The 912 is a pretty good engine, my only complaint is the bizarre oil checking procedure.
Agreed. The worse was on the first flight of the day.
As far as CT vs Gobosh, I'm pretty much equal.
The Gobosh is more of a conventional airplane the CT, in that it handles like a lightened up Cherokee. I don't think that the engine is offset, so on takeoff if you apply full power from the get go, full right rudder and tapping on the right brake until you hit 25 kts or so is the only way to go straight down the runway. Lots of P-factor and torque, and not a big enough rudder. One takeoff technique I learned was to bring the power up about halfway until 20 kts and then full power from there. Obviously don't use this on a short strip. I never had this problem with the CT.
The CT is a very slick airplane and can get tricky in crosswind landings. It has a negative flap angle for cruise, which was kind of weird. It had flap settings up to 30 degrees, but we only ever used 15 degrees for landing (never took it into anything under 3500' though). I heard that 30 degrees is like putting the barn doors out and you really have to watch your airspeed.
The CT is faster than the Gobosh if I remember right, but not by much. Maybe 5-10 kts.
The CT has more cargo room than the Gobosh. The seats in the CT take some getting use to, but can be adjusted. The Gobosh seats are not adjustable. I would say that the Gobosh was pretty cramped compared to the CT.
I had a weird electrical problem in a Gobosh while ferrying it from FL to OH last summer. I had just begun my descent into my destination and I noticed my volts were dropping to around 11.5 - 10.5. I increased the power because I thought the alternator wasn't charging the battery, but that didn't work. Apparently it was solved with a new battery. I didn't have any problems after the new battery was installed. The Gobosh also had a weird vibration when the power was pulled back - no one ever figured that one out. It would only happen after the engine had been running for a couple hours. I cruised at about 5100-5200 rpm and right at 5000 it would vibrate. There was a point between 5000 and 5100 that was like an on off switch for the vibrations. It wasn't gradual. Carbs had been synced before I took it, and they were checked by a Rotax certified tech when I had the battery issue. Really strange.
The CT holds far more fuel than the Gobosh (34 gals vs 18.5) and you can fly for 6 hours with a 45 min reserve in the CT, versus about 3 in the Gobosh.
The CT has a Chute, Gobosh does not.
The CT didn't have a very powerful alternator. You had to be really cautious about how long the landing light was on because it overpowered the alternator. REALLY cautious on the ground.
I liked the Dynon glass in the CT. Simple system, with information presented in a simple easy to understand way. The autopilot was okay for an LSA, I guess. Better than no autopilot in the Gobosh. It had "envelope" protection though, which was slightly annoying. If you got too close to 120 kts (VNO) in cruise (or turbulence) it would start pitching up to make sure you didn't over speed. The autopilot could track GPS, hdg, maintain ALT and vertical speed. I was hoping for an IAS/FLCH function, but it didn't have it. The CT I flew had problems with maintaining the connection between the GPS and autopilot. It would kick off and revert to track mode but you wouldn't catch it unless you were scanning the autopilot panel.
The CT's heater sucked at anything below 20 degrees or so.
TIS was nice in both planes, and works with the 496 as long as you have a GTX330 transponder.
The CT was very roll heavy. The factory put springs into the aileron controls on the CTLS because the CTSW was almost
too responsive.
The CT has sight gauges for fuel gauges, and they do not work very well. You can only see the fuel level when you have about 8 gallons left in either tank (IIRC).
The Gobosh had a weird problem with its fuel gauge - every time you hit the PTT button, the gauge would go to zero and the dummy light would come on. Not sure if they ever fixed that or not, but the two different airplanes I flew had that problem.
The CT had a handle next to the throttle for brakes, no toe brakes. Took some getting use to, but it worked. The Gobosh had toe brakes and a castering nose wheel. Sometimes the tops of my shoes would get stuck on the bottom of the instrument panel when flying the Gobosh, essentially locking the brake pedal in place. I'm a taller guy and I wear big shoes, so that might've been it. This only occurred when I first flew the plane - when I ferried it back to OH, almost 2 years later, I had no problems.
I think that's about all I can think of now. Both are solid airplanes, and I wouldn't hesitate to fly either one again. Both have their quirks, as all airplanes do.
The 912 is an awesome engine. I have about 50 hours behind the 912 (in the CT and Gobosh) and I have never had a problem. I heard about a guy that took off without an oil cap once, flew 30 miles, landed safely at an airport and the 912 didn't spew one drop of oil.
Overall, I think the Gobosh would be more of an afternoon cruise around the neighborhood airplane, and the CT as a cross country airplane.
