Flight Design C4 Makes First Flight

Tuesday, April 14, 2015 at 09:15 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Flight Design conducted the first flight of its C4 prototype, marking the beginning of testing for the first general aviation airplane to be certified under new rules aimed at improving safety and reducing development costs.
The four-seat C4 is designed for affordability, targeting a price of $250,000 (in 2011 dollars) by incorporating non-TSO'd avionics and an alternative-fuel engine, making it significantly cheaper than comparable new aircraft.

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Flight Design conducted the first flight of the C4 prototype in Germany last Thursday, officially launching the test phase for the first general aviation airplane scheduled to be certified under new rules designed to improve safety and bring down the costs of future light aircraft.

Flight Design conducted the first flight at its headquarters in southern Germany on April 9, taking the C4 up for a 60-minute test hop ahead of the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany this week, flight test engineer Robert Adam told AvWeb.