A Flight Design CT flown by Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar of the Indian Air Force recently completed a round-the-world flight in 79 days.
The epic journey was undertaken as part of a celebration of the Indian Air Force’s 75th anniversary. In all 19 countries Monga and Kumar landed in, they made contact with local air force units to extend official greetings.
Monga and Kumar began their voyage June 1 at Delhi and returned Aug. 19 in the serial production CT, which was chosen after a thorough evaluation.
“The round the world tour under day VFR rules was successful with this airplane despite difficult weather conditions,” reported Matthias Betsch, CEO of Flight Design. “The carefully planned flight succeeded due to highly qualified and motivated Indian Air Force pilots Rahul Monga and Anil Kumar, who are normally involved with helicopter and MiG fighter functions.”
Both Monga and Kumar credit the high performance, quality, and reliability of the CT with the successful completion of their journey. “It’s a fantastic machine, very reliable,” said Kumar. “It got us home and there were no problems. We had good support from the manufacturer.”
CT flies in serial version up to 130 knots (max 120 knots in the United States) with a range of up to 1,100 nm. Fuel consumption is three to five gallons per hour — “equivalent to 30-36 mpg at a speed of 110 mph — a level the car industry wants to achieve in the distant future,” Betsch said.
The CT, built mostly of carbon fiber, is powered by a four-cylinder, four-stroke engine from BRP-Rotax of Austria. The airplane features a state-of-the-art glass cockpit from Dynon USA and navigation and communications radios from Garmin USA.
In the last 10 years Flight Design, with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, and production in the Ukraine, has become a worldwide market leader among lightweight, sport aircraft.
In the United States, the CT is the best-selling LSA, garnering more than 20% of the market. More than 1,000 CTs are flying in 25 countries.
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