Light sport aircraft compared: for sport pilots and pilots flying on BasicMed
Capability, cost, and cross-country performance compared
Note (May 2026): This guide covers the light-sport aircraft category specifically: airframes certificated under the LSA airworthiness standards (1,320 lb MTOW, 45 KCAS stall, two seats, fixed gear). Under the FAA’s 2025 MOSAIC rule, a sport pilot may also operate a wide range of type-certificated four-seat singles that fall outside this category, including the Cessna 172, Cessna 182, and Piper Archer. For a full list of aircraft a sport pilot may now fly under MOSAIC, see Best Aircraft for Sport Pilots.
The sport pilot certificate, introduced in 2004, created a lighter medical requirement, a shorter certification path, and a category of aircraft built for accessible ownership.
The light sport aircraft category has also become the default answer for certificated pilots managing medical limitations. A BasicMed or sport pilot pathway keeps many pilots flying who would otherwise be grounded, and the aircraft in this category are often more economical to operate than the four-seat trainers many of them flew earlier in their careers.
This guide covers established LSA options on the used market, with an emphasis on aircraft suited to cross-country trips rather than local pattern flying.
What these five cover
Every airplane here lives in the same box: a 1,320-pound limit, two seats, fixed gear, and a maximum speed the rules cap at 120 knots. The envelope is small enough that the differences between good LSAs come down to a few hundred pounds of useful load, a few gallons an hour, and how the airframe is built and supported.
The five below span the practical width of that field: different enough to suit different buyers, close enough that the right one turns on a few specifics. The next section sorts them by the flying you actually do.
Which one fits how you fly
- If most of your flying is cross-country legs, not local pattern work: the Flight Design CT carries the most fuel here and a useful load near the top of the class, which is what puts long legs within reach.
- If hangar space is the constraint, not the flying: the Remos GX folds its wings against the fuselage, so it stores where a fixed-wing airplane normally cannot.
- If comfort and a modern panel come first: the Tecnam P2008 has a wide, quiet cabin, and most shipped with a glass panel.
- If you want conventional maintenance and a large support fleet: the SportCruiser is aluminium rather than composite, so a normal shop can repair it without specialist tooling, and the fleet is large and well understood.
- If the name on the cowling matters: the Cessna 162 Skycatcher is the only light-sport airplane wearing a Cessna badge, glass panel included, with the support caveat of a discontinued type.
Our picks
Select up to 5 to compare side by side, or open any aircraft for full specs.For a buyer who wants a familiar name and a glass panel on day one, the Skycatcher is the one light-sport airplane that wears a Cessna badge. It came standard with a Garmin G300 glass panel, the high wing and control stick make the transition from a 150 or 172 natural, and the Continental O-200 keeps fuel burn and operating costs low. The asterisk is support: Cessna left the LSA market in 2013 and scrapped its unsold airframes, so parts are getting harder to find and the resale pool is small. It is a modern, well-equipped first LSA, as long as you go in knowing the factory will not be behind you.
The SportCruiser is the practical, good-value LSA, and one of the few built from aluminium rather than composite, which traditional shops can repair without specialist tooling. The cabin is wider than a 172 at nearly four feet across, modern Dynon or Garmin touchscreens are common, and the Rotax 912 runs happily on mogas to keep the hourly cost down. Piper thought enough of it to sell it briefly as the PiperSport, so the fleet is large and well understood for a light-sport type. Like everything in the category it is light enough to feel busy in gusts, but the cabin space and modern panels make it an easy first airplane to live with.
The CT is the established all-rounder of the light-sport world, and one of the best-selling LSAs in America since the category began. The carbon-fibre airframe carries a useful load most metal LSAs cannot, the cabin is among the widest in the class, and a 34-gallon tank gives it more than six hours of endurance, which puts genuine cross-country legs within reach. A ballistic parachute is standard, which matters to a lot of owner-pilots. The efficient wing makes it float if you carry a knot too many on final, so it rewards precise speed control. Its width and endurance are what make it a traveller rather than a local-flyer.
The Remos GX is the LSA for owners short on hangar space and long on the wish for an easy airplane. Its wings fold back against the fuselage without disconnecting the controls, so it tucks into a trailer or the corner of a shared hangar. The carbon airframe is light enough to give it a useful load near the top of the class, the Rotax burns as little as three and a half to four and a half gallons an hour, and most US examples came with a ballistic parachute as standard. Handling is docile by design, if lively in gusts like any light airplane. For recreational flying with flexible storage, the folding wings and the low fuel burn are the whole appeal.
The Tecnam P2008 is the comfortable, modern choice, and its construction is a clever compromise: a carbon-fibre fuselage for a wide, smooth cabin paired with metal wings and tail that any traditional shop can repair. At nearly four feet across, the cabin is wider than several legacy four-seaters, and the Rotax 912 sips as little as four and a half gallons an hour on mogas, which keeps the hourly cost among the lowest here. Airline-style glass panels are common, making it a choice for flight schools and owners who want a modern panel from day one. Tecnam’s service network is still growing, so check that composite-repair support exists near your base before you buy.
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Buying advice
Two questions decide a light-sport purchase: whether the airplane fits the flying you actually do, and whether this particular airframe is sound. The first is arithmetic. The second is inspection.
Start with the weight. The 1,320-pound limit is generous on paper and tight in practice. A typical empty weight of 750 to 900 pounds can leave room for two average adults and partial fuel, not full tanks. Weigh your real mission, two people with bags and fuel for your usual legs, against the useful load before the panel becomes the reason you buy. Speed rarely decides it: the rules cap maximum level speed at 120 knots, so the fast end of the field is fixed and the airplanes here separate on other things. Useful load and range usually do. LSAs burn four to six gallons an hour, which puts honest range between 400 and 600 nautical miles with reserves. And the category is two seats, full stop: if a third seat is ever in your future, look elsewhere.
Then judge the airframe and its support. LSAs are built to consensus standards rather than traditional type certification, so build quality and parts networks vary more than they do in certified aircraft. Some makers keep established US dealer and service networks; others have changed hands or left the market, which can mean sourcing parts from a defunct importer. Check the support behind the specific airplane before you buy. Confirm too whether you are buying a factory-built Special LSA (SLSA) or an Experimental LSA (ELSA, often kit-built or converted from an SLSA): both are legal, but they differ in who may maintain the airplane and what you may change.
A few specifics pay for themselves before money changes hands:
- Safety directives. On an LSA these come from the manufacturer, not the FAA, but they carry the weight of an AD. Ask for the complete compliance history.
- Composite repair. Several of these airframes are carbon or glass fibre. Damage repair needs a technician who knows the material, so have any composite airplane inspected by someone who does.
- Avionics age. Without ADS-B Out, an airplane is barred from Class B and Class C airspace; without a capable GPS or autopilot, its useful weather and airspace shrink. Price any upgrade before you buy.
- Insurance. LSA premiums are low next to four-seat airplanes, but they vary by underwriter against your hours and certificate. Quote it on its own.
The bottom line
A light-sport airplane is the right airplane when two seats is enough and operating cost matters more than capability. Simple systems, four-to-six-gallon-an-hour fuel burn, and light, forgiving handling suit a low-time pilot or a returning one. They do not stretch: no third seat, and rarely more than 600 nautical miles between fuel stops. Since the 2025 MOSAIC rule, a sport pilot is not confined to this category. A four-seat Cessna 172 or Piper Archer may suit the same certificate. Decide the mission first; the airplane follows. For the wider field a sport pilot can now fly, see Best Aircraft for Sport Pilots.