It’s a 77 nm flight—or a three-plus-hour car trip—from Odessa, Ukraine, to the city of Kherson where Flight Design GmbH has manufactured models from its light sport series of aircraft since 1997, when the first CT was built there. The facility pushes out completed airframes ready for trucking into Germany, where final checks and test flights take place at the German company’s headquarters and other facilities.
A week into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Flight Design USA’s president Tom Peghiny reports that—with the Russian forces occupying Kherson three days ago—work has ceased as the company looks to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its workforce.
