Flying can be a pain sometimes, when the weather isn’t cooperating with our plans to fly an easy VFR trip, when a mechanical issue has you grounded and chasing down a mechanic on the field instead of frolicking around puffy white clouds topside. Then again, sometimes everything goes right. Sometimes, it’s a perfect day to fly and everything cooperates to make it a magical experience. That was my first flight in a Sport Cruiser, which I recently flew at the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, buzzing around above in a sport plane while the sports cars buzzed around the Grand Prix track below. It’s been several days since then, but I think there might be traces of the smile left on my face. Yup, that’s why we fly.

I normally hate to fly at airshows. There are too many airplanes up and about, it can be a pain to get the airplane to the flight line, and then it can take a long time to get to the number-one position for takeoff. Little of that was true for Sebring, though on Saturday there was a good bit of air traffic coming in to check out the show.

When the FAA, along with industry groups, put together the LSA category a decade ago, I was impressed by how broad a range of aircraft the new rules would allow, everything from powered lift to conventional airplanes. I think the FAA had in mind a rule that would best apply to light, two-seat planes reminiscent of some of the most popular four-seaters in aviation history. Think Cessna 172 and Piper PA-28 (Archer, Warrior, 140!take your pick).

One of the biggest mistakes the agency made, however, was in mandating a crazy-low stall speed. Their reasoning was understandable. The slower an airplane stalls, the safer it will be, but there’s a cost for low stall speeds. To get them, you need a very lightly loaded wing, and that almost always equates to tricky handling in breezy conditions. Indeed, a few of the most popular light sport airplanes, the Flight Design CT series, the Remos GT and the Vans RV-12, are all a handful on takeoff and landing when it’s windy. A few LSA have overcome this in very conventional ways. The CubCrafters Carbon Cub and the Legend Aircraft Legend Cub, both LSA versions of the classic Bedford, Pennsylvania-bred Taylor/Piper Cub design, handle like airplanes you’ve probably flown before.

But planes that push the 120-knot speed limit of LSA are often hard-pressed to combine low landing speeds with relatively high cruise speeds—indeed, many are capable of flying a good deal faster than 120 knots and need to be set up to keep the speeds down, often by adjusting their props to a finer pitch.

You probably already know where this is going, that the Sport Cruiser is remarkable in its ability to go fast very nicely and to go slow just as nicely. When you think back to the Cessna 172 and Piper PA-28, they both have that same characteristic. They fly nicely in all phases of flight. In fact, one of the complaints about both airplanes early in their lives was that they were too easy to fly. Cessna and Piper leaders at the time laughed off the criticism and kept right on delivering airplanes to happy owners. Fifty years and tens of thousands of airplanes later, I guess they knew what they were doing.

Piper Sport?

The story of the Sport Cruiser is a long and winding one for the airplane, being just over 10 years old. It’s been through a few name changes and ownership changes, and the airplane was marketed by Piper Aircraft for a short time as the Piper Sport. There are still Piper Sports out there, around 80 of them, but they’re for all intents and purposes identical to other Sport Cruisers.

Designed in the early 2000s, the Sport Cruiser is built in Czech Republic by Czech Aircraft Works, now known as Czech Sport Aircraft, in Kunovice, Czech Republic. The country has a long history of aircraft manufacturing experience, having manufactured numerous Soviet Designs during the Cold War era, including large multi-engine airplanes and jet fighter/trainers, including the L-39, a popular jet among private owners in the United States.

The basic design of the Sport Cruiser is in keeping with the tradition of Czech design while being a thoroughly modern-looking model. It’s a conventional tricycle-gear, all-metal, two-seat, side-by-side airplane with clean, straightforward lines and a large bubble canopy that gives remarkable visibility and great headroom while making it pretty easy to get into and back out of the plane.

Beginning in 2010, Piper marketed the plane, with very minor changes, as one of its own for around a year. Then, apparently some kind of disagreement came up between the Czech manufacturer and the American airplane company, and Piper abruptly canceled the partnership.

While Piper’s course since then has been smart, it cancelled its single-engine jet program and focused on its strength, selling its great training aircraft, included its PA-28 singles and PA-44 Seminole training twin, along with its single-engine transportation airplanes, which include the pressurized piston-single Mirage (now the M350) and the Meridian. The Piper Sport, while a worthy addition to the company’s lineup, even if adopted, would have added little to the bottom line. Piper’s GA competitors Cirrus and Cessna arrived at a similar conclusion and canceled their LSA programs, Cessna after having built a number of its Skycatcher LSAs and Cirrus before its involvement had even gotten to the point of finalizing a design.

“If you’ve trained in a 152, you’ll be amazed by the huge space between the two front-seat occupants in the Sport Cruiser.”

The Sport Cruiser has soldiered on. It is, of course, an S-LSA, meaning you buy the completed airplane, and while it’s not cheap, at between $180,000 and $190,000, based on options, it’s a nicely finished airplane that costs very little to operate while delivering great across-the-board performance rivaling or surpassing that of some great conventional four-place singles, the Cessna Skyhawk or Piper Warrior for example. On top of that, the Sport Cruiser costs less to buy, maintain and operate than those Part 23 airplanes.

As an S-LSA, it can also be used for limited commercial operations. The current U.S. distributor uses the Sport Cruiser to conduct a wide range of training. Although it’s not obvious that LSA could be used for instruction in earning a private or commercial rating, an S-LSA can be.

There’s also the fact that you don’t need a regular FAA medical to fly the Sport Cruiser as an LSA. Patrick Arnzen of US Sport Aircraft, the United States distributor for the Sport Cruiser, told me that a good percentage of the company’s business has been from pilots who were moving down to an S-LSA after flying a Bonanza or a Cirrus. With the advent (hopefully) of the easier third-class pilot medical, we’re curious to see if the LSA draw remains as strong when pilots flying under the new FAA physical requirements can do their thing in conventional Part 23 airplanes.

One of the nice things about LSA is that costs are cheaper all around. The Cirrus SR22 parachute repack costs owners around $15,000, while a similar (though not identical) maintenance event for LSA owners will likely cost them around $1,000. Owners with a simplified maintenance certificate can do much of the work on their own plane.

Design And Configuration

As is the case with all low-wing airplanes, to get into the Sport Cruiser you need to climb up on the wing to get in. Because this plane is so compact, this is a really easy thing to do. There’s a step to assist, but I think some moderately flexible folks could just step up directly onto the wing. It’s easy. The canopy, a big glass bubble affair, hinges at the front, allowing a ton of room to maneuver into a seat. The method is to grab hold of a handle built in between the seats and then step in one leg at a time. It might be a little harder for pilots with limited mobility, but it’s still doable. I’m not a big or tall person, and it was easier than getting into a Cirrus, for example.

There’s no back seat—LSA are two-seaters (at maximum)—but there’s a good-sized baggage hold that could accommodate a couple of good-sized duffle bags and/or various odds and ends, such as a pilot bag or spare headset. For additional storage, and this is cool, there are two wing lockers, one on each side of the plane and about the size of a breadbox—for those of us who remember what a breadbox is or why that’s a thing. You can’t access the contents in flight, but there’s room for a few additional items to make up for the relative lack of storage space in the cabin.

The cockpit itself is terrific. If you’ve ever trained in a 152, you’re bound to be amazed by the sheer amount of space tween the two front-seat occupants, and with ample headroom and side room, the spaciousness of the Sport Cruiser is nothing short of luxurious.

There are control sticks, which seems almost standard-issue in LSA. The use of sticks cuts down on mechanical complexity and weight while making it harder, though not impossible, to put things on your lap. The seats are fixed, dense foam cushions with a built-in framework. The cushions rest on a fixed framework below and against the cockpit wall behind. So they’re not adjustable, but by inserting cushions behind the seat backs. Then you can adjust the rudder pedals as suits you. I quickly found the perfect seating position with no extra cushions and the pedals pulled all the way back toward me.

Once inside the cockpit and buckled up, you reach up and pull the canopy down and then latch it on both sides. There’s a lever between the seats that latches and releases the canopy, which is one element of the design I didn’t like. Seems as though it would be too easy for someone to accidentally release the canopy latch in flight. I’d love to see some kind of guard there to prevent just such an accident.

One great feature, which was originated around the time of the Piper Sport, is a sliding accordion fabric sunshade that you can slide forward to keep things less sunny up top or keep it retracted to get the full effect of all that glass on a nice but not so hot day. There are two built-in sliding window vents that can be opened in flight, a kind of refined version of the classic Piper “holler holes” that work great and don’t create as much noise as you’d think.

Up front is the Dynon SkyView HDX, a new version of the company’s popular flat-panel system. There’s also, you might note, a red handle on the panel that looks a lot like it might be for deploying an emergency whole-airplane recovery system parachute. And that’s what it is. Arnzen told me that almost every Sport Cruiser goes into a customer’s hands with a chute.

Flying The Sport Cruiser

It was midmorning on Saturday at Sebring when Patrick and I fired up the Rotax 912 ULS and taxied out to go flying on a gorgeous late winter day in Central Florida. The taxi itself was instructive. The Sport Cruiser taxis very easily. It’s also easier to handle in a crosswind than some LSAs.

For takeoff, we had an intersection departure—not my favorite option, but at the airshow that was the procedure for airplanes on display, and the Sport Cruiser needs very little runway.

I retracted the one notch of flaps at around 300 feet and we climbed out, initially at a faster airspeed than called for (out of habit, my bad) but when I slowed it down to a good cruise climb for the plane I was actually in, we were rewarded with a very nice rate of climb and a still surprisingly decent amount of visibility out front.

In the air, the Sport Cruiser handles really nicely. There’s very little of the adverse yaw you experience in some LSA. It’s light on the controls, which shouldn’t be too surprising. It is a light airplane, after all, just 1320 pounds at max takeoff weight and 855 pounds empty.

One thing I’m not crazy about is the trim switch, which is situated atop the stick, making it hard for me to get my thumb wrapped around the top in a natural-feeling way. And there’s not a lot of feeling of feedback from applying trim, which is, I’m sure, because the plane is, as I said, light enough on the controls that it’s easy to apply enough pressure to counteract a slightly out-of-trim setting manually.

The feel, again, is nicely harmonized, and you need a little rudder pedal to keep things centered, but here the feedback is immediate and clear. The feel I had for how much rudder the plane needed was all I needed to keep the ball centered. Very nice. The basic flight maneuvers I did all showed the plane’s very conventional behavior and easy flyability. Dutch rolls, where you rock the wings while keeping the nose of the plane on a spot in front of you, were crisp and honest, and while we didn’t wring the Sport Cruiser out, when we slowed down, both clean and dirty, the plane retained a high degree of controllability, with lots of aileron effectiveness even on short final at what seems to me a ridiculously slow speed.

On the long list of things I really liked about the plane is its visibility. My eyes were everywhere that morning looking for traffic. Eyeballs are notoriously ineffective TCAS devices, but sometimes they’re the best we’ve got, and if you wanted to maximize your chances of seeing other traffic, the Sport Cruiser is the plane you want to be in.

It was a breezy day in Sebring, to the point where any pilots would have had to work hard to keep things on the straight and narrow, but the Sport Cruiser was no such challenge. Again, it’s light, but it handles like a much larger single only with a bit more touch required. Hit the speed for touchdown and the plane will settle in for a nice flared landing, and if there’s a little crosswind, as there was for us, a little aileron into the wind while keeping the nose straight with rudder keeps it happy and tracking the centerline. Touchdown was maybe a few knots too fast, so there was a little float, but it was so easy to bleed off, or to keep it flying, that it felt as though I could pick my landing spot and put it right there. And this was on my first flight in it.

After Touchdown

One concern that many potential owners have about buying an airplane built outside of North America is that it might be hard to get parts and service. I’m not discounting that issue, but the company has done a lot to address those concerns. The current distributor, US Sport Aircraft, based at Addison, Texas, is a large, well-run company with what seems like a great culture of customer care. The manufacturer is also in the process of setting up shop in South Florida with the express goal of providing support to the North American market, not unlike a couple of business aircraft, Embraer, with its Phenom jets, and Daher with its TBM lineup, have successfully done.

The Sport Cruiser might not be quite as fast or high-flying as those turbine beauties, but for pilots looking for an LSA to transition into and really enjoy flying, maybe even flying places, this is an airplane that’s worth a long look.

5 Things The Sport Cruiser Got Right

• Conventional and harmonious flight control: It’s a great flying airplane that handles well, even in breezy conditions. Even taxiing is great.
• Cockpit comfort: From great headroom, shoulder room and clearance from the sides, the Sport Cruiser shines here. And the visibility is as good as it gets.
• Rotax power: The choice of the Rotax 912 ULS gives pilots a proven powerplant that has a large service network. I should add that Sensenich’s three-blade composite prop is as quiet and smooth as it is pretty.
• Dynon SkyView HDX: This is a terrific choice for a sport plane, with large, sharp displays, touch or button control, a great little autopilot and all kinds of additional safety utilities.
• Bringing the factory to the customer:The Sport Cruiser’s established support center in Texas and emerging North American headquarters in Florida are signs that the company intends to be in the market for a long time and to give the existing fleet the support it deserves.

The Sport Cruiser we flew for this report was a customer-owned airplane on loan to the factory. It is outfitted with the Dynon SkyView HDX flat-panel system, the Rotax 912ULS and a BRS whole airplane recovery parachute system.

Price As Flown:$180,000

Base Price:$160,000

Czech Sport Aircraft Sport Cruiser Specifications

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Seats: 2

Main Construction: Metal

Engine/Hp: Rotax 912 ULS2/100 hp

Propeller: Woodcomp Klassic, 3-blade, composite, ground-adjustable, 67″ diameter

Avionics: Dynon SkyView

Top Cruise Speed: 120 kts

Stall, Landing Configuration: 31 kts

Maximum Range: 516 nm (30-min. reserve)

Maximum Takeoff Weight: 1,320 lbs.

Payload: 285 lbs. (full fuel)

Useful Load: 520 lbs.

Takeoff/Landing Distance (No Obstacle): 300/340 ft.

The post 2017 Sport Cruiser appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Price As Flown:$180,000

Base Price:$160,000

Main Construction: All-metal

Engine: Rotax 912 ULS2

Horsepower:100 hp

Propeller:Woodcomp Klassic 170/3/R, composite, ground adjustable, 3-blade, 67″ diameter or (optional) Sensenich 3B0R5R68C, composite, ground adjustable, 3-blade, 68″ diameter

Avionics:Analog six-pack or Dynon SkyView HDX

Landing Gear:Fixed

Seats:2

Doors:1 (canopy)

Empty Weight:855.4 lbs.

Maximum Takeoff Weight:1,320 lbs.

Payload:285 lbs. (full fuel)

Useful Load:465 lbs.

Fuel Capacity:30 gal. (180 lbs.)

Wingspan:28.22 ft.

Length:21.72 ft.

Height:7.6 ft.

Cabin Width:3.85 ft.

Maximum Climb Rate:825 fpm

TopCruise Speed:108 kts

Maximum Operating Altitude:15,000 ft.

Maximum Range:516 nm (30 min. reserve)

Stall, Landing Configuration:31 kts

Takeoff Distance (50-ft. Obstacle):1,270 ft.

Landing Distance (50-ft. Obstacle):1,188 ft.

Read ourCzech Sport Aircraft Sport Cruiser pilot report.

The post 2017 Czech Sport Aircraft Sport Cruiser appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

All too often, we hear about gen­eral aviation businesses hang­ing on by a thread, scraping by in a fight to survive. Why, then, has US Sport Aircraft, operator of a recreational flight school and the distributor of the SportCruiser light-sport aircraft, continued to grow and thrive over the past nine years?

Patrick Arnzen, the 34-year-old president of US Sport Aircraft, says, “It’s all about knowing your customers, providing them what they want and keeping it fun in the process. Too many times, people finally get the nerve to walk into a flight school, and what do they see? Threadbare sofas with disinterested CFIs talking to each other but ignoring the potential student, or a professional flight academy with dozens of 18 year olds scurrying around in epaulets. These places don’t encourage a business professional or recent retiree to jump into flight training. We do things differently. Our environment is more like a country club than a typical flight school.”

The flight line is certainly not like that of a typical flight school. Being the sole U.S. distributor of the SportCruiser, US Sport Aircraft uses a fleet of new or nearly new SportCruisers equipped with synthetic vision glass panels, in-cockpit traffic and weather, and whole-aircraft ballistic recovery systems (BRS). They also have more traditional aircraft like the Cessna 172 (G1000), Cessna 310 light twin, American Champion Xtreme Decathlon and Bellanca Super Viking available for advanced ratings.

Students seem to notice the dif­fer­ence, as well. Wes Wynne, a new private pilot, said, “I started my training at another school. I was frustrated by maintenance issues with their 40-year-old planes when I happened to drive by US Sport’s ramp and saw the cool planes they were flying. I went in the office and was impressed by the friendly people. But when I found out that it cost less to rent a brand-new SportCruiser than a 1970s 172, I was hooked. ”

“The key to making new pilots is to make it fun, affordable and accessible,” said Arnzen. “The aircraft we fly have very low operating costs, so we can pass that along to our customers. We also make it easy for people to own their own aircraft with our SportShares program. In a SportShare, we organize a co-ownership group of two to five people, do all the paperwork, arrange financing, hangar and insurance—the whole nine yards. You can own a SportShare for the cost of a typical compact car.” Arnzen also noted that US Sport provides local customers with a concierge service. “Just call us when you want to fly, and we’ll have your plane gassed up, washed and waiting for you on the ramp.”

The modern fleet of SportCruisers and the”country club” atmosphere make US Sport Aircraft a welcoming place for both current and potential pilots.

US Sport has also managed to extend their unique brand of customer service to maintenance and parts support for the 300-plus SportCruiser owners in the U.S. They maintain an in-house inventory of most parts and can usually deliver the next day. Customers benefit from US Sport technicians who’ll take the time to talk with them and help diagnose problems, identify the correct parts and suggest operational ways to improve performance.

Community involvement is also important to US Sport Aircraft. They founded the McKinney Aviation Academy in 2011 in conjunction with a local school district. In the first year, US Sport provided instructors and curriculum to guide 25 students through private pilot ground school. The program currently boasts over 400 students on three campuses with full-time instructors, a Redbird flight simulator and several aircraft for maintenance projects. Todd Curtis, one of the program instructors, said, “The goal is for each student to graduate with a private pilot license and a light-sport repairman certificate. With another year at junior college, they can be an A&P.”

From group fly-outs to one-on-one instruction, the team at US Sport Aircraft makes each flight fun, safe and educational.

The success US Sport has experienced can be traced back to their energetic president. A former airline pilot, and one of the youngest designated pilot examiners (DPE) in the country, Arnzen has run several aviation businesses prior to launching an Addison, Texas, location for US Sport Aircraft. Starting with a dirt-floor hangar and one aircraft, Arnzen quickly grew the business to a 10,000-square-foot facility, 20 or more planes and 20 staff members. “I could not have done this by myself. My biggest talent is probably being picky and only bringing on team members who share our vision and passion.”

One of those team members is Stuart Stevenson. “I was a CPA and engineer when I hired Patrick to help me complete my commercial and CFI tickets. We have very similar business philosophies, and both saw the potential of US Sport. We eventually bought out the founders and started building the company we have today. We’re not there yet, but we’re well on our way.”

Mitch Whatley is another key team member. An F15 pilot, airline captain, engineer, lawyer and personal SportCruiser owner, Whatley has been utilizing his expertise to develop and lead a world-class maintenance and owner support team. He’s also working closely with the factory to develop improvements and refinements to the SportCruiser to ensure its continued vitality in a highly competitive market.

“Our office team and instructors represent the face of our flight school,” says Arnzen. “We pay our instructors almost twice as much as other schools on the field. We do that so we can hire and retain the absolute best people.” Mechanics are also a key to keeping aircraft owners happy. According to Whatley, “We service a variety of aircraft, not just SportCruisers. Our techs are true GA guys with lots of experience.”

Arnzen recognizes that success always comes down to people. He has demonstrated the ability to attract the best and challenge them to match his energy and enthusiasm. With a strong team in place and plenty of opportunity for growth, US Sport Aircraft will likely remain an ongoing success story in the aviation industry.

An Owner’s Story By Gary Cordell
As I neared retirement, I was thinking, “I wish I could find a cost-effective cross-country airplane that I can actually use.” But like others, I wanted a “real” airplane (in my case all metal) that my wife and I could use locally and on long cross-country adventures. I began my search by reading a multitude of articles, looking at performance data, gross weight, cost per flight hour, cabin size, avionics, safety concerns, cost, etc. As a longtime pilot with commercial and CFI ratings, and time logged in aircraft from Cubs to Citations, I had some previous experience to call on. I should also mention that the light-sport category wasn’t singled out, because I still have no health issues and retain my second class medical. However, I knew I didn’t want to spend money on a new aircraft “beyond my means” that I couldn’t afford to fly after the purchase. Further, I didn’t want to buy something older than I am that would need constant attention. After much research, I settled on the SportCruiser from a very short list of possibilities. Then “what to my wondering eyes should appear” but US Sport Aircraft, the distributor of the SportCruiser, moving their headquarters to my backyard in Addison, Texas. And even better, since they operate a complete flight training and aircraft rental program, I could truly test out the airplane. I got to know both the SportCruiser and US Sport Aircraft’s personnel. From the president to the mechanics, they’re committed to customer service and support. Over the next 12 to 18 months, I was able to fly every variant of the SportCruiser, from the steam gauge Classic to the modern glass panels. I logged more than 200 hours flying locally and on extended cross-country flights with my wife. The plane proved itself time and time again. It exceeded my initial expectations. When I retired and we were moving, it was my wife who encouraged our purchase of the SportCruiser. We put 200-plus hours on the first one in 12 months and have now purchased a second SportCruiser, upgrading from the standard Dynon glass panel to the new Dynon SkyView Touch. The SportCruiser is everything we could have hoped for in a modern, well-equipped and economical cross-country airplane, and the friendships we’ve formed with the personnel at US Sport Aircraft will last long after we stop our flying adventures.

The post Country Club Style appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

It was a Cinderella story gone bad in 2011 when Piper Aircraft, just one year after plucking the sleek Czech-built CSA SportCruiser from obscurity and rechristening it the PiperSport, unceremoniously dumped the aircraft that the famed OEM had licensed as its LSA offering. But, anyone who thought the stylish, well-built SportCruiser had used up its 15 minutes and would disappear back into the European light-sport pack most likely never flew the aircraft or considered that the pilots from Piper were smitten for a reason—regardless of what went on behind closed doors that led to the split.

Onward And Upward
Today, the Czech SportCruiser and its manufacturer, Czech Sport Aircraft of Kunovice, in the Czech Republic’s “Aviation Valley,” are doing just fine, thank you. At last year’s Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in January, the company introduced its top-of-the-line SportCruiser SVAP+, featuring Dynon’s SkyView integrated avionics suite with dual Dynon 10-inch displays, and sold a healthy 27 aircraft by year’s end. With the 2014 Expo marking the 10th anniversary of the LSA category, revisiting the SportCruiser offered a fitting way to honor the milestone.

“I don’t think the original idea for the LSA was what we’re doing in the SportCruiser,” Patrick Arnzen, president of US Sport Aircraft, American distributor for the Czech OEM, said at the company’s display area at Expo. “Everyone thought we’d have a $50,000 LSA, but people want more airplane. This,” he said of the SVAP+ on display, “has more advanced technology than most corporate aircraft.”

The SportCruiser is one of the more aptly named aircraft on a flight line. It’s sporty in both looks and performance—highly maneuverable and very responsive—yet its wide cabin, ample luggage capacity and speed make it as much a cross-country cruising machine as many four-place Part 23 aircraft. Given these attributes, it’s noteworthy that the SportCruiser has also been embraced by flight schools as a trainer, where a low-cost aircraft that can teach basic flying skills is more important than slick handling or high cruise speed. The OEM’s data shows that 30% of SportCruisers are absorbed into the training market. Yet, “at least 80%” of the training done in the SportCruiser is for “other than sport-pilot” instruction, Arnzen said. That could include a private pilot getting a checkout so he or she can use the SportCruiser for missions such as night flights, which are legal in the aircraft but prohibited for sport-pilot operations.

US Sport Aircraft typically has 20 to 25 SportCruisers on its flight line at its facility in Addison, Texas, for training, rental and purchase, and the training activity helps drive sales. “You buy what you learn to fly on,” Arnzen said. “People are buying these airplanes because they’re superb aircraft that happen to fit into the LSA category. It does everything a Cessna 172 will do cheaper and better, and it’s a lot more fun.”

Major parts of the airframe are metal. The prop, spinner, cowling, wingtips, fairings and canopy are composite. The landing gear is made of Kevlar, carbon fiber and fiberglass.

Helping get more exposure for the aircraft, US Sport Aircraft has initiated a STEM program with Dallas-area high schools built around the SportCruiser, now involving some 250 students interested in aviation careers as pilots or maintenance professionals. The company has also developed a fractional ownership program to promote sales.

“When you split up the cost [of the airplane] and make the maintenance and management easy for buyers, it starts to make a lot of sense,” Arnzen said. Matchmaking between potential co-owners can be a challenge, he admitted. “I call it eHarmony for pilots.”

From The Ground Up
Such is the SportCruiser’s success that the only SVAP+ model at Expo was the one on static display. “We’ve sold out of new inventory,” Arnzen said. The company was using a SportCruiser LTD, N545SC, from Sport Aviation, their dealer in Stuart, Fla., for demo flights. I played the role of one of the certificated pilots who comes to train in the aircraft for non-sport-pilot applications. Bryan Woodard, managing partner of the Stuart-based dealership, served as my instructor.

On the ramp, the low-wing SportCruiser has a rakish, sculpted appearance, though all major parts of the airframe are metal. The prop, spinner, cowling, wingtips, fairings and canopy frame are composite, while the landing gear is crafted from Kevlar, carbon fiber and fiberglass for strength and flexibility.
“Coming from a typical general aviation engine, this will look a little different to you,” Woodard said, opening the oil access door for a glimpse of the 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS. As a first difference, pilots used to Lycomings and Continentals will find that the tool for measuring the oil level in the Rotax looks more like a sardine can opener than a dipstick. The Rotax’s dry sump-forced lubrication system keeps the oil in the engine at shutdown, and checking the level requires “burping” the engine—manually advancing the propeller until the Rotax emits an audible gurgle.

“Some people call it a burp, some call it a toilet flush,” said Woodard. “What you’re doing is actuating the oil pump and forcing all the oil back into the reservoir.” Transitioning pilots will quickly see a difference in their oil bills. The Rotax uses only six to eight ounces of oil and takes less expensive motorcycle oil; standard aviation oil for Lycomings and Continentals doesn’t have the proper lubrication properties and additives needed for the high-revving engines, which spin at up to 5,800 rpm.

Fuel bills will also be lower, thanks to both the lower fuel consumption over comparably powered Lycomings and the engine’s ability to run on lower-priced auto gas, as well as avgas. As for the carbureted ULS, while several other LSA offer fuel-injected versions of the Rotax 912 as powerplant options, Czech Sport Aircraft feels the 20% fuel savings doesn’t justify the additional $10,000 cost for an injected variant. From a safety perspective, Woodard notes the Rotax isn’t prone to develop engine ice anyway, as the position of the dual carburetors is atop the engine where rising heat inhibits ice formation. Woodard says he has never had to use carb heat in about 2,500 hours of flying carbureted Rotax 912 ULS.

The fit and finish of the machined parts is excellent, and the aircraft is sturdy and rugged, as Woodard demonstrated by giving the forward-hinged clamshell bubble canopy, now in the open position, a vigorous tug and then pounding on the frame. “This thing’s not going anywhere,” he said.

Inside, the seating is side by side, and the center console includes a 12-volt receptacle for running or recharging a mobile device. Rudder pedals are adjustable forward and aft, though the seats are fixed in place.

It may not be the most modern SportCruiser, but the LTD is no slouch in the avionics department, outfitted with Dynon display screens on the left and right, Dynon AP74 autopilot, and Garmin SL30 NAV/COM and Garmin 696 GPS, which will display traffic from the Mode S transponder in an active radar environment. “Customers who are former airline pilots say it’s just as good as what they used,” Woodard said.

Flying The SportCruiser
If you’re transitioning from a steam-gauge airplane, be aware that the glass-paneled aircraft is started by powering up the avionics. “If [the system] tells you there’s a network error, we’d just do a reboot,” Woodard said. “It happens once every 200 or 300 flights.” To minimize such errors, engage the systems in the order they prefer: master, instruments, avionics and autopilot. Completion of the self-test is annunciated on the right display screen. “It’s a one-glance system,” Woodard said. “If you look over and don’t see any red or yellow shading, you’re healthy to go.”

We closed and locked the blue-tinted canopy. The throttle control in the center panel is easily accessible from both seats, held in position with a friction lock. (A ballistic recovery system is an option, and the handle for the chute is also in the center panel.) For engine start, crack the throttle and turn the key, and the Rotax immediately jumps to life without any of the hesitation or sputtering that often attend Lycoming and Continental startups.

The castering nosewheel gives the SportCruiser great maneuverability onthe ground. For takeoff, flaps, which extend to 30 degrees, are set to about 10 degrees, deploying at the rate of about five degrees per second with the electric flap switch engaged.

“I like students to use the count method, so they’re not staring at the indicator,” Woodard said. For takeoff, a minimum power of 4,900 rpm is required. Acceleration is brisk, and in about 300 feet, we had reached our 45-knot rotation speed.

Some pilots have found the Sport-Cruiser a little too responsive, and the elevator has been redesigned to reduce pitch sensitivity. The SVAP+ also has an option for a ground-adjustable three-blade Sensenich prop, rigged to deliver a 117-knot cruise speed. N545SC’s older Woodcomp prop, chosen for climb performance, will max out at about 105 knots in cruise. But, at about 65 knots on climbout, our VSI was registering a positive rate of 900 to 1,000 fpm.

Electric pitch and aileron trim, actuated by four buttons atop the stick, is welcome when you want to hand fly rather than engage the autopilot, relieving, for example, lateral pressure due to a fuel imbalance. And, even without the full SkyView suite, the Dynon avionics in the LTD offered envelope protection; in a descent with the autopilot engaged, the autopilot shallowed the descent about eight knots before we hit Vne, while it lowered the nose when we were about the same margin from a stall in a climb. If you inadvertently stumble into IMC, you can reverse course with one command, and the autopilot executes a 180-degree turn. No need to worry about coolant loss in the liquid-cooled Rotax, either. Simply power back to 4,800 rpm—65% power—and you can continue to your destination.

How a trainer falls out of the sky can be as important as how it flies, and the SportCruiser’s stall characteristics are suitably polite. Noticeable buffeting gives fair warning of the impending stall, and the nose falls straight ahead, the break coming at about 39 knots clean and 32 knots in the landing configuration. Woodard performs them on every demo flight. “I want them to see the stall isn’t going to hurt them,” he said.

A Budding Relationship?
Meanwhile, I was quickly warming to the SportCruiser with its excellent visibility and roomy cabin, about two inches wider than a Bonanza’s. If I was actually transitioning to a SportCruiser, I realized I’d have plenty of room for luggage with two levels of storage behind the seats and two wing lockers that can each hold an additional 22 pounds of gear. For distance traveling, the 15 gallons of fuel per side equates to more than 500 nm of range.

Moreover, if I had an SVAP+, in addition to SkyView I’d have the added benefit of armrests, improved ventilation, a big handle to help open and close the canopy, and other interior enhancements—improvements integrated into the SportCruiser shortly before the introduction of the SVAP+. That “eHarmony for pilots” was starting to sound more tempting by the moment.

The SportCruiser is sold in three models: The Classic, with steam gauges, has a base price of $129,450, with options that can bring the cost up to about $145,000; the SVAP Light, with one Dynon screen, is priced from $143,200 to about $160,000; the SVAP+, with dual Dynon screens, is priced from $163,350 to about $170,000.

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SportCruiser LSA
Engine:	Rotax 912 ULS2/S2
Power:	100 hp @5800 rpm
Fuel:	Mogas RON 95 Avgas 100LL, EN 228
Propeller:	Sensenich Fixed 3-blade optional
Wingspan (ft):	28.22
Length (ft):	21.72
Height (ft):	7.60
Wing Surface Area (sq. ft.):	132.4
Cockpit Width (ft.):	3.85
MTOW (lbs.):	1323
Empty Weight (lbs.):	824.5
Max Baggage Weight:	Rear compartment (lbs.): 40 Wing lockers (lbs.): (2) x 22
PERFORMANCE
Cruise Speed At 3000 Ft., 75% Power:	93 KIAS
Max Horizontal Speed:	119 KIAS
Vne:	138 KIAS
Stall Speed (Vso):	31 KIAS
Climb Rate:	825 ft./min.
Takeoff Distance To 50 Ft.:
Concrete (ft.):	1270
Grass (ft.):	1499
Landing Distance:
Concrete (ft.):	1188
Grass (ft.):	1109
Range (30 min. reserve):	512 nm
Endurance:	5 hrs. 26 min.
Fuel Capacity (gals.):	30 U.S.
Average Fuel Consumption (gph):	4.6

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In fact, the United States came late to the party, specifically 2005. LSAs and ultralights have been all the rage in Europe for some time. The cost of flying has only recently increased dramatically here in the States, but fuel, airways and communication charges, landing fees and a multitude of other taxes have been a way of life in Europe for decades.

The TL-Ultralight Company of Hradec Králové, near Prague, has been producing a variety of gliders and light aircraft since 1990. TL began its product line selling the popular, high-wing Typhoon and Condor. The current stable at TL includes those airplanes plus the Star and the Sting, powered by various versions of the popular Rotax engine.

The Sting Sport is the most upscale model in TL’s lineup. It may be fitted with Rotax engines ranging from 80 to 115 hp, and in Australia, it has even been mounted on retractable gear and flown behind a constant-speed prop. (By FAA mandate, neither of these options is available in American LSAs.)

By now, most pilots are aware that a well-executed LSA can be a full-fledged airplane, even if it’s limited in gross weight, performance and configuration. In case you had any doubts, the Sting Sport is exactly that: a “real” airplane that’s easily competitive with many early, normal-category, two-seat machines from the ’40s and ’50s. LSAs are limited to 120 knots and 1,320 pounds gross, plus they can be operated only with fixed-pitch props (in flight) and fixed gear.

LSAs come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and the Sting Sport may be one of the more interesting of the bunch. It’s essentially an all-carbon-fiber design, intended to keep empty weight to a minimum. That’s especially important on an airplane limited to a max gross of 1,320 pounds.

TL-Ultralight has set the max takeoff weight on the Sting at the 1,320-pound limit, and the company suggests that a typically equipped empty weight is about 780 pounds, so max useful load works out to 540 pounds. Subtract 108 pounds of fuel, and you’re left with a cabin allowance still in excess of 400 pounds. With only two seats in place, that means you can carry two full-sized folks plus minimal baggage. Long-range fuel is 32 gallons, a popular option, and remaining payload with the long-range tanks is still 360 pounds.

The Sting Sport’s 121-square-foot wing is slightly forward-swept and features split flaps, and the empennage mounts a conventional horizontal stabilizer rather than an all-flying stabilator like that of the Star.

The cabin is 44 inches wide, the same dimension as a Cessna 210. Entry is by way of a fold-up canopy, hinged at the front, that allows easy access to either seat. Toe brakes are standard, and the nosewheel is steerable rather than full-castering. Rudder pedals are adjustable to accommodate pilots as tall as six feet, three inches. The Sting Sport utilizes a stick for roll and pitch control.

Standard engine on the Sting Sport is the 100 hp Rotax 912. Many pilots and schools appreciate the 100 hp Rotax for the improved climb. Engine TBO on either mill is a reasonable 1,500 hours. Flight schools that log 10 to 15 hours a week in training mode will have two to three years before having to worry about an engine overhaul. The prop is a composite, three-blade Woodcomp that’s ground adjustable for climb or cruise.

The Sting Sport’s numbers are fairly impressive for an airplane in this class. You rotate at about 40 knots and climb out at 75 knots. Expect between 700 and 800 fpm from sea level. Optimum cruise height is around 8,000 feet, but the very nature of an LSA is that it’s a comfortable airplane to fly at low level where you can smell the roses—and the cows.

Max cruise speed is listed as 115 knots (132 mph), well under the 120-knot limit, at least on paper. If you blocked the airplane at 110 knots, you could plan on five-hour cross-country flights with plenty of reserve. That’s 550 miles between pit stops, Albuquerque to Los Angeles or Chicago to Atlanta.

In-flight visibility is excellent with the semi-bubble canopy offering a nearly 360-degree horizontal view. The Rotax is reasonably quiet at takeoff or cruise, which is probably academic considering that most pilots wear noise-attenuating headsets anyway.

Flaps are manual via Johnson bar between the seats with three positions. The full 35-degree setting reduces stall speed to 39 knots. TL-Ultralight recommends approaches at 66 knots, about the same as best climb speed, but we’d bet that a short-field effort would work just fine at 50 knots. That’s still about 1.3 Vs_o. The coil-spring nosegear helps guard against planting the airplane on its front wheel. Such low stall and approach speeds mean the airplane can use abbreviated runways, as short as 1,000 feet with unobstructed approaches.

The Sting Sport also offers the option of keeping the airplane at home if it’s too expensive or inconvenient to rent a hangar or tiedown at the local airport. Two people can remove the wings in about 15 minutes, so the airplane can be trailered to your garage or backyard.

Base price is $99,350, which includes a BRS parachute. You can opt for a variety of avionics. One of the most popular is a Garmin 496 GPS installed with an AirGizmos mount. Combine that with a 330 transponder, and you have the potential for traffic (TIS), TAWS, XM Weather, battery backup and automatic frequency transfer to a Garmin SL-30 navcom. Another popular option is airbags on the seat belts.

At last count, there were something like 57 models certified as LSAs under U.S. regulations. New ones are being added so fast, that figure may be outdated by the time you read this. The good news is that the Czech Sting Sport may be in the top tier.

SPECS: Sting Sport TL-2000

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Sting Sport TL-2000
Base price:	$99,350
Engine make/model:	Rotax 912 ULS
TBO (hrs.):	1500
Horsepower@altitude:	100@SL
Fuel type:	100LL
Propeller type:	Woodcomp/3-blade
Landing gear type:	Tri./Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs):	1320
Gross weight (lbs.):	1320
Landing weight (lbs.)	1320
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	780
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	540
Useful fuel, std (gals.):	18
Optional fuel (gals.):	32
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	432
Wingspan:	28 ft. 3 in.
Overall length:	20 ft. 4 in.
Height:	7 ft. 6 in.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	121.5
Wing loading (lbs./sq.ft.):	10.9
Power loading (lbs./hp):	13.2
Seating capacity:	2
Cabin width (in.):	44
PERFORMANCE
CRUISE SPEED (kts.):
75% power:	115
FUEL CONSUMPTION (gph.):
75% power:	4.3
Vso (kts.):	39
Best rate of climb, SL (fpm):	810
Service ceiling (ft.):	15,000
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	490
Takeoff over 50 ft. obstacle (ft.):	940
Landing ground roll (ft.):	390
Landing over 50 ft. obstacle (ft.):	1150
Source: Manufacturer’s Specs

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The whole idea was safety. Keep the airplane simple, comparatively slow and lightweight, and there will be fewer accidents (those that do occur will inflict less injuries).

One of the designs that has succeeded in approaching the certification limits is the CZAW (Czech Aircraft Works) SportCruiser, introduced in 2006 and already sold in 17 countries. The SportCruiser is manufactured in the Czech Republic and distributed in the States by Sport Aircraft Works (www.sportaircraftworks.com) of Palm City, Fla. This slick and swept little airplane looks something like the old Glasair FG, but with only a 100 hp Rotax engine out front, its speed is limited to the requisite 120-knot max.

The SportCruiser is produced at Kunovice Airport, where European entry-level airplanes have been built and sold for years. CZAW produces a variety of lightweight amphibious and land-based aircraft, and there’s nothing amateurish about either the conception or construction of its airplanes.

In the case of the SportCruiser, CZAW offers you a choice of a prebuilt airplane or a Quick Build Kit. Should you opt for the latter, you can expect to spend about 400 hours in construction time and save $34,500 in the process, about half of the fully assembled price. The task is strictly one of assembly, not fabrication. (Yes, the CZAW kit does comply with the FAA’s 51% rule.)

Regardless of whether you build it yourself or buy a SportCruiser preassembled by the dealer, this LSA doesn’t spare the amenities. It features electric trim for pitch and roll, electric flaps, a ground-adjustable, three-blade composite prop, in-flight-adjustable rudder pedals and a huge cabin by LSA standards.

The canopy hinges at the front and opens to reveal a generous front office. Roll and pitch control are with conventional sticks mounted well forward of the twin bucket seating positions. Those seats are installed with a transom between them, a function of the 46.5-inch-wide cabin. Headroom doesn’t receive short shrift either. There’s enough vertical space to accommodate a six-foot, two-inch pilot and passenger without brushing their heads against the carbon-fiber, Plexiglas canopy structure. Primary baggage storage is in the turtledeck behind the pilots.

The SportCruiser is all metal, both for simplicity of construction and to help allay the fears of pilots concerned about fiberglass durability. Landing gear may be slickly enclosed with speed fairings that contribute as much as three knots to cruise. The SportCruiser also features something unheard of among other LSAs, wing lockers. CZAW mounts the lockers just outboard of the wing walks. The square lockers are positioned mid-chord at the airfoil’s thickest point and hold 40 fairly flat pounds of whatever per side.

Like most aircraft in the class, the SportCruiser uses a 100 hp Rotax 912, by far the most popular engine for LSAs. (The 120 hp Jabiru 3300 is another option.) Either way, the basic SportCruiser offers a useful load in excess of 550 pounds, which means the airplane can lift full fuel (30 gallons), two 170-pound people and 30 pounds of baggage.

CZAW brags that the airplane can leap skyward at 1,200 fpm, and even if that’s a tad wishful, the airplane can manage an easy initial 1,000 fpm, not bad for only 100 hp. Cruise performance is also impressive, 110 to 115 knots on only 4.5 gph. For those who choose the Rotax engine, endurance is around five hours plus reserve. That’s longer than most folks are willing to sit in an airplane without a pit stop, but for those with the necessary endurance, the SportCruiser will transport them well over the horizon.

Range at high cruise is reminiscent of that in a Skyhawk, 575 nm plus reserve. Pull back the throttle to max economy settings and you can extend that to 640 nm plus reserve. Control response is good in roll, better in pitch and reasonable in yaw. The airplane flies heavier than it looks. There’s not much adverse yaw, and you can carve turns up to about 60 degrees with feet on the floor and the ball still in the center.

This makes long flights not only possible but also fun. The difference between this LSA and some of the others is that you might not mind sitting in a SportCruiser for several hours. The big cabin doesn’t demand rubbing elbows, and there’s plenty of room to move around inside the cockpit. Visibility is excellent in virtually all directions. Overall, the SportCruiser perhaps comes closest to a normal category two-seater.

The SportCruiser’s large wing might suggest a low stall speed, and the airplane’s bottom number is 32 knots. That’s a virtual guarantee of impressive short-field performance. The airplane was originally designed to be operated from grass strips in Europe, so the comparatively long, paved runways of the States are almost ridiculously accommodating. The official numbers are practically in the STOL category, 400 feet for landing and 360 feet for takeoff.

The SportCruiser sells for a base price well below $100,000, but the optional level of avionics sophistication can drive the price well north of that figure. Like many other LSAs (and a few certified airplanes), the basic radio package is based around the Garmin 296/396/496 with the Air Gizmos panel mount. Combine that with a Garmin SL30 navcom and a Garmin 330 transponder plus an intercom, and you have an avionics stack that offers single nav and com, GPS, XM Satellite Weather, terrain warnings and even TIS (Traffic Information Service) uplink. You can also add a number of other boxes to include EFIS, autopilot and rate-of-climb/altitude preselect.

Base price of the standard SportCruiser with the 100 hp Rotax engine is $79,500. CZAW also offers perhaps the ultimate safety feature, a BRS recovery chute, for an additional $4,995. That’s a significant increase to the sales price, and it does reduce your payload, but it may be worth it if it saves your life even once.

Don’t be surprised if an increasing number of the LSAs you see parked and flying at your home airport are SportCruisers. It’s about as close as you can come to a standard general aviation airplane without a type certificate.

SPECS: CZAW SportCruiser

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CZAW SportCruiser
Base price:	$79,500
Engine make/model:	Rotax 912
Horsepower:	100@SL
TBO (hrs.):	2000
Fuel type:	100/100LL
Propeller type:	FP/3-blade
Landing gear type:	Tri./Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs.):	1320
Gross weight (lbs.):	1320
Landing weight (lbs.):	1320
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	765
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	555
Useful fuel, std. (gals.):	30
Usable fuel (gals.):	37
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	392
Wingspan:	28 ft. 9 in.
Overall length:	21 ft. 4 in.
Height:	6 ft. 5 in.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	141.6
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	9.3
Power loading (lbs./hp.):	13.2
Wheel size (in.):	6.00 x 6
Seating capacity:	2
Cabin width (in.):	46.5
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed (kts.):
75% power @ 8,000 ft.:	115
Range (nm):
75% power:	575*
65% power:	650
Fuel consumption* (gph):
75% power:	4.5
Vso (kts.):	32
Best rate of climb (SL gph):	1200
Service ceiling (ft.):	20,000
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	360
Landing ground roll (ft.):	400
*Estimated
Source: Czech Aircraft Works

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