If you’ve ever shopped for a used sport plane you’ve probably noticed there are almost always a number of Flight Design CT series LSAs up for sale. This shouldn’t be surprising since Flight Design was an early player in our segment of aviation, and in the past two-plus decades the company has sold more than 400 CTs in the U.S. alone.
The planes have proven popular, in part, due to their speed (for an LSA), having a cabin wider than a Cessna 172 and their generous payloads. This article is an introduction to the various CT models, their flight characteristics, and advice for a pre-buy inspection and ownership.
Development
The first CT was produced in Germany by a company that began with hang gliders and paragliders in the 1980s and ultralights in the early 1990s. Now part of LIFT Air Gmbh, Flight Design has faced financial woes over the years, having gone into receivership, and then challenges caused by the war in Ukraine where the aircraft were being built.