Start here
A few places to begin, from the aircraft’s story to the people who fly it.
Meet the aircraft
The CT/4 Airtrainer places instructor and student beside one another under a broad canopy. The CT/4E uses a 300 hp Lycoming engine and a three-blade propeller, combining powered flight training with aerobatic capability. VSKYLABS represents the CT/4E in X-Plane. Its published feature list describes a native aircraft model, analog cockpit and support for desktop and VR flying.
Aircraft background
VSKYLABS · Read more ↗The simulated CT/4E
VSKYLABS represents the CT/4E with a 300 hp Lycoming engine and three-blade propeller. Separate X-Plane 11 and 12 products use a native aircraft model and support desktop and VR flying.
CT/4E Airtrainer · VSKYLABS · X-Plane 11 · X-Plane 12
VSKYLABS · Read more ↗Into the cockpit
YouTube Historical Aviation Film Unit · 3 min ·
Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer Display
A civilian-operated former trainer performs a CT/4 display.
Real aircraft · Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer
Watch on YouTube ↗Preview images are served by AirframeDB. Videos open on YouTube only when you choose to watch.
Meet Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer
The CT/4 Airtrainer places instructor and student beside one another under a broad canopy. The CT/4E uses a 300 hp Lycoming engine and a three-blade propeller, combining powered flight training with aerobatic capability.
VSKYLABS represents the CT/4E in X-Plane. Its published feature list describes a native aircraft model, analog cockpit and support for desktop and VR flying.
Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer
Pacific Aerospace → · Explore the family →
Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer
VSKYLABS · VSKYLABS Aerospace Simulations Aircraft Center: VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot': CT/4E Airtrainer ↗CT/4E
VSKYLABS · VSKYLABS Aerospace Simulations Aircraft Center: VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot': CT/4E Airtrainer ↗VSKYLABS · X-Plane 11 · X-Plane 12 →Aircraft type designators
Use the code for the model you are flying. The linked authority lists the applicable aircraft.
History & design
A touring design becomes an aerobatic trainer
AESL adapted the four-seat Victa Aircruiser to meet a military basic-training requirement. Structural reinforcement for aerobatic loads, revised seating and a jettisonable canopy made the CT/4 more than a cosmetic derivative. The first Airtrainer flew in February 1972.
NZAero · CT/4 development history ↗CT/4 family history and CT/4E simulator configuration
The E model revives the programme
After several production interruptions, the CT/4E was developed during the early 1990s for a hoped-for American contract. That contract did not follow, but a 1996 arrangement to lease 13 CT/4Es to the RNZAF restarted production. Further E-model orders followed from Thailand.
NZAero · CT/4 development history ↗CT/4 family history and CT/4E simulator configuration
Systems & details
The 300 hp version
The VSKYLABS model represents the E, with its 300 hp Lycoming and three-bladed propeller. Side-by-side seating and fixed tricycle gear support the training role, while the airframe is intended for aerobatics as well as instrument and visual flying. Earlier CT/4 variants should not inherit the E’s engine specification.
In your simulator
Systems, equipment and documentation for each developer’s aircraft.
X-Plane 11 · X-Plane 12CT/4E Airtrainer
VSKYLABS · Released
CT/4E Airtrainer
VSKYLABS · Released
Manuals & resources
Find your next read
Choose a topic for a short introduction and a link to the original source. Simulator references identify the developer and edition they cover.
Simulator documentation
The simulated CT/4ECT/4E Airtrainer · VSKYLABS · X-Plane 11 · X-Plane 12
VSKYLABS represents the CT/4E with a 300 hp Lycoming engine and three-blade propeller. Separate X-Plane 11 and 12 products use a native aircraft model and support desktop and VR flying.
Official developer / designated-store reference · checked 2026-09-14
VSKYLABS · Read the source ↗Read the original documentation from the people who created it. Manuals open on their publisher’s website.
Developer documentation
VSKYLABS Aerospace Simulations Aircraft Center: VSKYLABS 'Test-Pilot': CT/4E AirtrainerVSKYLABS · Official developer / designated-store reference · checked 2026-09-14 VSKYLABS CT/4E Airtrainer add-on for X-Plane Flight Simulator.VSKYLABS · Official developer / designated-store reference · checked 2026-09-14Type designator
ICAO Doc 8643 — aircraft type designatorsInternational Civil Aviation Organization · Public search data retrieved 2026-09-14; authority update 2026-09-03Aircraft documentation
CT/4 development historyNZAero · Manufacturer history from Aircruiser adaptation to CT/4E productionBuilt-in force-feedback profiles
Read the documentary basis, editable starting settings and remaining questions for the aircraft you fly. Each explanation refers to the exact profile revision shown.
Catalogue programme-20261022-v1 · 2 profile choices
VSKYLABS PAC CT/4E Airtrainer
VSKYLABS · Free and Pro · Revision 3 · Inherited starting point
X-Plane 12
VSKYLABS PAC CT/4E Airtrainer: Reversible linkage motivates aerodynamic stick resistance.
Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer
Free and Pro · Revision 1 · Partial review
X-Plane 12 · X-Plane 11
Pacific Aerospace CT/4 Airtrainer: Reversible linkage motivates aerodynamic stick resistance.
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