Considering doing business with TL Sport Aircraft?

One buyer’s impression of the company

Is TL Sport Aircraft for real, is it risky business, what is the experience like?

These are the top inquiries I receive from potential buyers in their decision-making process. All the same questions I asked in the fall of 2023 prior to my purchase, questions that any buyer would naturally consider when doing business overseas with a company they may not be familiar with.

We all have our nightmare scenario: fork over a wad of cash, get a less than desirable airplane months after the promised delivery date and virtually no support after the sale. Stuck holding the proverbial bag.

I am happy to say nothing could be further from the truth. I base this on my factory visit, participation in the builder-assist program and the support received after the delivery. It is a great company! Here is why, in my opinion.

Three aspects of the company that impressed me the most were: 1) the people working there, 2) the fact that just about everything on the airframe is produced in house (including props), and 3) the agility of the company’s manufacturing process.

As I walked around during the factory visit, I noticed the employees look you in the eye when you visit with them; it is obvious they take pride in their work. I picked up what I can best describe as a family-business vibe with an undertone of genuine hospitality. During the builder-assist I observed a 9-hour workday with scheduled breaks and lunch, a sustainable pace that I can only assume contributes to the high quality of their product. Having one experimental aircraft under my belt, I could truly appreciate the skill and proficiency of the workforce and the attention to detail I saw.

The depth of production stems from their broad range of in-house capabilities to include CAD, CNC machines, traditional machine shops, large 3-D printers, curing ovens, programmable composite material cutting machine, paint shop, extensive parts supply, rough and final assembly areas- everything they need to support production. If they need a part, want a better widget or need more, they simply make it. The main office is right across the street and faces the ramp looking towards their hangar at Hradec Airport.

All that capability equals agility for the TL factory. Allow me to provide an example. While exploring the market, I was following the arrival of the Sparker with the Rotax 915 and DUC four blade prop. Trey Murdough, the distributor, was kind enough to keep me in the loop. With the higher hp Rotax 915 generating more heat than its 100hp predecessor, TL was not completely satisfied with the overall cooling performance and decided a redesigned cowling would better suit this engine and the Rotax 916 to follow.

Start the clock. A clean-sheet CAD design is completed in-house by their full-time engineering and design team. That design program gets sent to the 3-D printer and molds are cut. From molds, the layups are done and cured. Next is rough assembly, then final assembly and …presto! You have a new cowling. Back to test flying in roughly two weeks. And yes, it worked. No delays waiting on third-party vendors! This in-house capability is by design.

I had asked about Berringer brakes for my build. They said they had considered them but were not confident in consistent product availability. Guess what? TL makes their own brakes! You get the picture. They are in the business of designing and manufacturing airplanes and being as self-reliant as possible in the process. This affords substantial control over their production process and flow.

These leading-edge aircraft are an investment for most, making the prudent person look beyond the aircraft and to the company behind it. Naturally, questions arise such as: company stability, history, longevity, parts availability and lead time, quality control, hidden cost, responsiveness, servicing...you get the point. All are very real and valid concerns. I pondered every one of them, and more. Most never had reason to look outside the US market until encountering these new high-performance imports and soon realize these concerns stem mostly from lack of exposure. You probably have an opinion in these areas about US manufacturers but not so much for the ones overseas. After due diligence, none proved to be an issue for me.

TL has 35 years in business officially beginning in 1989, just days after the Velvet Revolution (the collapse of the Russian communist block) when private business was finally allowed. The owner/designer has his own great story which can be found on the TL Ultralights web site--worth the read. They have been exporting their aircraft into the U.S. for 21 years. The Sting and Sirius models will be familiar to most, and now the Sparker and Stream are on scene. These airframes were developed in conjunction with experts from the Aviation Institute of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of VUT in Bru of which there has been continuing cooperation over the years. As a result, the Sparker aircraft won Gold at the International Engineering Fair in October of 2023.

If you have any reservation about TL being a “real company” I can assure you, they are for real! I would encourage a factory visit to see for yourself, I’m pretty sure you will come to the same conclusion. I had no reservations about signing my purchase agreement and putting down the deposit after my factory visit. The mechanics of the purchase are like any other, sign your purchase agreement and use an Escrow agent to transfer funds. Quite straight forward and simple thanks to Trey Murdough. If TL Sport Aircraft is on your radar, I hope this information helps with your decision-making process.

Steven Barbour 2024 Stream Turbo