Wolf in Wolf's Clothing - British Microlight Aircraft ...

Wolf in Wolf's Clothing

Keith Wingate tries the Pegasus CT912S and concludes that it really is what it claims to be.

The finish of the fuselage is outstanding: look at the sharpness of the reflection under
the wing.

Let's face it. Unless you want to fly at night or through cloud, a microlight or SLA will do
nicely. Previously the only reasons for owning a group A aircraft were comfort and speed but
now things have changed. The only remaining reasons to go group A are more seats or
aerobatics.
Well, I don't have many friends and I get very confused when the blue is where the green
should be. So if you want to move around with grace and pace there are some serious
choices to be made.
The Pegasus CT fits into this category very nicely. It has been going through Section S for
some time and the first UK production example should be finished by the time you read this. I
had heard a lot about the CT so when I was invited to fly the UK prototype I was more than
pleased, not just because of the claimed performance but also because I don't normally get to
play with such expensive toys.
Certainly 'my' aircraft was considerably different from the CTs hitherto sold on the Continent
by the German company which originally created it, Flight Design. A lot of detail development,
including considerable weight saving, has been necessary to conform to the 450kg rules as
written into Section S and these changes are likely to find their way into the Continental
examples in due course.
Although I have no reason to believe that production examples will differ significantly from the
UK prototype, only time will tell. Pegasus itself is being cautious in this respect and has
decided not to release any test data until type approval is complete.

Pegasus director Bill Sherlock brought the CT to Dunkeswell for me to evaluate. It's an
impressive sight, slinky and shiny on the grass and as you approach it (taking care not to trip
over your tongue) you notice that it is a relatively large aircraft sitting tall on its undercarriage.
It has a rather short pug nose and a quickly tapering rear fuselage.

The CT looks sleek and skinny head-on.
The reason for this is that it has a cockpit large enough for our old friend Beef Heftytoo and
room besides for a small dance troupe. However it does look very sleek and the finish is
outstanding; there isn't a blemish on its glass-like surface, the only exceptions being the
hinges and the like. To be a little more objective, it is obviously a very clean aerodynamic
shape which to do its job must combine good slow speed handling and a high top speed,
without being too difficult to fly.
The CT is constructed entirely from carbon-fibre composite and is completely mono-coque.
You can stick your head in the baggage locker and look right down to the tail, or check the top
of the undercarriage which is mounted on to the hard point by a metal plate to spread the load
to the central spine and to the bulkhead. Above this is the tiny flap motor on a screw jack
arrangement.
There are two baggage doors in the tail cone, one each side with a capacity of 25kg. The
release for the compartment is from inside the cockpit, by means of a small aluminium button.
This helps with security and keeps the outside clean. Moving forward, the airy cockpit is
finished in a light grey and white fleck paint scheme with the seats upholstered in grey. They
are adjustable for reach by pulling on a neat handle under the front edge, sliding on their
aluminium rails and locking into place when the handle is released.
Between the seats is the spine running through the cockpit, on top of which is mounted the
brushed aluminium panel containing the throttle brakes and trim. There are two control
columns, one each side, sprouting from the plain flat floor. Each has a cloth gaiter to prevent
unwanted objects fouling the controls. Immediately in front of the column is a hatch through
the floor to a storage bin. The rudder pedals are bolted straight to the floor.
The cockpit is dominated by the huge instrument binnacle, which is finished in matt black and
contains, on first inspection, very little until you examine the multi-function display which has
all the instruments you are likely to need VFR. When Bill gave me a brief run down of its
functions, I nodded and said 'Yes' a lot but it was clear that I would need an hour or so with
the instructions to make the most of this display.

At the top of the panel are two knobs; one, which you don't often see on a micro-light, marked
'cabin heat' and the other 'carb heat'. To the right of these are two warning lights. The
compass and slip ball are more familiar and well placed. At the bottom of the panel is the
keyed magneto and starter switch, above which are two circuit breakers and the charging
light. The flap switch is tiny and seems insignificant. It sits somewhat anonymously above the
charging light and a nice big placard would help here.

The doors on a microlight are often a compromise or afterthought. But the CT's are not only
light to lift and easy to operate but they fit excellently. Aluminium door handles are a nice
touch and have a very positive feel; a simple wire loop fixed to the wing holds them open.
The undercarriage main wheels are faired and all wheels have spats. The nosewheel is
steerable and the main wheels have drilled disk brakes operated by the hand lever in the
console, which has a park brake setting.

Proper wheels and brakes.

The short nose contains the Rotax 912S which is the 100hp version of the familiar four-
cylinder unit. It is tightly cowled, with the lines of the cowlings blending beautifully into the
fuselage and large windscreen. There is a small hatch to check the oil on the port side and
that's it! For a fuller inspection it is necessary to remove the top cowl which is a little tedious
as it entails removing 13 screws, slightly annoying for something that I think is essential. But I
suppose you don't see many people lifting the cowls from a 152 or PA28.

Inside the engine compartment, the Rotax installation appears to be a mass of pipes and
wires. It certainly fills the space. A tiny battery is fixed to the firewall.

The propeller is a two-blade Nueform fixed-pitch unit with a nice spinner to match the cowls.
The pitch is set very coarse. The wings are fully cantilevered, good for drag and cockpit
access. Sometimes struts help cut down on weight, as the main spar doesn't need to be so
strong, but with carbonfibre these rules are not so straightforward.

The wing has just a little dihedral. Inside are the two fuel tanks totalling no less than 110
litres, their fillers located on top of the wing where I could only just reach them. A clear panel
on the end of the wing allows you to view the contents, Tecnam P92 style, and this is backed
up by an electronic gauge on the multifunction display. This is important because the contents
could be worth something over £100 if filled to the brim, which you can't legally do if you have
a passenger or luggage, so accurate fuel management might be a problem.

The trailing edge of the wing is dominated by the single slotted flaps which must cover 60% of
the trailing edge and have two settings, 10 degrees and 40 degrees. The rest is taken up with
ailerons which are also slotted and have a large amount of differential.

The tail consists of an all-flying tailplane with a substantial trim/servo tab and a large steeply
raked fin and rudder with a generous cut-out for the tailplane. There is a fixed strake on the
underside.

Large trim tab on the all moving tailplane.
As there is very little structure to look at, inspection is easy, although it cannot be skipped.
You will need to look at the other oily bits and this is a little more tiresome.

And so to the cockpit. Access is easy - the doors are huge so you just sit on the seat, swing
your legs in and get comfortable. I don't normally fit into most things; I generally have to
hunch up or fold an arm away but not this time. I was actually comfortable even with the door
closed.

I proceeded to start the engine as I had played with the flaps and electronic multi-function
display (MFD) unit earlier. The engine is a little sluggish to turn over but it settles into a
purposeful idle. After releasing the park brake, I had to use a lot of power to move the CT
from Dunkeswell's soft grass but once on the concrete I needed the brakes to keep the speed
down, even with the engine at idle.

Ground handling is dead simple - the suspension is firm and the nosewheel gives a
reasonably tight turning circle. There is no diff braking but I find the steering perfectly
adequate.

I perform my vital actions as I backtrack to the active and line up. I select the first stage of flap
and the flap motor gently winds them down. I check the power, which the brakes almost hold,
before I release them and feed in the rest of the power.

Acceleration is very rapid indeed and I am pinned into my seat with, I have to say, a very
broad grin. The CT tracks straight and leaves the ground in a little over 70m which is very
impressive indeed. Once I have caught up with the aircraft I lift the nose into what I think is a
good climbing attitude. I notice that Vfe is 70kt so I raise the nose further to stay below this.
However the speed is still building and up goes the nose again.

This time it seems to work. A glance at the VSI indicates a rate of climb of a little over
1,000ft/min and a nose angle that is very steep indeed. I think 'this is a positive rate of climb'
so I raise the flaps and lower the nose to gain some speed.

We are crossing the upwind end of the runway and passing through circuit height so I look for
traffic as we clear to the north and the rate of climb remains constant. The engine is now
developing full power. The revs at take-off were lower, Bill says because the prop is optimised
for cruise and therefore the engine did not develop full power.

Our speed is now 90kt and I level off at 2,000ft, slowly bringing the power back to 5,200rpm,
and watch as the speed rises to 120kt. I set the trim, noting that the MFD gives us a fuel burn
of 18 l/h.

Only now do I really catch up with the CT and take stock of the situation. Visibility is excellent
in all directions. I am being kept warm by a very effective cabin heater on a day that is not
balmy, we are sailing along at 120kt (138mph) and I'm thinking that this is not a bad job.
To be honest I had expected to find a few drawbacks as it all seems a bit too good to be true,
so I proceed to manhandle the aircraft all around the sky in search of something bad to say,
but all I can do is broaden my grin. The ailerons are light and responsive and the elevator is
light and very powerful as is the rudder which I keep over-controlling. The handling is very
nimble; the CT rolls quickly from one banked turn to another with the need for only a little
rudder to keep the ball in the middle. It really has flying ability.

In a straight line, it feels very stable and I try a few throttle settings from 50-80%. At 4,000rpm
the CT is still doing 90kt; at this speed the controls are a little lighter but still quite powerful for
me. The CT is happiest at 4,700rpm with a fuel burn of 15 l/h and a speed of 105kt (about
37mpg).

Now it's time to see if there is a sting in the tail at slow speed. I start to slow down and as I do,
the controls get lighter and lighter but remain responsive even at 50kt although more stick
movement is required. I leave the flaps up and slow some more. At 44kt there is some light
buffet felt through the stick and as the speed falls to 42kt the CT mushes down with the nose
still very high. This you cannot miss. The controls still work in the correct sense and we are
flying again as soon as I even hint at moving the stick forward. I understand that production
UK aircraft will have a strip on the leading edge to create additional pre-stall buffet.
I try again and recover just by opening the throttle and climbing away. This demonstrates that
even a mishandled stall recovery works well enough.

Then the big one with full flap (40°). I slow just as before, the nose high again, and as the
speed falls through 40kt I feel a little anxious but the controls are working fine. The speed
seems very slow, the cockpit has fallen eerily silent and my feet seem to be above my head.
The ASI shows 35kt and we are still slowing down. At 32kt, and with the ASI on the stop, I
become aware of some slight buffet and the tiniest little nod with a mushing descent. This
really is a tour de force; this is stalling slower than some of the old microlights that I used to
fly and behaving much better as it does so.

The excellent stall performance illustrates clearly that the work of satisfying Section S has
involved a lot more than mere weight saving. When Editor David Bremner tried an original
German CT at Popham last year, he found the flaps-down stall could catch out the unwary.
I head back to the circuit to try and round the day off by doing some nice landings. I join
downwind at Dunkeswell at 120kt thinking there will be plenty of time to slow down as
Dunkeswell's circuit is large but this is not the case. I remove some power and maintain
height, the speed falls slowly and I am already starting to run out of space. I take off more
power and raise the nose to climb slightly to help lose speed. This works and I am now below
the magic 70kt so I select full flap. You can feel the drag as the flaps go very slowly down.
I decide to extend the downwind leg to allow myself time to catch-up with the CT. Once the
flaps are down, speed control is not a problem. Bill suggests a speed over the fence of 40kt
so I try to oblige but my final approach is too steep and even with quite an aggressive
sideslip, I can't get it any slower than 50kt.

As a result I float for miles and when I do put it down, I am still going too fast. The touchdown
is gentle and the CT tracks straight even in a stiff crosswind. I open the taps and go around
again. The space used was not that great, even given my poor technique. This time I resolve
to keep the speed slower; I select flaps up and keep the speed to 90kt. At about the same
time as turning downwind, I level off and reduce power to slow some more.
Again this takes some time but as soon as the flaps are selected down, the speed is easily
controlled. This time my approach is still too steep but I do manage to get it down to 45kt -
better, but not slow enough to show off its short field performance. However, the landing is

shorter than previously and the distance is about 400m. This time I go around with full flap
and this does little to dent the climb performance.

At this point I have a psychological need to 'goose' the runway so I fly a low-level left-hander
for a change, with everything pushed fully forward. As I turn final, I have to make a small dive
to the runway. I level off at 10ft and check my speed which is 135kt. This makes the runway
disappear very quickly but is very satisfying. The only time I have been faster down this
runway was in an Extra 300L.

As time is now pressing I decide that this is the last attempt and go for a flapless landing
which is harder because of the speed control. I hit 45kt at the hedge and don't float so much
but the touchdown is much faster. The distance is no longer than my own poor full-flap
landing and certainly shows me the virtues of the flaps. I am sure that with a couple more
circuits I could have it in and out of 300m strips with no trouble.

I am very aware that these flying impressions must seem improbably good but I have flown
some 35-40 types and can honestly say that I have never been so impressed with an aircraft
of any sort, micro-light or otherwise.

If microlights are cheap and simple than this isn't a microlight, but I submit that neither is it
really a light aircraft. (If it were, you might expect more for your £40,000).

As a £40k ready-to-fly microlight, is it good value? Some homebuilt Jabiru ULs are selling for
£35k, as are some other aircraft in this category, so for a brand new factory finished aircraft, I
think it probably is. It is good fun to fly and anybody who has learned to fly properly could
handle it with a little practice. There are no handling vices to catch you out but you might have
to polish up your nav as the CT eats up the ground at 2nm a minute.

It is not a microlight in the traditional sense but it unashamedly takes advantage of the weight
change and makes the most of it.

Flight Design and Pegasus have worked hard to get the aircraft UK legal and one effect is
that the cockpit looks a little barren. It needs some more instruments, radios and a GPS. The
cover panels are paper-thin and some minor items feel a little fragile - it remains to be seen
how they stand up to a training environment, although the ones on the demonstrator have
survived countless hours on the flight test program.

The other big problem is weight and balance. You have to trade cockpit load for fuel, so with
two 86kg adults you have only 13kg of fuel (about 19 litres). This puts a hole in that 900mile
range, but it's not all bad as you still outperform many light aircraft and you don't have to fork
out £85 all at once to fill it up.

Maybe legislation will be its biggest competitor. With the NPPL coming along nicely, you
could upgrade your licence, buy a 152, Luscombe or Cub, put £20k in the bank and use the
interest to subsidise the higher running costs.

This would give you an old slower aeroplane, and of course you'd have to wait until the NPPL
hits the statute books, but it is an option.

Somehow though, it seems a very retrograde one. After all, we're in the 21st century now and
the CT is a 21st century machine. It is going to sell faster than pointy ears at a Star Trek
convention, especially as it is most likely to be sold to syndicates, which would find it very
good value at say £10k for a quarter share. The CT is a serious go-places aircraft, a real wolf
in wolf's clothing.