colt aircraft

Colt Aircraft - The idea behind the rule of the light sport aircraft was to encourage new designs at affordable prices. "Affordable" is contested, but the new designs came out in such volume that some models are able to rise above the noise as standouts.

The latest effort comes from a new company called Texas Aircraft with a design called Colt. Priced at $167,000, the plane itself is what you would expect from a cruiser LSA-100-knot, adequate climb, under-500-pound load, and a price that puts it in the middle of the spectrum of light sports. The base Colt model, the S, sells for $10,000 less.

Colt Aircraft

So in a market already choked with more choices than even the most diligent shopper can sort through, how can a latecomer hope to set himself apart from the crowd? Texas seems to be charging into the aircraft market with a two-seat LSA that is eager to eventually achieve Part 23 certification with a four-seat follow-on model, an ambition expressed by at least one other manufacturer—Flight Design—but not so far away. . realized Yes, Tecnam was noted here, but Tecnam began life in the world of certified aircraft and morphed down to the ultralight / light sports world.

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Brazil has been a hotbed of aviation activity, especially during the last three decades. With state-owned Embraer, Brazil has become the third largest producer of commercial aircraft behind Boeing and Airbus, and the former recently bought an 80% stake in Embraer.

Brazil has also produced a handful of light aircraft manufacturers, including a company called INPAER, whose chief designer and founder, Caio Jordão, is well known in Brazilian aviation circles. Although the company considers it a clean sheet design, the Colt is clearly derived from INPAER's original Conquest 180. This aircraft was designed in the spirit of the US light sport in the early 2000s, but was never approved or imported to the United States. like

The basic aircraft served as a development test bed, however, and was eventually morphed into a three-seat variant and even a four-seat model. Some of these are sold in Brazil under a wave of regulations that, according to Jordo, allow experimental aircraft to be sold as finished products to end customers. It was a school-out of sorts because the Brazilian regulatory framework had no way to accommodate the amateur-built aircraft that the owners had in fact bought and built.

The answer was a regulatory oversight that allowed manufacturers to build ready-to-fly aircraft that were not EAB but also not certified. And INPAER did with triumph until Brazil's rules became more in line with the rest of the world. Somewhere north of 300 aircraft were built, with a mix of two, three and four seater models.

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Jordo says the Conquest is no longer manufactured or sold in Brazil, although INPAER still exists to support the aircraft in the field and may eventually serve as a portal to import Colts from the US, either as ASTM aircraft or Part 23 models. Yes, if it goes far.

The Colton can be considered the Conquest V2.0 and the Jordo, backed by capital investments outside Brazil, Hondo founded Texas Aircraft in Texas to sell specifically in the US light sports market.

The company was launched in 2017 but started volume production only recently. When I visited the factory in mid-July, several aircraft were in the works and the company was awaiting final FAA approval for its ASTM compliance. The term "certification" is often used to describe this process, but it is a misnomer. LSAs are approved according to ASTM consensus standards, not quality certificates.

While Jordao's Victory began life as a composite aircraft with fabric wings, it eventually evolved to have all-metal, strut-braced wings. The Colt evolved further into a metal, riveted design, but kept the high-wing strut-braced approach. Through the translator Caio Braga, Jordão said that when the donkey was informed by victory, it was significantly modified.

Pa 22 108 Colt

The wing has been redesigned to improve departure characteristics and the cockpit is slightly larger to improve ergonomics. Although it is not common to see manufacturers change from composite to metal or back, Jordo did with the colt.

He said that the metal is easier to manufacture and more efficient structurally. And with access to more affordable sophisticated CAD CAM equipment, capital requirements for metal fabrication are lower than ever.

Design-wise, the Colt is largely conventional in the way that the Mooney is conventional. It shares Mooney's marriage of a welded chromoly cage around the cockpit area with a traditional monocoque section behind the two seats.

The wings are similarly all metal and include in-wing fuel tanks for a total usable capacity of 31 gallons with a left/right/off switch on the cockpit console. The control circuit consists of tubes inside the cabin that end in a bellcrank connected to a cable to move the control surface.

Beautifully Restored Classic Piper Pa 22 108 Colt. Editorial Photo

Texas Aircraft is vertically integrated with a tight production floor. It has CNC for parts fabrication, but not matchhole drilling.

As is the fashion with most light aircraft systems these days, the trim system is electric-only to drive the tabs up and down. The flaps are also electric and although they are continuously variable, POH recommends two positions: half flap for takeoff and full flap for landing. While most manufacturers adopted the 912 iS with the Rotax gas, Colt kept the 100HP 912 ULS. Jordo said Colt's design philosophy was simplicity, reliability and ease of maintenance, and that's why he stuck with the ULS. This engine is also lighter and less expensive than the iS, although whether or not it's easier to maintain is debatable. The carburetors on the 912 ULS need attention and we have heard owner complaints about this.

The Colt doesn't lack cabin space or comfort. It has plenty of shoulder room, even for pilots of this circumference.

Another complaint we hear is that LSA cabins are tight and, oh, by the way, they have anemic payloads. In Colt, Texas Aircraft addresses the former but not the latter. Specifications Cabin width is 42 inches wider than the Cessna 150, or a full four inches. It seems so too. There are no shoulder bumps for people of normal size and enough room for people with perhaps a wider girth.

Texas Aircraft Pitches Basic Colt

There is some penalty for the large frontal area because the plane, although not fast, slides. A nice touch are the seats that actually slide back and forth on rails rather than adjustable handlebars or swappable seat cushions. The seats themselves are luxurious by LSA standards and the leather-covered yokes give a high-end sports sedan feel, for those of you who think all light aircraft should have sticks instead.

My only complaint about the ergonomics is the height of the cabin. It is 44 inches, but that is not a problem. Once you're on the plane, there's generous headroom. The problem is getting in because the door has an upper seal that forces you in. That proved to be just a bit of a problem for my 5-footer. 8-inch. frame, but tall pilots or those with long torsos may struggle.

At 836 pounds empty, the Colt has a useful load of 484 pounds. That's two 200-pounds and 14 gallons of gas. It's good for training flights, but not so good for flying across countries where you want to carry some luggage. So if you are carrying full gas, it is better not to weigh more than 300 pounds in total.

Luggage space is generous—38 by 22 inches with a limit of 44 pounds. Its floor is a narrow rectangular tunnel that houses the elevator and rudder control circuit, similar to the driveshaft tunnel in a 1950s car. While it can help organize the luggage compartment, it will prevent large objects from falling flat on the floor of the compartment.

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The cabin proved surprisingly comfortable, even in the Hondo, Texas, summer sun's surface temperature. Taxing with the doors open keeps the heat down and when flying, a pair of adjustable scoop vents in the windows cools the air.

Avionics-wise, Texas Aircraft installed Dyson's SkyView HDX, a well-built, easy-to-use EFIS system that's a good match for the aircraft. It also has a Dynon two-axis autopilot, radio com and ADS-B out. The system has a level button, but no active envelope protection.

The version I flew had steam gauges in the right panel, but the production version didn't need them, nor would a separate engine instrument. Dynon's excellent engine monitoring function will take care of it.

Since I haven't flown the original Conquest 180, I can't say if the Colt iteration is a better handling airplane. But objectively, in my estimation, it is a first-rate handling aircraft. A constant complaint I have about light sport aircraft is that the control forces are very light. Some are dangerously low in my view.

Pipera Pa 22 108 Colt · The Encyclopedia Of Aircraft David C. Eyre

The Colt has none of that, either in the strength of the yoke or the control pivot points and design. In roll, it's pleasantly heavy - almost like a Cessna 150, I'd guess. The pitch is light, but not to the point of shaking. On takeoff, I did not notice any tendency towards over control or PIO due to lightness. But it is necessary

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