Introduced just over a decade ago, the Czech Sport Aircraft Sport Cruiser is one of the most popular Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) on the market. With more than 600 operating worldwide and more than 300 in the United States alone, the two-seater continues to impress pilots and to get better. I’d heard good things about the plane from friends who’d flown it, but until a few weeks ago, I’d never flown it myself. Honestly, now I’m kind of kicking myself for waiting so long.
Flying can be a pain sometimes, when the weather isn’t cooperating with our plans to fly an easy VFR trip, when a mechanical issue has you grounded and chasing down a mechanic on the field instead of frolicking around puffy white clouds topside. Then again, sometimes everything goes right. Sometimes, it’s a perfect day to fly and everything cooperates to make it a magical experience. That was my first flight in a Sport Cruiser, which I recently flew at the Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, buzzing around above in a sport plane while the sports cars buzzed around the Grand Prix track below. It’s been several days since then, but I think there might be traces of the smile left on my face. Yup, that’s why we fly.
