Flight Design’s MC uses aluminum and carbon fiber for great strength and low operating costs. For more information about EAA’s aircraft sweepstakes, go to www.AirVenture.org/sweepstakes. If you can’t wait until 2009, there’s still time to enter to win this year’s prizes, a Cirrus SR20 and a RotorWay helicopter kit.

The 2009 Flight Design light-sport aircraft (LSA) was unveiled to an anticipating crowd Monday, July 28, at 12:30 p.m. in AeroShell Square.

The aircraft, named the MC for metal concept, was designed to provide more utility in the LSA category with a 51.6-inch wide cabin and easy-to-maintain modular construction. Although it was meant for fleet and flight school use, Flight Design USA President Tom Peghiny says, "The MC could be the right choice for the individual owner also." The MC has a fuel-efficient Rotax 912S powerplant and a simple, low-maintenance airframe. The cockpit has a steel cage with a carbon-fiber shell, while the wing and the aft fuselage and empennage are aluminum. "Not everyone wants a composite airframe; we want to give pilots the airplane of their dreams," said Matthias Betsch, president of Flight Design GmbH.

Peghiny concluded saying, "The MC is a step forward for the company and light-sport aviation." He then welcomed the crowd in for a closer look at the Flight Design MC, which is now on display at the Flight Design exhibit (Booths 5, 6, 12, and 13 in the Main Aircraft Display area).

This Flight Design aircraft is also the 2008/2009 EAA Sweepstakes aircraft, and it’s the first time a newly unveiled airplane will be donated to EAA for the sweepstakes, which raises funds for EAA’s philanthropic activities. It is also the first LSA to be an EAA Sweepstakes aircraft. Flight Design will present the keys to the aircraft to EAA President Tom Poberezny at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, August 1, at the Flight Design exhibit.

Don’t miss out on this year’s Sweepstakes! EAA members and visitors may still enter to win the 2007/2008 Sweepstakes aircraft, the Cirrus SR20, at the EAA Welcome Center (northwest corner of AeroShell Square) and at the Sweepstakes booth (northeast corner of AeroShell Square) all week long.

Flight Design USA, of Connecticut, is the U.S. importer of the CT series from Germany. It will also import and distribute the MC. The company has succeeded in delivering more than 260 aircraft to its network of distributors and dealers, making Flight Design the leading brand of light-sport aircraft since the segment was created. The carbon-fiber CT is the best-selling LSA in the United States. More than 1,000 Flight Design aircraft are flying around the globe.