The first fly-in specifically for owners of Flight Design’s CT — the nation’s No. 1 selling Light Sport Aircraft — was held recently in McMinnville, Ore.
The fly-in was sponsored and hosted by Roger Heller, a CT owner and founder of the on-line CTFlyers.com discussion group. The gathering was attended by 13 CTs and by other CT owners who flew via airliners from as far away as New York City and Texas. It also drew support from western states distributor Flight Design West, based near Reno, Nevada.
The fly-in provided an opportunity for Flight Design West mechanical guru Tom Dunham to perform field maintenance while Flight Design U.S. importer Tom Peghiny and German manufacturer representative Oliver Reinhardt assisted CT owners with adjustments and listened to their suggestions. Ron Ulbrich from Dynon Avionics gave a seminar to the group, many of whose airplanes carry his company’s glass panels.
“Such technical support causes fly-ins like this to generate a lot of customer satisfaction and builds brand loyalty,” noted John Dunham, owner of Flight Design West.
Dunham reported that many demonstration flights were given to pilots contemplating purchase of the LSA.
Current owners enjoyed a lot of camaraderie, he added, noting that every morning of the three-day fly-in, a group of CT owners flew out to breakfast at local airports.
Plans already are underway for next year’s fly-in, Dunham noted.
Nearly 1,000 CTs have been delivered since the airplane’s introduction in 1997, according to Flight Design officials. Approximately 175 CTs have been registered as special LSA in the USA. The 98% carbon fiber, two-place CT features a 49-inch wide cabin and 671 pounds of useful load. It is powered by a 100-hp Rotax 912S engine and equipped with a BRS ballistic parachute as standard equipment. With a top speed of 120 knots, CT economy cruises at 112 knots, stalls at 39 knots, and can fly more than 1,000 miles nonstop.
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