Flight Design General Aviation GmbH (formerly Flight Design GmbH) is a German

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

design company and aircraft manufacturer, formerly based in

Leinfelden-Echterdingen Leinfelden-Echterdingen ( Swabian: ''Laefälda-Ächdordeng'') is a town in the district of Esslingen, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km south of Stuttgart, near the Stuttgart Airport and directly adjacent to ...

and Kamenz and now in

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, sit ...

.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', pages 16, 44 & 140. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

History

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 Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

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 Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

, to lower production costs.Hunt, Adam: ''One of aviation’s best kept secrets - Flight Design CT2K – Flight report'', COPA Flight page C-1. Canadian Owners and Pilots Association, October 2004 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 Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

from

, Germany. The company has since moved to the

Kindel Airport Kindel is the surname of the following people * Charlie Kindel, American tech executive *George John Kindel George John Kindel (March 2, 1855 – February 28, 1930) was an American politician from Colorado who served one term in the United S ...

, 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 The Rotax 915 iS is an Austrian aircraft engine, produced by Rotax of Gunskirchen for use in ultralight aircraft, homebuilt aircraft, light-sport aircraft, small helicopters and gyroplanes. The engine was type certified in 2017. The engine was fi ...

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 The Flight Design C4 is a German four seat, high-wing, single engine light aircraft under development by Flight Design of Leinfelden-Echterdingen.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 16 ...

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 Dalu or DALU may refer to: Places * Dalu, Meghalaya, India * Dalu, Iran, a village in Kurdistan Province, Iran * Dalu Station (大路站), in Yongdeng County, Gansu; station along the Lanxin Railway * Dalu Subdistrict, Hegang (大陆街道), in Nan ...

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.

Aircraft

References

External links

* {{Flight Design aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of Germany Hang gliders Companies based in Thuringia