 1,500 hours Propeller: Neuform, two-blade composite, ground adjustable, 66 in diaSeats: 2, side-by-side Length: 20.3 Height: 7.9Wingspan: 30.5 Wing area: 116 sq ft Maximum takeoff weight: 1,320 lbs Empty weight, as tested: 620 lbs Useful load, as tested: 700 lbs Maximum usable fuel: 34 gals/204 lbs Payload, full fuel: 496 lbs Wing loading: 11.3 lbs/sq ft Power loading: 13.2 lbs/hp Best rate-of-climb airspeed: 76 kts Best angle-of-climb airspeed: 56 kts Maximum rate of climb: 960 fpm Never exceed speed (Vne): 167 kts Max cruise (@ 8,500 feet): 115 kts Fuel flow, max cruise: 4.5 gph Endurance, max cruise, 45 min res: 7 hours Maneuvering speed: 85 kts Stalling speed, flaps up: 45 ktsStalling speed, flaps down: 34 kts
