After more than a year, a resolution was reached for the airplane that topped the charts in the LSA space since Day One. Although Flight Design’s CT-series was eclipsed in 2016 by CubCrafters (by a very slim margin), the aircraft remains well regarded and its many adherents are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief that the “reorganization” (what Americans might call a bankruptcy) has been resolved. All good!
(Read more about this reorganization here.)
During EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017, longtime Flight Design USA representative Tom Peghiny sent news about the new owner of the brand. The crush of airshow activity let others beat us to this news, however, we will use our long history with this company to provide a more detailed report.
That Was Then
Flight Design, the German company that makes the CTLS, has been through the wringer in recent years with a series of reversals no one could have anticipated.
So Long, Dave Goulet — Challengers Fly On…
He had one of the longest runs as president of an airplane manufacturer and guided his company to produce an impressive 4,000 aircraft. Few other companies can boast such a record. I am writing about Dave Goulet, president of Quad City Aircraft. Dave passed away last week after a battle with cancer. He was 68 years old. The company he founded in 1983 has supplied low-cost, well-flying aircraft. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure to fly and report on most of Quad City’s models and you can click Challenger to read more. In this 2011 video, Dave discusses his airplanes that can be bought for $25-40,000, numbers that include everything you need to fly and, as he reported on camera, build times can be as low as 150 hours thanks to all the work Quad City does at the factory. In celebration of the long run for the popular flying machine, a couple hundred people drove and 56 Challengers flew to Erie Airpark in Illinois on September 19-21, 2008 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger line of aircraft.
Super Drifter: New Tail for Oldie-but-Goodie
Lockwood Aircraft‘s Super Drifter open-cockpit kitbuilt plane, the resurrection of the Drifter design that was the basic concept for Phil Lockwood’s AirCam twin-engine airplane, (a unique camera platform first created for National Geographic), is getting a new set of tailfeathers. *** I first flew a Hummer ultralight, designed by Klaus Hill, back in the fall of 1980 at Crested Butte, CO. It belonged to hang gliding pal Gil Kinzie. *** We were in CB for a soaring contest and he let several of us fly it, though most of us had no general aviation training. Ah, those wild and wooly days of free flight. *** As such, the Drifter was one of the very first viable ultralights and presented a unique flying feel to its pilots: you sat out on the end of a long fuselage keel tube with everything – wings, motor, wheels – behind you! *** Once you got over the initial floating-in-space challenges to your comfort zone, you fell in love with the incredibly open, free feeling.
‘Net Surfin’ for LSA News
Knocking around the ‘Net looking for signs that Light Sport is alive and well… *** Michael Combs is nearing the end of his 19,000 mile odyssey — what a vision. Latest word from PR dude Dave Gustafson is that the Flight for the Human Spirit in a Remos GX has made it to my old west coast stompin’ grounds. Five jewels of the left coast — San Diego, Burbank, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Jose — were on the itinerary for one magical flight day over one of the most beautiful stretches of coastal landscape in the world. God speed Michael, 18,000 miles and 45 states and you’re nearly done. • Imagine the human experience he’s having, flying all summer, meeting all the great people he’s met. I’m jealous, I admit it. • BTW, pilots are encouraged to fly along for any portion of Michael’s Flight.
Lightplane Offerings From Canada
The Beaver and Chinook ultralight-like aircraft are arguably two of the bestknown
lightweight designs coming from Canada. Aircraft Sales and Parts, more
commonly known as ASAP, is the company that rescued and now manufactures
and sells these designs, along with a powered parachute from its sister company,
Summit Powered Parachutes. The tale of ASAP’s involvement with the Chinook
and Beaver offers insight into ultralight progress – Canadian style.
A History Lesson
Perhaps the most famous ultralight
to come out of Canada is the Beaver.
With a reported 2,200 flying units
since the early 1980s, it’s a successful
design. However, due to corporate
missteps by the companies that
owned the brand, the Beaver series
was nearly lost. Originally, the Beaver
models were manufactured by
Spectrum Aircraft Inc. Reorganization
left the ultralight in the hands
of a company called Beaver RX Enterprises.
In 1993, that company closed
its doors and stranded thousands of
Beaver aircraft owners, along with
all the dealerships that sold and serviced
them.