It’s a new month so we’ve got a new plane. The all new flight design CTLSi. On my trip to the west coast, I had the opportunity to speak with Adam, a fellow pilot who also has a Youtube channel: Adam Coffey.
Adam has owned 3 different flight design airplanes. Talk about brand loyalty. His primary mission as a pilot is just to fly for fun and pleasure, so he currently holds a sports pilot license.
In the video, Adam discusses some of the cool features in his 2015 Flight design CTLSi. We discuss the operating cost and cost of ownership of the airplane. Safety features, range and customer support. The flight design is a great little light sport aircraft. His plane is fully loaded with a glass panel (Dynon Skyview) and a parachute system on board. The CTLS is one of the most popular and best selling certified light sport aircraft in the world. Below are some of the specs and features discussed
2015 Flight Design CTLS
Purchase Price – This fully loaded airplane comes in at $170,000
Operating cost – According to Adam, if you calculate mainly the cost to maintain and fly the airplane, for him it rounds up to about $37 per hour. That is a very low cost in aviation. Given the light airframe and design of the airplane, and the fact that it uses a small rotax 912 engine. This airplane only burns about 3-5 gallons per hour depending on your altitude and power settings.
Safety – One of the cool safety features of the Flight design LSA is that it comes with an option to have a parachute system onboard. Adam’s plane does come with one. Another safety feature in this airplane is the fact that it is an high wing airplane. Should there be a case of fire or where the airplane lands on it’s head, one could easily get out through the side door rather than overhead door or canopy in small low wing airplanes
Cabin and Interior – As you may have already seen in the video, this airplane comes quite furnished with a nice wide cabin interior space. The cabin is about 49 inches wide. For a tiny airplane that’s quite a luxury. That’s comparable to the Cirrus which has the most luxurious class of airplanes.
Overall, I had a great time checking out Adam’s airplane. He is currently in the process of building an RV-12 so that should be a lot of fun. You can follow Adam on Youtube or through his website www.coffeyaviation.com
Features of the New Flight Design CTLSi:
100-hp Rotax 912iS with fuel injection
2000 hour TBO / Auto fuel or Avgas
Max speed 120 kts / 974 NM range
Dual 10″ Dynon SkyView HDX Screens W/synthetic vision
Dynon SV integrated, two-axis digitally-linked autopilot
Dynon SV-X83 Com, Dynon SV 1090 ES transponder
Choice of 7″ SV HDX or Garmin 796 MFD, center mounted
BRS 1350 LSA Full Airframe Parachute System standard
Whelen LED landing, interior, strobe and position lights
Standard FAA NextGen 2020 compliant ADS-B “out”
Electric pitch trim and leather seats standard
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