MARTIN HONE COLLECTION
No. 10457. Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser (ZK-LSA c/n 09SC266)
Photographed at Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia, August 27, 2010, by Martin Hone

Czech Aircraft Works SportCruiser

02/28/2011. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "The pictured aircraft was produced by Czech Aircraft Works (CZAW) of Kunivice, Czech Republic, and shipped to Cambridge, New Zealand, where it was assembled by Aerosport Aviation Limited, it was registered ZK-LSA on June 25, 2010. Aerosport demonstration pilot Noel Bailey (pictured in the left-hand seat) flew the aircraft over 1,616 mls (2,600 km) in three stages from Kerikeri Bay of Islands Airport, New Zealand, to Gatton Airpark, Australia, where it arrived on July 27, 2010. The following day the ZK-LSA registration was cancelled, and it was registered under the Recreational Aviation Australia number 24-7552.

The Piper markings seen on the aircraft are for promotion purposes. Piper Aircraft announced on January 21, 2010, it had entered a licensing agreement with Czech Sport Aircraft (CSA, previously CZAW), under which the Czech SportCruiser variants Club, Professional and Tourer would be produced under the Piper banner as PiperSport, PiperSport LT and PiperSport LTD respectively. Initially a number of 2009 stock aircraft were sold, including the pictured one, and these were registered as CZAW SportCruisers, while retrospectively PiperSport stickers were applied to the aircraft.

Reportedly ca. fifty PiperSports went to the USA (still a number unsold), and four are registered in the UK. However, on January 18, 2011, only a year after the initiation of the relationship between CSA and Piper, it was announced that "by mutual agreement it was decided to end the relationship, due to differences in direction and philosophy of the two firms". Since CSA is producing the SportCruiser variants again under its own company name."


Created February 28, 2011