Flight Design Moving Forward With New Projects

Flight Design is making progress with its newest LSA and four-place aircraft projects, the company said in a news conference at Sun ‘n Fun on Tuesday. The CTLSi, powered by the new Rotax 912iS engine, is under development in Europe and flew this week for the first time, Flight Design USA CEO Tom Peghiny told AVweb. The airplane will be on display next month at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany, and first deliveries are expected in June. The new engine comes with a $12,800 increase in price, but Peghiny said that includes electric trim and a lithium ion battery. The new engine also will deliver a fuel savings of about 21 percent at cruise speed at altitude, he said.

Flight Design is making progress with its newest LSA and four-place aircraft projects, the company said in a news conference at Sun 'n Fun on Tuesday. The CTLSi, powered by the new Rotax 912iS engine, is under development in Europe and flew this week for the first time, Flight Design USA CEO Tom Peghiny told AVweb. The airplane will be on display next month at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany, and first deliveries are expected in June. The new engine comes with a $12,800 increase in price, but Peghiny said that includes electric trim and a lithium ion battery. The new engine also will deliver a fuel savings of about 21 percent at cruise speed at altitude, he said.

John Doman, Flight Design marketing director, said the C4 four-place project, which was launched about a year ago, also is moving forward. "Our next big decision is to nail down the avionics," he said. "We need to get everything to come together to meet our $250,000 target." He added that he expects to have a cockpit mockup on display at Aero. "There's a lot of interest in the airplane," he said, with about 65 orders so far. The company is offering a $10,000 discount to buyers who place "early bird" orders. AVweb's Mary Grady spoke with Peghiny at Sun 'n Fun about the CTLSi; click here to listen to the podcast.