All photos by EAA Chief Photographer, Jim Koepnick This article appears on ByDanJohnson.com thanks to permission granted by EAA and the willingness of author, Ed Downs. I've had the pleasure to fly with many expert pilots but the very best aircraft checkout I've ever received came from Ed. He's a good pilot, that's a given. But he is also very adept at giving you a solid expectation of what to expect. I think you'll agree after you read this article. --Dan Johnson *** Note this article is presented without charge. Are LSA Growing Up? New special light-sport aircraft (SLSA) enter the market on an almost weekly basis. Many of the early SLSA entrants were makeovers of existing European advanced ultralight designs or adapted versions of post-World War II training airplanes. Flight Design USA has now introduced the CTLS, defined as a second-generation S-LSA from the German-based Flight Design GmbH. Is this new S-LSA better than the first CTs sold? Are SLSA growing up? Under the leadership of President Matthias Betsch, Flight Design GmbH has created a number of advanced composite designs, with the CT series coming onto the scene as a European advanced ultralight in 1997. Flight Design GmbH exports CT aircraft to the United States through Flight Design USA. Tom Peghiny, president of Flight Design USA, is a familiar name as an originator of the Flightstar line of ultralights. Tom was the original chairman of the ASTM Airplane Committee that developed the ASTM Consensus Standards now in use. He was certainly one of the "go to" guys as the SLSA movement kicked off. Flight Design USA moved quickly to receive ASTM consensus standard certification of the 2005 CT2K version of the airplane. Looking somewhat like an egg with tail feathers, the surprisingly roomy CT2K proved to be a great performer. Flight Design USA also set up regional distributors who both sell and service CT aircraft. The original CT2K quickly evolved into the CTSW (standing for short wing), which has since become the number one selling S-LSA in the country. One successful distributor of the Flight Design CTSW is Airtime Aviation, located at Richard Lloyd Jones Jr. Airport (RVS) just south of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tom Gutmann is president of Airtime Aviation and is partnered with his son, Tom Jr. These gents were the first in the country to receive the new Flight Design CTLS (standing for light sport). A plethora of press releases claims that the CTLS is the logical progression of the CT line and that the LS version has been specifically tuned for the American SLSA market. Those bold claims begged to be challenged. Fortunately, Tom Sr. and Tom Jr. were up to the challenge, and I was invited to conduct a comparison review between the CTSW and CTLS. It's a tough job, but somebody had to do it! This invitation was extended in late January, but the new CTLS was not to be available until early March. I decided to fly the CTSW at the soonest weather opportunity and then have a crack at the CTLS when it was available. Both Toms met me at Airtime Aviation's new facility and graciously introduced me to the CTSW. I had flown a CT2K several years ago and noted that the CTSW had matured, with superior avionics and a more sophisticated interior. A look at the weight and balance documents for this particularly well-equipped CTSW disclosed a useful load of 590 pounds. We could pile my 6-foot, 1-inch, 180-pound bulk in with Tom Jr.'s 6-foot, 4-inch 240-pound frame and still carry about 29 gallons of auto fuel in the 34 gallon wing tanks. With the Rotax 912S as our powerplant, that would give us a conservative five hours of flying time. Not bad for a little airplane. By the way, we were not trying to imitate those little bitty smelly fish in a can. Our shoulders did not rub, and my seat was not in the full aft position. The egg shape works when it comes to comfort. Tom needed to spend some time detailing the operations of the Dynon D100 electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) as its operation and displays were not immediately intuitive to me. Training is needed to fully use this display. The Dynon D120 engine monitoring system was immediately intuitive and offered several features that were outstanding. I evaluate aircraft from an instructor's perspective, sitting in the right seat. The ability to repeat some basic flight information from the EFIS to the right side of the plane is nice. Airspeed and altitude information were presented right along with the engine information and were bright and easy to read. Basic aircraft switchology (arrangement and ease of reading nomenclature) ranked about 8 on my scale of 1 to 10. The interface between the Garmin GPS and the Garmin SL40 comm radio was great. As a comparative report emphasizing the CTLS, details of the CTSW flight will be limited. Suffice it to say, the CTSW was impressive. Without a doubt, this little plane lived up to its performance claims. The direct nose-wheel steering was responsive and linear in its movement. The hand brake is right next to the throttle and was easy to use. Basic flight maneuvers disclosed no unusual handling characteristics (except for pitch and roll spring loads that could be felt in the stick), and stalls were benign, with excellent aerodynamic warning. The short coupled nature of the CTSW caused powered changes to affect both the yaw and pitch neutral feel to the point of requiring fairly frequent adjustment of the manual yaw and pitch trim. The two-axis autopilot performed with surprising smoothness. Approach and landings held no surprises, but the landing gear had a stiff feel that allowed the plane to bobble just a bit if the touchdown was not on the money. This was not a control issue, just lacking refinement. Flap management was different than in most light aircraft in that the CT line of airplanes uses refluxed flaps; that is, the flaps can be moved to a minus 6 degree position. Actually "can be" is not quite correct. Flaps "must" be placed to the minus 6 degree position at a speed in excess of 100 knots indicated airspeed. It is an operational limit that must be remembered. The 15 degree and 30 degree flap positions also have different extension speed limits; the 40 degree position is the same as that used for 30 degrees. The bottom line is that the CTSW is a sweet little airplane that offers big airplane speed, range, and payload. Like many who evaluate airplanes, I ended up with a wish list that, in my opinion, could make a good airplane even better, knowing that in less than about a month, the opportunity to put that wish list to a test would be made available. My list included: Make it look less like an egg. Add a bit of lumbar support in the seats. Soften up the landing gear just a bit, with less spring steel like recoil. Place a side window behind the door. Install a shelf, or hat rack, behind the seats. It would be nice to be able to throw stuff over your shoulder. Decrease the pitch and yaw changes felt due to short coupling. Reduce flap management workload. Remove the pitch and roll feel springs. They make the flight controls seem heavy. Move the rudder trim further forward; it is hard to reach. Lower the price. It's nice to have a wish list, but does anyone ever listen? Fortunately, Flight Design GmbH listened to its customers and suggestions from the Flight Design USA distribution network. Three weeks following the CTSW evaluation, I ventured out again to visit the Toms at Airtime Aviation. The CTLS was immediately recognizable upon entering their hangar, even though it had lost the egg with tail feathers look. The fuselage has been stretched by 14 inches aft of the wing, and the change in appearance is remarkable. New windows aft of the doors give the cabin area a more proportioned look. Overall, the CTLS has a more refined appearance of balance, something that is difficult to appreciate in photos. An uncowled CTLS in the hangar allowed a close-up look at some new engine features. The Rotax 912S installation is now a Rotax factory standard, drop-in powerplant package. This is not the case with the CTSW. Additionally, both oil and coolant thermostats are now installed as standard equipment. A new main landing gear is installed that sports a high-tech, composite structure that "controls rebound." The nose gear has been made tougher and has a new shock system. The nose wheel is now the same size as the 6.00-4 main gear. And wonder of wonders, you can add air to the tires with the wheelpants installed! The increased fuselage size and the preceding improvements add about 25 pounds to the fully equipped empty weight, but there was still room for a "Big Tom" and a 180-pound passenger with more than four hours of fuel on board. The cabin has the definite feel of having more room. The area behind the seats that was a flat bulkhead is now significantly enlarged and incorporates a handy hat rack shelf. You can now see the horizontal stabilizer through the new side windows. And, yep, new seats with adjustable lumbar support are quite comfy. The flight and engine instrument displays are identical to those installed in the CTSW, as are the throttle and brakes. The manual rudder trim has been moved forward and is much easier to access. Switchology and avionics are identical to the CTSW, but the maximum flap travel has been reduced from 40 degrees to 35 degrees. Finally, fiddling with the stick discloses that the pitch feel spring has been removed, but the roll spring is still installed. The first "touch and feel" evidence of change came as we began to taxi. The new landing gear offers the smoother ride of a much larger airplane. Our taxiway angled onto the main taxiway, and the ability to clear the area by looking over my shoulder through the new side window was immediately evident. Improved flight handling showed up as soon as the CTLS was rotated for takeoff. The CTLS literally jumps off the ground when using the normal 15-degree takeoff flap setting. The lack of pitch feel springs gives a feeling of more precise rotation control, and the enhanced pitch stability typical of a longer fuselage is evident. Minimal pitch trim adjustments are needed to maintain the correct climb attitude. The need to use rudder trim is virtually gone. Improved rearward visibility allowed me to look aft and stay clear of the busy parallel runway. We climbed away from the airport (with flaps now set to "0") at 80 knots (VY is listed as 73 knots) and showed a vertical speed of 780 fpm just prior to leveling off at 4,000 feet MSL. The overall feel is of a more solid platform that stays where you put it. The CTLS accelerates quickly to cruise speed using 75 percent power (5200 rpm). Having set the flaps to minus 6 degrees at 100 knots (like the CTSW, the flaps still need management), the CTLS' indicated airspeed stabilized at 110 knots. The resulting true airspeed of 117 knots beats the advertised 115 knots. Roll feel springs are still evident, which, in my opinion, result in a roll feel that is not in balance with pitch and yaw. A complete stall series at all flap settings disclosed no surprises. The same was true for a series of touch-and-goes. Again, the more sophisticated pitch feel of the CTLS makes it easy to set up for a stabilized approach. Even high approaches, slipped to a landing with 35 degrees of flaps, were successfully pulled off by me, having less than 30 minutes' total time in type. An interesting feature of the CT line of airplanes is that the ailerons progressively droop when the flaps are lowered. While this setup typically results in some loss of roll authority, I noticed only a slight decrease in roll as the flaps were lowered from 30 degrees to 35 degrees. Landings are a snap, with plenty of fl are authority at all flap settings. This is important for training. A couple of arrivals even allowed us to check out the new landing gear (on purpose, of course), which did a great job of nullifying any indiscretion. Looking rearward out of the new side windows, I could see the runway prior to turning base leg. The Garmin 496 GPS interface to the Garmin SL40 comm. radio made re-entry into the busy airspace a snap. Regrettably, our flight was over all too soon. While most of my wish list was dealt with decisively by Flight Design, it turns out that is only a small sampling of many refinements. But, what about price? No luck on that one. Fully equipped, the CTLS costs about $6,000 more than a similarly equipped CTSW. That adds up to about $134,000 for the CTLS versus about $128,000 for the CTSW. But remember, fully equipped includes electronic flight and engine displays, a full GPS-based avionics deck, and an autopilot, plus other goodies. This is one sweet airplane. When asked about pricing and the desire to keep S-LSA simple for sport flying enthusiasts, Tom Sr. offered an interesting statistic. He said, "While a basic CT can come in for under $108,000, only one in every nine customers orders the low-cost version. Our customers like to deck them out with all the goodies." Let's go back to our original question. Are S-LSA growing up? According to the folks at Flight Design GmbH and Flight Design USA, the unequivocal answer is yes. The CTLS is a true second-generation airplane that has been specifically Americanized. And nicely at that.