Taking a welcome break from FAA news, let’s check out our favorite topic: cool new airplanes.
Welcome to the New F2
F2 seen on approach to landing after a pilot report at 2020’s Midwest LSA Expo.
“Wait,” you exclaim! “F2 isn’t new.” Excellent, you’ve been keeping up.
What you don’t know is that Flight Design’s latest and greatest just earned FAA acceptance, winning a Special Airworthiness certificate as the latest Special LSA to enter the market.
Announcing Number 156 on our SLSA List.
Flight Design put years into this thorough evolution of their market-leading model and it has so many new qualities, we present two videos below trying to tell you about all of them.
Now Available as a
Ready-to-Fly Special LSA
“On July 8th, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first production Flight Design F2-LSA to reach the USA was inspected by an FAA representative and issued a certificate of airworthiness as a Special Light Sport Aircraft,” beamed Flight Design USA leader Tom Peghiny. “The aircraft is owned by a gentleman from the Milwaukee area and will be delivered this month at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021,” he added.
Flight Design has elected an entire Garmin suite of avionics. See the first video below for more on F2’s redesigned panel.
“We were very happy to take part in this review. We’ve been waiting for nearly two years”, said Tom Gutmann Jr. of Airtime Aviation, identifying some of the challenges the globe experience over the last year and a half. “We are excited to receive the first F2-LSA in the USA and we are very impressed by the improvements made by Flight Design.”
“The Special LSA version of F2 is the new high-end edition of the existing line of Flight Design aircraft, complementing the popular CTLS and CT-Super Sport models also sold in the USA,” reported Peghiny. The very popular CTLSi and more affordable SuperSport remain in production and are actively being delivered.
“This is an important day for our company, our customers and our dealers,” said Peghiny. “While F Series is a big step up for Flight Design, this just the first of many F-series airplanes that will come to the USA.”
He clarified that the Flight Design F-series of aircraft include the F2-LSA; the F2-UL, which is a German Ultralight; the F2 CS-23, a certified version that is currently being reviewed by EASA in Europe; and soon, the F4 which is the four-place version of F-series. An electric model, F2e, is also in development.
F2’s throttle handle does double duty: forward to go; backward of a neutral detent for braking. Keep your hand where it belongs.
“The First Article Inspection by the FAA is a review of the documentation provided by a manufacturer to show compliance to the applicable FARs and the ASTM standards used for a particular Light-Sport model,” Tom finished.
FAA has the option perform a full audit or other inspections such as they first-article inspection. Since the German manufacturer has approved so many models and has a long track record with the FAA (and other government agencies), the American regulator deemed a first-article inspection was satisfactory to accept the new model. (Note that new Special LSA are not technically “certified.” FAA prefers to call the process “acceptance.”)
With Flight Design’s F-series family of models, it appears the German designer and producer is taking square aim at the Light Personal Aircraft category FAA has proposed in its new regulation. One piece of evidence: check out the carvernous aft cabin of F2.
Here are two videos further explaining the F-series from Flight Design, focused on the new F2 SLSA:
Hideous, No way. Different, yes. I actually like the looks.
For $200,000 I would think the interior would have a better fit and finish and be a bit more plush. Some of the joints and fits on the inside need some attention, perhaps because this is the pre-production model.
The one pictured is indeed a pre-production model. Serial production versions no doubt will be smoother.
A nice airplane for sure… but IMO the Aeroprakt A32 for $40-50,000 less is still my choice.
Has anyone asked Flight Design, if/when the FAA modifies the LSA/LPA rules to remove the restrictive 1,320-pound limit (moving to the formula model), what would be the maximum gross weight of the current F2 structure with the current Rotax 912is?
Flight Design aircraft look hideous because the A pillar is too far forward.
But it seems like the LPA will still require a medical, so those of us who don’t want to risk being grounded forever due to medical conditions can’t benefit from it, right? Unless they make LPA an endorsement that Sports Pilots can get like the “>87kt endorsement” for LSA.
My big worry is that FAA will only pay lip service to LSA improvements and give us maybe a tiny bit more weight and a tiny bit more speed, but give all the improvements to LPA. Do you think that’s likely?
I hope most people will be satisfied with changes we believe are coming. But until the NPRM is released, we are all speculating.