Light aircraft
Category of aircraft weighing less than 5670 kg
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of 12,500 lb (5,670 kg) or less.
Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft commercially for small-scale passenger and freight transport; for sightseeing, photography, cropdusting, and other so-called aerial work roles of civil aviation; for the personal-use aspect of general aviation; and in certain aspects of military aviation.
Examples of aircraft that are at the maximum gross takeoff weight for this category include the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and Beechcraft B200 Super King Air.
01Uses
Uses include aerial surveying, such as monitoring pipelines, light cargo operations, such as "feeding" cargo hubs, and passenger operations. Light aircraft are used for marketing purposes, such as banner towing and skywriting, and flight instruction. The majority of personal aircraft are light aircraft, the most popular in history being the Cessna 172, and most popular in modern history being the Cirrus SR22 and Robinson R44. Larger light aircraft, such as twin turboprops and very light jets, are often used as business aircraft. Most floatplanes also fall into the category of light aircraft.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Light aircraft”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Cessna 172 on ground.jpg by Seaotter7778, CC BY 4.0
- DHC-300 Twin Otter 300 Air Seychelles.jpg by Tribalninja, Public domain
- Robinson-R44 1.jpg by Dmitry A. Mottl, CC BY-SA 3.0
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