Meet the Texas Colt, an American LSA

+VIDEO A new American company is developing an all-metal, light sport aircraft that’s expected to make its official debut at this year’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh event.

The Texas Colt will have an aviation-grade aluminium airframe, solid metal rivets, welded chromoly passenger safety cell and a ballistic parachute system.

Matheus Grande, CEO, Texas Aircraft Manufacturing, said, “We are extremely proud to introduce our new Colt.

“It is our belief that the LSA market is in need of a new American-made airplane that delivers the safety, strength, comfort and quality that we are building into the new Colt.

“The Colt is the first American-made LSA to feature a trifecta of safety features including an all aviation-grade aluminium airframe, welded Chromoly steel passenger safety cell and a ballistic parachute system,” Grande said.

“While this wonderful airplane is the culmination of seemingly endless hours of work by an extremely dedicated team, none of it would have been possible without the guidance of our chief design visionary, Caio Jordão,” he said.

“For over 12-years Caio was at the helm of Brazil’s popular Inpaer family of aircraft before joining Texas Aircraft.”

Jordão said, “The Colt was inspired by the Inpaer Conquest 180 LSA, so there is a lot of proven engineering and manufacturing behind it.

“My son, Diego, our Chief Test Pilot, just loves flying the Colt. He said it is the most fun and easy to fly airplane of all of our designs.”

The new company has a new production facility based at South Texas Regional Airport in Hondo, Texas, where they are concentrating on working the Colt prototype through the requirements to earn ASTM Certification.

“We are extremely optimistic that we will have all of the certification requirements completed in time for our official introduction at Oshkosh AirVenture,” said Grande. “We want to invite everyone to come by our exhibit to see the Colt and maybe another fantastic surprise.”

Quick spec
Texas Aircraft Colt
Certification: ASTM S-LSA
Engine: 100hp Rotax 912 ULS
All-metal airframe
Safety features: Airframe parachute, chromoloy safety cell, four-point safety harnesses.

Texas Aircraft Manufacturing