For the established manufacturers, the light sport evolution has presented an opportunity and a dilemma. The opportunity is that LSAs might gin up the market for certified aircraft by offering buyers a low cost of admission. The dilemma? How to capitalize on that. Do you leave LSAs to the upstarts or build your own? Cessna built its own, Cirrus stuck a toe in the LSA water and withdrew it-or at least delayed the plunge-and now comes Piper with the announcement that it will offer the former Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser as a rebranded PiperSport. The announcement came at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in January in Sebring, Florida.
Pipers new CEO, Kevin Gould, explained that buying and marketing someone elses design made more sense than spending hard-to-come-by developmental dollars to ultimately build an airplane thats not much different from the dozens already out there. Point taken. The original SportCruiser was designed by American Danny Defelici, whose company, Sport Aircraft Works, is still overseeing its construction and importation. In the late 1990s, as the Soviet Bloc was collapsing, Defelici saw an opportunity to build aircraft in Eastern Europe and worked out a deal to build what became the SportCruiser. This design is an all-metal, side-by-side-seating with a large bubble canopy hinged at the front, la the Diamond Star. Power in the Piper version is a Rotax 912UL, with a three-blade composite prop. The version we flew was an actual SportCruiser tarted up in Piper livery but, we were told, is generally representative of what Piper will ship. Pipers Bart Jones told us the aircraft will be manufactured in the Czech Republic, assembled there and test flown. Theyll then be crated and shipped directly to dealers for final delivery. Although Piper will support the aircraft with parts supplies, the airplanes wont ship through the companys Vero Beach factory. According to Pipers specs on the PiperSport, it will be available in three trim levels, starting at $119,000 for a steam-gauge version with a Garmin GPSMap 496, a transponder and an SL40 comm; $129,000 for a version (PiperSport LT) with a single 
PiperSport LSA: Sleek, Comfortable
For the established manufacturers, the light sport evolution has presented an opportunity and a dilemma. The opportunity is that LSAs might gin up the market for certified aircraft by offering buyers a low cost of admission. The dilemma? How to capitalize on that. Do you leave LSAs to the upstarts or build your own? Cessna built its own, Cirrus stuck a toe in the LSA water and withdrew it-or at least delayed the plunge-and now comes Piper with the announcement that it will offer the former Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser as a rebranded PiperSport. The announcement came at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in January in Sebring, Florida. Pipers new CEO, Kevin Gould, explained that buying and marketing someone elses design made more sense than spending hard-to-come-by developmental dollars to ultimately build an airplane thats not much different from the dozens already out there. Point taken.