Overview
Flight Design is a German light-aircraft company best known for the CT series of composite two-seat Light-Sport aircraft, which built a large US following after the Light-Sport category opened in 2004. Founded in the 1980s, it built hang gliders and trikes before moving into fixed-wing ultralights and LSAs. The company is in active restructuring: it entered insolvency proceedings again in early 2025, and CT-series production has relocated to a Kazakhstan joint venture while the German firm develops its newer F2 and F4 models.
Heritage
Flight Design grew out of the German hang-gliding and ultralight scene of the 1980s and reached its widest audience with the CT, launched into the US Light-Sport market in 2004. The design’s speed and useful load kept it in strong demand for years. The company first became insolvent around 2016 and was acquired by the LiftAir group in 2017. A second insolvency followed in December 2024, with full proceedings opened in 2025. Through the restructuring the firm has kept the CT in production by moving manufacturing to a joint venture in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and has redirected its European capacity toward the clean-sheet F2 and larger F4.
Design Signature
Flight Design’s hallmark is the Flight Design CT: a full carbon-fiber, high-wing two-seater with a wide panoramic cabin, a standard airframe parachute, and enough aerodynamic efficiency to reach the Light-Sport speed limit while carrying more than most metal LSAs. Successive CT generations, the CT2K, CTSW, CTLS, and CTLSi, refined the same composite formula.
For Owners
The CT remains available new and is still supported, but a buyer should treat the maker’s situation as load-bearing. The German company is mid-insolvency, and the CT is now built by the Kazakhstan joint venture rather than the original factory. Support in the United States has historically run through established distributors and a large installed fleet, which softens the risk, but parts lead times and dealer backing are worth confirming for any specific aircraft. The used market is deep and is the more predictable path into the type.
