Most Popular LSA in America Continues to Expand its Flight School Fleet
South Woodstock, CONNECTICUT
Continuing a positive trend in 2009, Flight Design USA announced adding three new flight schools to their Flight Design Pilot Center (FDPC) roster. With the addition, Flight Design now boasts a network of 19 flight schools using Flight Design Light-Sport Aircraft, and 38 flight instructors specially accredited to teach in the top-selling brand.
Flight Design USA welcomes LSA New England at Hampton Airfield (7B3) in North Hampton, New Hampshire, operated by Phil Ross; Copper City Aviation Services at Bisbee Muni Airport (P04) in Brisbee Arizona, operated by Eric Swisher; and Pilot’s Choice Aviation at Georgetown Municipal Airport (KGTU) in Georgetown, Texas operated by Beth Ann Jenkins. These fine flight schools join 16 others enrolled in the FDPC program across the USA. With FDPCs and its accredited CTLS instructors, Flight Design USA can offer American student pilots a number of locations where they can obtain flight instruction in the most popular LSA flying in the United States. The company believes this is the largest LSA flight center program in the country.
As all of aviation struggles with slow sales, one of the bright spots for light-sport aviation has been growth in established flight schools seeing the value of using a LSA for training. LSA is off about 25% compared to general aviation being off about 50%. Flight Design USA National Sales Manager, John Gilmore, said, “We think flight schools are now recognizing our brand, are aware of modern nature of aircraft like CTLS, can see the good value in these aircraft, and are embracing Light-Sport Aircraft such as CTLS to attract new students while increasing their profits.
“It has been gratifying to see larger general aviation flight schools perceive the value of our CTLS aircraft,” said Flight Design USA president, Tom Peghiny. “We can offer these businesses a state-of-the-art design with glass cockpits and modern safety features, low acquisition and operation costs, but perhaps most importantly, an aircraft that impresses younger students.” A superbly-equipped CTLS burns less than 4 gph, and offers more cockpit room with greater visibility than many other aircraft flight schools are using.
Gilmore explained, “We have discovered that a typical student in his 40s who may work in the tech field and drives up to an FBO in his BMW gets excited by our CTLS, especially compared to a flight line full of 30 year-old rather noisy aircraft with worn interiors, old-fashioned instruments, and faded paint.” The all-carbon-fiber CTLS comes with an all-glass cockpit, a cabin 10 inches wider than a Cessna 172 with huge visibility, a full airframe parachute system, and features like three-axis trim all as standard equipment.
Flight Design USA is the U.S. importer of the CT series from Germany. The company has delivered more than 300 aircraft to its American network of distributors and dealers. One of the first Light-Sport Aircraft certified under ASTM standards, the carbon fiber CT has by far the largest LSA fleet in America. Additionally, more than 1,500 CT models are flying around the globe including countries such as China and India.
