Super Petrel LS

Overview

The Super Petrel LS is a two-seat amphibious flying boat built around an unusual choice: a biplane wing. Built by Scoda Aeronautica in Brazil and supported in the US by Super Petrel USA of Ormond Beach, Florida, it pairs a composite hull with retractable tricycle gear and a 100-hp fuel-injected Rotax 912 iS turning a pusher propeller. That layout makes it a day-VFR machine for recreational water flying, certified as a Special Light-Sport Aircraft to ASTM consensus standards. With a 37-kt stall, it sits comfortably inside the sport-pilot envelope, including under the 2025 MOSAIC rule.

Its natural point of comparison is the ICON A5, which shares the amphibious two-seat LSA mission but arrives as a monoplane at more than twice the price. Historically the LS listed around $130,000 to $150,000 against the A5’s $300,000-plus, and it runs in the same Rotax mogas economy class at roughly $40 an hour direct. One caveat frames every purchase decision here: the LS left production in 2023, superseded by the more powerful Super Petrel XP, so a buyer today is shopping the used market, where about 65 airframes fly in the US. For a recreational pilot who wants an economical amphibian and is comfortable buying used and flying day-VFR within LSA limits, the LS delivers the same amphibious-LSA mission as the A5 at roughly half the historical price.

Key Features for GA Buyers

• Runway or water. A composite hull and retractable tricycle gear let it operate from both paved runways and open water.
• Sport-pilot eligible. A 37-kt stall keeps it well inside the LSA and MOSAIC envelope, lowering the medical and certification barrier to entry.
• Low operating cost. The Rotax 912 iS runs on mogas at about $40 per hour direct, keeping recreational flying economical.
• Short-field and water performance. Takeoff about 262 ft on land and 394 ft on water; landing about 394 ft on land and 328 ft on water.
• Useful range. About 510 nm on 24 usable gallons, roughly 6 hours of endurance at about 4 gph, at a max cruise near 100 KTAS.
• Still supported. Actively supported in the US through Super Petrel USA despite being out of production, with the current XP as the new-airframe alternative.

Trade-offs

• Simple systems, no in-flight prop control. No flaps and a ground-adjustable, in-flight-fixed pusher propeller keep systems simple but remove in-flight prop control; clean and landing stall speeds are identical at 37 kt.
• A used-market buy. Out of production since 2023, so a purchase is a used-market transaction; the newer Rotax 915iS/916iS XP is the airframe that now carries the line forward.
• Recreational envelope. Two-seat, day-VFR only, with a Vne of 113 kt at the Light-Sport limit – a recreational machine, not a cross-country or IFR platform.
• Modest payload. A useful load of about 580 lb and baggage capped at 66 lb constrain how much two occupants can carry once fuel is aboard.
• Engine options. The 100-hp 912 iS is the baseline; the LS was also offered with a turbocharged 115-hp Rotax 914UL and the legacy 912ULS, though those are less common on the used market.

See Also

• ICON A5 – the direct rival, an American two-seat amphibious LSA, far pricier and a monoplane. Compare
• Progressive Aerodyne SeaRey – the other budget amphibious-LSA rival, an American parasol-wing flying boat sold factory-built or as a kit. Compare
• Lake LA-4-200 Buccaneer – the certified four-seat amphibian step-up: more seats and speed at higher cost and pilot qualification. Compare