Challenger Ultra-Light Aircraft

New Challenger XL-65 Build Project

Information for Challenger Owners, Builders, and Those Thinking About Building a Challenger:

• Challenger Model Summary
• Help to Build Your Challenger
• Challenger Ultralights for Sale
• Challenger Accessories for Sale
• Challenger Builder Notes
• Illustrated Challenger Construction Log Book
• NEW – The Challenger Construction Cost Estimator
• NEW – Rotax 582 Illustrated Step by Step Installation Instructions Updated April 2012 with Oil Injection Installation and Start-Up procedure.
• NEW – Challenger XS-50 and XL-65 Light Sport Models

 

New Technical Tutorials for Challenger Builders:

• Challenger Electrical System
• Challenger Ultralight Fuel System
• Challenger Throttle Quadrant
• Building the New XS-50, XS-65 and XL-65 models

New Articles on Challenger Ultralight Maintenance:

• Challenger Carburetor Synchronization
• Rotax  Seasonal Carburetor Adjustment
• Challenger Muffler Maintenance

Why Do People Buy and Fly Challengers?

There are lots of reasons and usually more than one apply to any given owner. Here are a few reasons that make the Challenger ultralight of choice. Can you think of any more?
Reputation

• Reputation for Quality, Safety and Reliability.
• Manufacturer in business continually for over 25 years.
• Large owner support network.
• Over 4000 owners can’t be wrong.

Low Cost

• Low Initial Cost.
• Low Maintenance Cost.
• Low Cost per Hour of Flying.

Ease of Ownership

• Large network of professional builders.
• Relatively easy to build in a small simple shop or garage.
• Quick build kit is standard with all the hard stuff done by the factory.
• Lots of on-line help for builders.
• Large offering of Challenger specific after market accessories.
• Can be flown with ultralight permit, recreational permit or private pilot license.
• Training is relatively simple and inexpensive.
• Many pilots who have lost their medical can still fly!

Utility and Performance

• Ability to run on Mogas (Car Fuel), Marine Gas or Av Gas.
• Short field capability – can fly from a small grass home field.
• Fast enough to get you places and slow enough to let you land there.
• 4 Seasons of Flying – Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
• Fly off Wheels, Skis or Floats.

Fun Flying

• Simple and Easy to Fly.
• An amazing view.
• Large owner social network.
• Challenger fly-ins and social events.

Lake Aviation and Challenger Ultralights

The Challenger is one of the easiest kit planes to build, even if you are not a technical whiz. All of the really hard stuff is done at the factory for you including the major structural assembly and the installation of the flight controls. These are the really critical and complex parts that require special jigs, heavy metal bending equipment and specialized technical training and know-how. The factory does all those.

A standard Challenger kit is what many kit plane manufacturers call a quick build. Many kit planes that are purchased never get finished. The builder gets discouraged and loses interest because progress is much slower than they anticipated. Kit plane factory assembly times are notoriously optimistic and should always be doubled for a more realistic assembly time estimate. Some kit planes require the construction of many special jigs and fixtures as well as specialized and expensive tools. The Challenger kit is not like that.

Many kit plane prices do not include the cost of the engine, engine mounts, muffler, PSRU (propeller speed reduction unit) and propeller. The price seems too good to be true! That’s because it is not true. The factory supplied Challenger kit, however, includes the engine, the motor mounts, the muffler, PSRU and the propeller. All are factory approved and tested.

Unlike many kit planes on the market that take 800, 1000, 1500 hours or more to assemble, the Challenger takes much less. With the commonly ordered modifications such as doors, brakes, wheel pants, nose cone, radio and intercom, and a well equipped instrument panel, the assembly time for a Challenger is more like 400 – 500 hours for a first time builder. The Challenger can be assembled using common tools available at most hardware stores. This means that you will be flying and enjoying the plane much sooner and for much less money than if you selected a more complex kit. (For a realistic cost estimate for building a Challenger kit, see our Challenger Aircraft Construction Cost Estimate page.)

Perhaps you realize that you do not have the time, the facilities, or the technical ability to build your own aircraft from a kit. The good news, though, is that there is an excellent and well established group of professional Challenger builders in place all over North America. In addition, because the Challenger is the most popular ultralight with the longest uninterrupted production, there are many companies and individuals that provide after market accessories and parts made specifically for the Challenger.

Lake Aviation is one such company.

Don’t want to build your own airplane? No problem! We custom build Challenger Light Sport Aircraft to the exact desired requirements of a kit buyer. The options, modifications, equipment layout, and colours are built to your specifications. We have built Challengers of all models and engine types available in Canada. We built and fly our own Challenger and we know the “ins and outs” of what works and what does not.

We also provide “hands on” builder assistance for Challenger owner/builders in South East Ontario including Kingston, Napanee, Belleville, Port Hope, Cobourg, Peterborough, Madoc, Tweed, Perth, Smith’s Falls, Brockville, Gananoque and all places in between.

We know that kit plane builders can run into technical difficulties. We have written 2 Challenger specific illustrated E-book instruction manuals to help builders through the assembling process. The first one is for Installing the Rotax 582 into a Challenger. The second E-book covers the entire Challenger assembly process with tips and suggestions on building the plane right the first time.

We also supply accessories and parts to help an amateur aircraft builder put a plane together with the right parts and for a reasonable price. We can do this because we buy parts in bulk and repackage them in kit format based on our experience building Challengers. We ship these to ultralight aircraft builders all across North America. Check out our Challenger Accessories page for a listing of these products that will help you in building your new plane.

Challengers can often be seen frolicking with other popular aircraft.
In the above picture my Challenger is seen on the Kingston flight line with the Canadian Forces Snowbirds Aerial Demonstration Team.
(My plane is the one parked in front)

The Summer of 2010 was busy for Lake Aviation with as many as 3 Challengers in the hangar. Above we have old faithful C-IRDL on the left, a newly completed Challenger 582 (center), and, on the left, another Challenger in for heavy maintenance.

This Challenger came to us needing heavy maintenance - we turned an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. New paint. New graphics. New electrical wiring. New fuel tank. New throttle quadrant. Third door modification. New upholstery.

We custom build new Challengers like this one delivered in September 2010

We completed the first Challenger XS-50 model in Canada and delivered it in October 2011. The customer really liked the blue and yellow colour scheme from the last Challenger.

We supply components for Challenger Ultralights like this custom built instrument panel

To prove it we did the following intensive evaluation of two popular 2 place tandem seat aircraft used in Canada:

2 Place Comparison – Challenger 2 versus CF-18B You decide which aircraft best suits your needs and budget!
Comparison Feature	Challenger 2* “Classic”	Boeing CF-18B Hornet
Crew	1 or 2	1 or 2
Seating	Tandem	Tandem
Empty Weight	450 lbs	23,000 lbs
Max Weight	960 lbs	51,550 lbs
Length	20 ft	56 ft
Wingspan	29.5 ft	40 ft
Wing Area	166 sq ft	400 sq ft
Max Speed	100 mph	1127 mph
Max Altitude	14,000 ft	50,000 ft
Climb Rate	700 – 900 fpm	50,000 fpm
Powerplant	1 Rotax 503 or 582	2 x GE F404 Turbofans
Undercarriage	Fixed, Tricycle	Retractable, Tricycle
Optional Skis	Yes	No
Optional Floats	Yes	No**
Unit Cost	$35,000-45,000	$35 million
Operating cost	$40 / hour***	$14,000 / hour
Armament	Pilot’s tongue and sharp wit	Various missiles, bombs, 20mm cannon
*Equipped as Deluxe model with doors, heater, fibreglass wing tips, mid-wing gap cover and streamlined struts, nose cone, 15 gallon fuel tank, 6″ wheels with pants and brakes, streamlined fuselage mod, and well instrumented.
**CF-18B is available for service on water but requires purchase of Nimitz class aircraft carrier. Sold separately. Not available in Canada.
***Cost per hour estimate for Challenger based on flying 50 hours per year, consuming 18 litres per hour of Mogas priced at $1.30/L, annual liability insurance premium of $513.00, annual maintenance parts cost of $350, annual licensing and medical fees of approximately $200.
Conclusion: It is clear from the above comparison that the Challenger is the winner if budget is your primary concern.(It is true what they say about retractables, they really do cost a lot more to maintain!) The CF18 certainly has the wow factor going for it, if you really want to impress your friends. But if that just is just too far above your cost range, maybe the Challenger with a 582 will suffice.
Click here to find out what happens when an F18 meets a Challenger in aerial combat.

Site Map