Flight Design
Flight Design
(Flight
Design GmbH)
is a German
aircraft manufacturer based
in Leinfelden-Echterdingen.
The company started
building hang
gliders and paragliders in
the 1980s, and ultralight
aircraft 1993.
The CT series first flew in
March 1996 and was put into
production in 1997. The
aircraft line can be flown
under
Microlight/Ultralight regulations
in many countries and under
the Special Light-Sport
Aircraft (SLSA) rules in the
US and countries that use
the ASTM standards for
showing compliance. The
original engineering and
design work was performed in
Germany, but production and
all assembly of the aircraft
was established
in Kherson, Ukraine, to
lower production costs.
In February 2011, the
company announced that it
was developing a four-seat
design to be designated C4.
In February 2016, the
company entered
receivership, due to its
high debt-load. Lawyer Knut
Rebholz, a partner of the
law firm Mönning & Partner,
became the temporary
administrator of the
company.
In April 2017, in
collaboration with Vessel
Co. of South Korea, the
company introduced the
new KLA-100 low-wing, light
aircraft. AOPA editor Jim
Moore noted that this had
been done while the company
was undergoing a financial
crisis. However, by June
2018 the design was not
listed on the company
website as being in
production.
In July 2017, the Flight
Design-Design organization,
the production facility in
Kherson, and all rights to
the CT series (CTSW, CTLS,
CTSL Supralight, CTLSi,
CTLE) was acquired by Lift
Air, a division of Lift
Holding from Eisenach,
Germany. The company has
since moved to the Kindel
Airport, near Eisenach where
final inspection, test
flights and engineering
management are performed.
Lars Joerges is the new
managing director.
At AERO Friedrichshafen in
April 2019, the
now-reorganized company
announced two new models,
the F2 and F4. The F4 will
be a four-seat airplane
powered by a Rotax
915iS turbocharged engine,
while the F2 will be a
two-seat European
microlight, as a modular
design that will include a
future electric
aircraft variant, to be
designated the F2e. Work on
the four-seat Flight Design
C4 has been stalled, but not
abandoned, and it "remains
an aspirational product" for
the company.
In June 2019 the company
manufacturing the CT
line, AeroJones Aviation
Technology Company,
announced plans for a new
factory to build the design
for the Asian market at
the Dalu General
Airport in Zhenjiang, China.
The plant is expected to be
operational by the end of
2019, employ 200-250 people
and produce 240 CT aircraft
per year.
Following the 2022 Russian
invasion of Ukraine, Flight
Design temporarily halted
operations at the Kherson
facility and circulated a
letter to Ukrainian staff,
announcing plans to expand
manufacturing capacities in
Czech Republic and offering
staff to transfer to the new
location.
Source:
Wikipedia
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