Thread: Let's be honest about light sport

On paper light sport was a godsend, less stringent requirements, simple fun planes. It was very appealing to me, I had flown 150's in the 70's and now in my 50's I yearned to finish and enjoy flying. I have absolutely no desire to fly at night or in lousy weather, I don't have to be anywhere, I just wanted to fly. The costs seemed reasonable also.
Now my reality.I know you guys are pro ct and I believe it is a neat little plane though it is my opinion that it may be for people with more experience. I have 15 hrs in a ctsw and no desire to fly it anymore in the near future. My fears are the result of all occurences of gear failing(being damaged) in landing. I walked into the hangar the other day and there is another with gear laying on the floor. While I know stuff happens I overheard an instructor say he really didn't know of any that hadn't been dinged.
The ct that I've flown is the only sport plane in my area which means if it's down so much for flying. I've decided to forge ahead and get my private in a 172, maybe one day I'll drop back by but in the meantime sport pilot is not feasible. I really tried to drink the coolaid but it just ain't gonna happen.
You may delete this as anti ct but it's really not that. I think people considering light sport should really look at how few options are out there at this point in time. In my area you are limited to one aircraft and apparently the next expected are being built in china and that really doesn't work for me either.
thanks for letting me vent. be safe.

You've gotta do what you've gotta do. I was initially concerned about breaking landing gear, but my plane now has about 400 student landings and the gear is still on and straight. The plane also flew the last 70 hours with zero squawks or downtime. I saw a CT landing a couple of weeks ago that I would have sworn would have collapsed the nose gear. It didn't. It's pretty hard to damage the plane if you can get it down 2 feet from the runway, slow, with the nose up. That's my goal for every landing.

I'm one of those guys who always wanted to fly, but just never got around to it. It was the sport certificate and light sport aircraft that got me off the fence in my early 50's. I trained in the Allegro 2000, bought a 2006 Flight Design CTsw, and my wife and I are loving life. Sounds like you've had some bad luck. We bounced our plane around quite a bit in the early years, but it has held up well. I've heard that transitioning over to light sport may be more difficult than starting out in one, since one has to get used to the rudder work. We've flown our baby to Boston, Miami, Lake Erie, Birmingham, and recently to the Bahamas. I'd hate to think of life without her.

I guess my only gripe about the title of this thread is that it implies you are sharing a universal truth about light sport. Undoubtedly, you are speaking from experience, but many of us have simply had different and more positive experiences than you have. I bought N293CT, never looked back, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

I guess my only gripe about the title of this thread is that it implies you are sharing a universal truth about light sport. Undoubtedly, you are speaking from experience, but many of us have simply had different and more positive experiences than you have. I bought N293CT, never looked back, and would do it again in a heartbeat.[/QUOTE]

I apologize that is pretty lame I suppose. I have read your posts of your travels often and really yearned for the same typ of experience but for me the reality is my options are so limited,I even tried to find out more about the fd simulator some had spoken of but got nowhere. I really can't buy my own, that I don't see this ever working out. I really want to fly but I have no confidence in my ability to put this thing safely on the ground. With no other options it's either private or quit.
My major point I think is while I've no doubt this is a nice plane, I loved it when I saw it and decided to fly it, it's a handful for someone of my experience(my thoughts, perhaps I just suck at it) I never remember any reservations in a 150 and I learned in Hawaii so ther was always wind. I just don't think this is the trainer for me.

Hi goaround,

Sorry to hear of your experience, your not the first that has expressed that opinion. I own a CTSW and instruct in it everyday and have taught other to fly theirs. Mine has over 400hrs of training and rental without getting dinged..knock on wood..I won't lie and say its the easiest airplane to fly because it isn't, but once you learn how to tame it, its such a fun and capable aircraft. Some of my private pilot students got their certificate in the CT then went on to do instrument and commercial in Pipers and Cessna's. They always comment on how easy it is to fly them, but they are glad they learned in the CT because they feel it made them a better stick and rudder pilot. In the end the you have to do what's best for you, and finishing your certificate is the best thing to do regardless of what aircraft its in. Don't give up flying, find the plane that makes you enjoy flying and don't look back.

Take care
Eric Swisher
Coppper City Aviation Services

Landing a Light Sport is a feel that comes with reasonable practice. My CTSW sat for several months in 2005 before Light Sport became legal. Then I practiced landing at all flap setting over and over. I have cruised the Rockies at 17,400' with ATC telling me I was not cleared for class "A" airspace. I have landed in all kinds of screwy weather. Yes, I have upgraded my gear to 2006 standards. I have bounced, landed on one wheel and done my share of go arounds. At 900 hours the CTSW has been nothing short of a good friend that always does what you ask it. Yes, it is a hot rod. But, it is that lightning quick performance that make it responsive in less than perfect weather when it counts. My only other Light Sport experience is in a Tecnam, but that to was a pleasure. I am a private trained in a 172 and prefer my trusty CT any day.
That said, try less flaps...come in a little faster, and let it land itself nose high. Quite a difference from "forcing it" to the ground (on the nose wheel). Think of 40 degrees flaps not as short field, but as ultra short field. Think of 30 degrees as short field, normally landing at 15 or 0 degrees. If you haven't experienced landing at -6 (long runway at first), try it. It feels rock solid! Honest.

Doesn't the CTLS fix the landing gear issue?

Goaround, some things you may consider before walking away from Light Sport. I'm writing this because it appears that Light Sport is where you want to be by reading your note. Also, I believe in Light Sport aviation and want to see many more pilots enjoying this. If you want to get up in the air, have an enjoyable time and you especially don't want to worry about the bi-annual physical, stick around and consider:

There are 2009 insurance statistics that show certificated private pilots transitioning down to Light Sport aircraft have a 3X higher accident rate than those pilots who have only flown Light Sport aircraft and that have just a Light Sport certificate. The Light Sport aircraft is not a simple aircraft to operate and especially to land and these statistics show this. You are not alone in having difficulties learning to control a Light Sport aircraft. I had a few sleepless nites rehashing my botched landings during my student pilot days in a CTSW and spent many hours trying to learn the control necessary to solo. I venture to say that most forum members who had no experience flying before taking lessons in a Light Sport didn't just take a CT up for 2 or 3 hours and hear the CFI say "you've got it, take it up alone".

There are other Light Sport aircraft you may consider flying if these are available to you. (I hope the forum members take it easy on me with this.......)#1, I would try to find a CTLS to fly. This aircraft is heavier than most CTSW's which gives it more inertia that allows it to carry speed slightly longer than the CTSW during landing. It has a longer fuselage so the response is still very fast but more on the conventional side. The most important improvement, in my opinion, is that the CTLS has a composite main landing gear. This is a very tough and flexible landing gear that provides natural internal damping so hard landing imputs do not bounce you back up into the air if you come in a bit out of shape and land hard. The CTSW, with stiff aluminum main gear struts, is prone to launch you right back up into the air if dropped onto the runway and one must have developed skills to handle this or else be mentally prepared for a full throttle landing abort. I believe that all new CTSW, CTMC and CTLS now have the composite gear. Other aircraft that I have flown and suggest that you consider training in would be the Technam and R.emos Light Sports. Before you consider going the PP route, I think you would be doing yourself a favor by giving some of these other aircraft a try. Don't forget the other most important thing needed is to bring a confident and experienced Light Sport CFI along with you!

This is a concern for me also. I can totally relate. What I do since the plane I fly is a flying school plane, I go over it with a fine tooth checklist and get down and dirty and get the flashlight in all the right places around the known spots that have broke for others. I'm not going to let it stop me from flying the plane. As said earler in the posts by a wise man. This is not just the CT, its all light sport planes except maybe the old cubs that can really take a pounding. The other thing is this will most likely never happen if you sharpen your landing skills and just go around if your too hot. You can't force a CT to the runway, just don't work that way. On the other hand I've bounced it pretty hard my first few solo flights and no damage was done but I did power up and go around after the bounce. Its all about a stabilized approach and gentle landing. I've been in the CT when it was landed in a direct 30K xwind. My instructor planted that thing on the runway and the next time I flew solo, I would have bet there was some damage and I couldn't find any. What are you going to do in a 172 when flight controls jam or you loose the engine over hostile terrain? All flying is a risk and all we can do is be careful and learn from others mistakes. Most of those gear collapse accidents hurt more pride than flesh.

I learned on a C152 and transitioned to the CTSW in 1.4 hours, that is immediately after 58 or so tuition hours. I was 55/56 in 2008/09. Because it was my own property I paid the instructor for another 8.3 hours of his time, but that RWY was just 10 feet wide x 300m long. If you have a reasonably long RWY say 600m/2000ft, use 15 flap and maybe 2700-2900 rpm, round out very low; it's really hard to mess it up, just stay flying as long as you can, stick increasingly back; if you are less than a foot off the deck you will be delighted. Get the instructor to give you the feeling/sight picture for that height and you will be fine. Later an instructor landed mine with a bit of side on it and pinch punctured the tube. I have had one thumpy landing but no damage.