Flight Design CT: No Medical Required

FLYING Staff

Sunday, May 01, 2005 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Flight Design CT Light Sport Aircraft

Key Takeaways:

The FAA's new Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category and Sport Pilot certificate offer a pathway to more accessible aviation, defining a new class of aircraft, including ready-to-fly Special LSAs (S-LSAs) and experimental (E-LSAs).
The Flight Designs CT exemplifies a capable S-LSA, featuring advanced carbon fiber construction, a Rotax engine, and surprisingly strong cross-country performance (speed and range) that challenges perceptions of light sport aircraft as merely recreational.
LSA certification utilizes industry-developed ASTM standards instead of traditional FAA Part 23 rules, a "self-type certification" approach designed to reduce costs and enhance flexibility for manufacturers while ensuring safety.
Despite initial pilot confusion and skepticism, LSAs are proving to be highly versatile and capable, offering significant utility for various flying activities beyond simple "fly-around-the-patch" excursions.

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The era of the light sport aircraft is here, and pilots are working hard to understand what, if anything, it means to them. The 452-page rule that the FAA put into law last fall is a complex one, to be sure, defining a whole new category that encom-passes a number of very different types of flying machines. As far as fixed-wing airplanes are concerned, pilots probably will soon learn to refer to LSAs as either experimental light sport aircraft (E-LSAs) or special light sport aircraft (S-LSAs), which is an important distinction. Technically, the Flight Designs CT, one of the first of the new breed, is an S-LSA, so you can buy one ready to fly. Complicated nomenclature notwithstanding, pilots will no doubt soon start referring to it, and others like it, simply as an airplane.

I got the chance to fly a CT late last year as it was awaiting delivery to one of the type’s first customers. The CT is being imported into the United States by FlightStar, an Ellington, Connecticut, company that has been designing and building the popular FlightStar line of light sport aircraft (experimental and ultralight) for more than 20 years. The company’s owner and president Tom Peghiny has been working for years to help create the category, and he served on the FAA/industry advisory council that drafted the rules behind LSA. (See sidebar.)