Order Book Is Open For First Light-Sport Aircraft Using Amphibious Clamar Floats

The FAA accepted ASTM certification for the amphibious CTLS Floatplane on January 15, 2011 and it made its public debut at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida a week later. Now, Flight Design has announced that is ready to accept orders for the amphib. German aircraft producer Flight Design, known for its speedy development cycle, now brings a floatplane to their worldwide dealer network.

Flight Design USA distributor Airtime Aviation of Tulsa, Oklahoma  - in cooperation with Flight Design GmbH  and Clamar Floats of Ontario, Canada - completed over 150 hours of flight testing in preparation for the final approval. The certification process involved no changes to the basic CTLS airframe. "To certify the CTLS we had to replace the propeller with a slightly different model but no structural changes were required," said Airtime partner, Tom Gutman. "We added a gear position indicator and the water rudder handle along with a split brake handle to allow for castoring steering on the ground."

Clamar's 1400 float series allows the CTLS to takeoff with a water run of only 15-20 seconds at full gross weight. The CTLS Floatplane cruises at 100 knots where the wheeled model achieves 115 knots. Airtime is continuing development and offers a straight float (non-amphibious) version. Useful load for the CTLS Lite with the amphibious floats is 500 pounds.

"The Clamar floats match the structure and the feel of the Flight Design planes," noted Tom Peghiny, president of importer Flight Design USA. Pricing has been set at $39,900 plus the prop exchange. This price means that it would be possible for a customer to buy a new CTLS Lite plus amphibious floats for $161,895 in ready-to-fly form. "We are accepting orders effective immediately and we can start customer deliveries in less than 60 days," said John Gilmore, national sales manager for Flight Design USA.

FMI: www.flightdesignusa.com