Aircraft Is Also 50th Sold By Oklahoma Dealer

Aero-News has learned Flight Design USA distributor Airtime Aviation recently delivered the 200th CT light-sport aircraft (LSA) sold in the USA to new dealer Brian Longwill of Albuquerque, NM.

In addition to representing sales of the CT, Longwill (shown above) will base his CT operation at a new LSA, taildragger, and general sport-flying airport he is opening in Estanica, NM -- a small town about a hour's drive east of Albuquerque, and south of Moriarty.

Airtime Aviation, operated by a father and son team both named Tom Gutmann (Senior and Junior), was the first to gain FAA approval for CT on April 15, 2005. CT was the second LSA to win approval in the USA, and it has since gone on to earn a leading 21 percent share of the US LSA market.

Airtime Aviation serves a number of south central US states as the distributor of Flight Design aircraft. Part of their job is establishing dealers in their territory. In an odd coincidence, the 200th sale of the CT nationally is also the 50th CT delivered by Airtime.

"We congratulate Tom Gutmann Senior and Junior on delivering CT number 200," said Tom Peghiny, president of national importer Flight Design USA. "Great work by the Gutmanns, Airtime, and our other distributors has convincingly built the CT into the country's most successful LSA. We have registered more CTs than the number three, four, and five sellers of LSA combined."

Longwill is a 20-year airline veteran and Boeing 767 captain, and he previously flew F-15 and F-16 fighters. He has worked with city officials in Estancia (Spanish for "ranch") to complete work on the new E92 airport.

The new location will be valuable to help train new and returning pilots interested in the new LSA aircraft segment. Brian refers to the new Estancia airport as a home to "grass-roots flying."

Flight Design reports nearly 1,000 aircraft delivered since the CT's introduction in 1997 and is the top-selling light-sport aircraft in the USA since 2005.

Honored as ANN's 2006 S-LSA Of The Year, 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.

FMI: www.flightdesignusa.com