new (AND BORN-AGAIN) R E B R

U H T

T T

Comp Air CA-12 A M Sluggish economy stalls new turboprops G-21 Super Goose by Mark Huber

he sluggish economy has stalled investment into new development, but updates of established models from legacy manufacturers are still coming to market pretty much on t schedule. While overall sales of new turboprops are down, the decrease is nowhere near the 37-percent decline in new business jet sales. New sales of established turboprop models are down slightly for everyone year over year through the second quarter. Collectively, new turboprop shipments were down 13.6 percent, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Association. Several companies that last year claimed to have funds in hand to finish their development programs for all-new aircraft encountered financing difficulties this year.

Epic LT the aircraft for Farnborough collapsed and ize and it would be moved in at Melbourne recently has ’s Dornier family Hints of trouble began to emerge at Farnborough filed for bankruptcy in Sep- by year-end. A new date for first flight of a made a serious attempt at building an order Bend, Ore.-based Epic more than a year tember last year after failing to attract suffi- conforming prototype–previously scheduled book and planning for production. So far ago when a deal for a $200 million infusion cient investment capital. A new ownership for July of this year–has not been set. the company has letters of intent (LOI) for from an Indian billionaire collapsed, the group took over the company this year and A preliminary nonconforming proto- more than 25 of the $6 million, 180-knot, company skipped EAA AirVenture and plans to continue development, but details type of the Model 12 first flew in 2007. push-pull twin turboprops. These LOIs are then issued a press release entitled “Busi- are sketchy as to when the aircraft could be The production model is to undergo signif- now being converted into firm contracts. ness is Booming.” The release raised more certified. The new company’s business icant changes, including a 42-inch The Dorniers formed the Florida-based questions than answers and had a whistling- director, Adrian Norris, acknowledged at stretch. The four-inches-larger fuselage Dornier Co. and installed U.S. past-the-graveyard ring to it. Epic was EBACE that the company will need to form diameter would provide a six-foot-tall business jet industry veteran Joe Walker developing no fewer than three new single- a partnership with another manufacturer to stand-up cabin. Plans are to offer three to run it. Walker sees a potential market engine turboprops and last year promised a bring the aircraft to market. He estimated basic cabin layouts aft of the cockpit: a for as many as 300 to 500 aircraft over master plan for “the next ten years of turbo- that certification would take a minimum of luxury executive configuration with six the next decade and says the company props,” including twins. three years after the partnership was formed. seats; a double-club layout with eight seats; is close to making a decision on a pro- By July this year most of the company’s and a high-density design with 10 forward- duction site, which will be either in St. employees had been laid off. By August a Comp Air CA-12 facing seats. Jean-sur Richelieu, Quebec, or North Bay, court-appointed receiver was sorting Last year Comp Air Aviation president The cruciform tail on the prototype is Ontario. Walker said the ’s through the company’s books and prepar- Ron Lueck announced that the company to be dropped in favor of a conventional cabin is 50 percent larger than that of ing it for bankruptcy. The only aircraft Epic had raised the $150 million required to design. The main door may also be a Cessna Caravan 675. Power for the ever delivered was the kit-built LT single- develop and certify the CA-12 single-engine enlarged, but not on the order of the mas- 10,000-pound Seastar comes from a pair engine turboprop. Through the summer, turboprop and to move to a dedicated facil- sive cargo door on the Pilatus PC-12. of 650-shp P&WC PT6A-135s. Interiors approximately 35 had been completed and ity in Melbourne, Fla., by Jan. 1, 2009. Power will come from a 1,650-shp Hon- for the unpressurized cabin range from an another 12 were stranded on the production The money and the move did not hap- eywell TPE331-14GR with a TBO of opulent six-seat executive layout to a line. Plans to build a certified version of pen, but in July, Comp Air said work on the 9,000 hours. 12-seat high-density configuration. the LT–called the Dynasty–in Canada $2.95 million CA-12 was continuing and it never materialized. announced a supplier agreement with Hon- G-21 Super Goose Epic did build the prototype of the Farn- eywell to equip the aircraft with the Primus The Dornier Seastar all-composite am- Two remakes of classic Grumman de- borough Aircraft Kestrel, essentially an 80- Apex avionics suite. The company predicted phibian was designed in the 1980s and was signs–the Goose and the Albatross–are in percent-scale version of the LT. That aircraft CA-12 certification by 2012 and expressed FAA certified under Part 23 in the early various stages of development and await- first flew in 2006. Plans for Epic to produce confidence that the funding would material- 1990s at a cost of almost $150 million. Only ing additional funding.

Dornier Seastar R R E E B B R R U U H H T T

T T T T A Epic LT A M M

42aaAviation International News • November 2009 • www.ainonline.com Antilles of Gibsonville, N.C., Collins Pro Line 21 avionics. The company fluid dynamics and a virtual wind tunnel in on the prototype was scheduled to begin acquired the type certificate for the Grum- has yet to select an engine provider and is cooperation with the University of Arizona, anew in August. Coincidentally, that also man G-21G Goose from McKinnon and still in preliminary design stages. It is eval- Tucson. “We’re making slow, quiet pro- was the month in which FFAC floated a last year began accepting deposits for an uating the 1,650-shp Honeywell TPE331- gress,” he said. $15 million private placement offering to updated version to be produced on that TC, 14GR/HR (9,000-hour TBO). provide financing for prototype aircraft the G-21 Super Goose. The new Goose is Company president Charles Simpson Socata-Daher NTx construction and operating capital. slated to have glass-panel avionics, seating said design targets include a top speed of Last year EADS sold Socata, maker of FFAC acquired the program in 2007 for four to nine passengers, and two PW&C 250 knots, a ceiling of 25,000 feet, 1,000- the TBM-series single-engine turboprop, to from Utilicraft Aerospace Industries in PT6A-34 turboprop engines (680 shp nm range and 6,000 pounds of payload. The Daher. For several years Socata has been exchange for FFAC stock. each). The original Goose was commis- interior can be configured for up to 24 pas- working on a follow-on aircraft to the TBM, sioned from Grumman by a group of New senger seats in high-density layout with a flat possibly a 10-seat twin turboprop, code- Evektor EV-55 Outback York bankers and industrialists in the floor and a 72-inch stand-up cabin. Simpson named NTx. However, the current economy Evektor remains on the hunt for a fund- 1930s. The Antilles variant will be faster sees Asia, the Caribbean and the Middle has rolled back a decision to launch the pro- ing partner for its new-design twin, the (200 knots) and at 1,200 nm it will have East as the main markets for the aircraft. gram, likely until year-end. EV-55 Outback. In 2003, the Czech more range–if it gets built. Simpson said the company is “still Republic company best known for its sin- chasing money” to cover development and Freight Feeder FF5000 gle-engine light sport aircraft unveiled its New Nose Clipper Spirit certification costs that he estimates at $100 Freight Feeder Aircraft Corp. (FFAC) is new turboprop design positioned to com- A Phoenix company is trying to resur- million to $150 million. He said the com- still on the hunt for cash for its FF5000 pete against the Cessna 208. First flight had rect another classic Grumman flying boat– pany is not accepting deposits but does cargo container twin turboprop. In July, been expected in 2007, then was moved to the Albatross. The New Nose Co. is plan- have letters of interest for 53 aircraft. He FFAC entered into a joint venture with Met- May 2009. That did not happen and the ning an all-composite version of the iconic estimated certification within five years of alcraft Technologies to cut costs and develop company’s goal of certifying the P&WC aircraft badged the ClipperSpirit, with securing financing. At present, the design a flying prototype that the company hopes to PT6A-21-powered aircraft this year is modern turboprop engines and Rockwell is still being refined using computational complete by next year’s third quarter. Work Continues on next page u

Hawker Beechcraft Refines Two Classics

While sales of its new turboprops are down marginally year- each of the two club seat groupings. The pilots can also control all of are outfitted with USB charging ports. to-date from last year, Hawker Beechcraft continues to forge the window settings by choosing from a variety of “scenes,” includ- The galley cabinets have flexible and multiple inserts that can be ahead with revisions of two of its three popular turboprop mod- ing “movie” and “nighttime.” changed out and are designed to hold liquor minis, water bottles, els: the King Air 350 and the King Air C90. The former gets a Cabin lighting will be all-LED, including indirect downwash and wine bottles and wine glasses. Cabinet drawers and openings are complete cabin makeover while the latter gets important per- four-adjustment, multi-intensity reading lights. The main cabin light- LED lighted–open the drawers and the lights come on. They also fea- formance enhancements. ing will offer 10 different levels to create theater-like dimming. ture soft automatic closing much like that found on high-end kitchen The Super King Air 350 made its debut in 1988. Its fuselage was cabinets. A special hot carafe system, an alternative to the traditional 34 inches longer than that of the 300, and it sported winglets and a static coffee pot, can be passed around the cabin. The redesigned aft completely redesigned interior. The first 350 was delivered in 1990. lavatory can be equipped with an optional vanity with toiletry storage Since then, almost six hundred 350s have been manufactured, but areas, running water, automatic LED lighting and dual mirrors. It is the recent spike in fuel prices resulted in sales of 52 King Air 350s located next to the in-flight-accessible baggage area. last year alone, as buyers opted for the more fuel-efficient turbo- FAA certification and initial customer deliveries of the 350i are props rather than jets. anticipated later this year, with EASA certification planned for the For the $6.6 million King Air 350i, Hawker Beechcraft maintained first quarter of next year. the interior’s basic layout but updated it in terms of flexibility and Hawker Beechcraft introduced its first King Air 90 in 1964. It options. All the interior components are new with the exception of hopes to boost sales of its best-selling, entry-level twin turboprop by the seat frames and seat rails. The new interior is mounted on a new making substantial increases to its performance and some minor cabin rail system to ensure all the mounting points are identical and avionics and styling changes. Deliveries of the $3.65 million King Air every interior is built the same. C90GTx will begin early next year. The GTx will offer significant All of the cabin furniture, tables and cabinetry have been com- increases in payload and range along with improved turbulence- pletely redesigned to have a more sculpted appearance and to fit detecting Doppler weather and Waas GPS capability as more snugly against the restyled seats. standard equipment. The seats themselves use an updated foam technology that is The King Air 350i The GTx replaces the current $3.3 million C90GTi, which was thinner and more ergonomically sculpted, allowing passengers to gives the King launched in 2007. The aircraft are remarkably similar save for the addi- Air 350 sit deeper into the seat frames and creating more leg and seat- a full cabin tion of avionics upgrades and BLR composite winglets on the GTx. The back space. Emteq-supplied automotive-style seat heaters in the makeover, giving new winglets render some significant performance improvements: seat bottom and back cushions can be controlled via armrest operators a more maximum ramp weight and mtow both increase by 385 pounds, to modern interior switches by each passenger. The seat heaters are also integrated aimed at 10,545 pounds from 10,160 and to 10,485 from 10,100, respectively, into the new Rockwell Collins Venue cabin management system, reducing noise and maximum payload with full fuel increases to 737 pounds from 387 which can pre-heat all of the seats or turn off all of the seat and vibration. pounds. Range also increases. With four passengers the GTx will fly heaters. The seats can be heated without the engines running by 200 miles farther than a GTi at both long-range and high-speed cruise plugging the aircraft into a ground power unit. The 350i is the first power settings. High-speed cruise range increases to 1,060 nm from turboprop equipped with Venue. 865, while long-range cruise increases to 1,195 nm from 980. The The rail system enables a new “FlexCabin” configuration, winglets also are expected to improve climb performance. The GTi whereby individual seats in the aft club section can be removed and The in-flight entertainment components feature a standard currently can climb to FL240 in 17 minutes at 140 knots. replaced with an ottoman with a hinged lid and storage underneath. 15.3-inch monitor that swings out from the forward bulkhead and Initial-run GTx C90s will have some minor interior changes. In Aircraft weight-and-balance has been pre-calculated for each permu- plug-in receptacles in the aft seats for 10.4-inch monitors. An the cockpit, the pilots’ control yokes will be changed and replaced tation. The rail system also allows seats and the ottoman to be optional aft entertainment cabinet also holds an additional 15-inch with the more ergonomic version from the Premier 1A jet. The multi- positioned for optimum individual passenger comfort. swing-out monitor. function display will be LED backlit and video capable. Plans are also The windows use the same electrochromic darkeners from PPG A midship pyramid cabinet houses the iPod dock or a wireless in the works to upgrade the avionics with synthetic vision. The one- that will be used on the Boeing 787. They have the flexibility to be Aircell telephone. Venue can also support Blu-ray, CD, DVD and hour cockpit voice recorder will be upgraded to record for two set both darker and more transparent than current polarizers and mp3 players, gaming consoles, laptops, electronic cameras, USB hours. In the cabin, 110-volt electrical outlet plugs will be available can be controlled by the cabin management system collectively for data-storage devices and future HDMI devices. The cabinets also for laptops and other personal electronics. –M.H.

www.ainonline.com • November 2009 • Aviation International Newsaa43 NAL Saras

uContinued from preceding page National Aerospace Laboratories 400. The first new production air- unlikely. One fuselage has been (NAL) is well into its second craft flew in October 2008. completed and another is in the decade developing the Saras, a British Columbia-based Viking works. Evektor now hopes for twin-turboprop pusher designed Air acquired the type certificate first flight later this year and certi- with input from Russia’s Mya- and production rights to the de fication by 2011. sishchev, which later pulled out of Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin the project. The first prototype flew Otter from Bombardier in 2006. Ruag -212-NG in 2004, the second flew last year The first aircraft is slated for Ruag is moving closer to plac- and a third was scheduled to join delivery to Switzerland’s Zimex ing the Dornier Do-228 back into the test fleet later this year until the shortly. In preparation, Viking ap- limited production. The first ship crash prompted a halt and review. pointed Altenrhein Aviation, a set of structural components for Nevertheless, NAL insists that subsidiary of Pilatus Aircraft, as the Dornier 228-212-NG was the aircraft will be certified by next an authorized service and support completed by ’s Hindustan year. So far, the center for the aircraft in Switzer- Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) in Feb- is the only confirmed customer land. Options for the 400 include ruary after it received EASA for the $9 million aircraft, de- executive interior, four-blade pro- production organization approval signed to compete with the much pellers, wing de-ice, floats and in January. Ten of the aircraft are less expensive Hawker Beechcraft amphibious . Viking currently on order from customers King Air 350. plans a gradual production ramp- in Australia, Mexico and Japan. The IAF has ordered 15 air- up for the aircraft, with full-run The aircraft will be assembled craft. Production is expected to be annual production of 18 by 2011. at Ruag’s plant in Oberpfaffen- transferred to HAL-Kanpur, the hofen, and first customer deliv- same facility making the compo- Gippsland Nomad eries are scheduled for next year. nents for the Do-228-212-NG. Australia’s Gippsland Aero- The NG features new five-blade Prototype number 3 will have nautics acquired the type certifi- composite propellers and glass- more powerful 1,020-shp P&WC cate for the twin-engine Nomad panel avionics. More than 150 PT6A-66 engines and composite last year, but plans to restart pro- older-generation 228s remain in structures, including the wing and duction remain under develop- Evektor EV55 Outback service worldwide from a pro- the tail, to address weight and ment. The Nomad carries 12 to duction run that spanned from performance problems. Unit price 13 passengers, has a range of 600 1982 to 2002. HAL built and of the aircraft is expected to drop nm and cruises at 168 knots. Dornier Do-228 sold 80 of those under license. if production increases to more A research study commis- than 30 aircraft annually. sioned for Gippsland concluded NAL Saras that there is likely a limited–al- India’s home-grown turboprop, Viking 400 though steady–demand for 200 the NAL Saras, suffered another Viking is buttoning up certifi- Nomads over the next 10 years. setback earlier this year when cation of the installation of Hon- Gippsland says it has letters of in- the second prototype crashed eywell’s Primus Apex avionics in tent from two Australian opera- and killed the crew on March 6 its refreshed version of the Twin tors: Curry-Kenny Aviation and during an engine re-light test. The Otter, the $3.9 million Viking Airfreight Solutions. J

Quest Gains Production Certificate

On September 15, the FAA awarded Quest Aircraft a full, “This means we needed to right-size our staff and stabilize at unrestricted production certificate for its Kodiak single- our current production rate of three Kodiaks per month. We Viking 400 Twin Otter engine turboprop. The company received its FAA type will continue to monitor the market to be able to make a solid certificate for the aircraft in May 2007, 32 months after first decision about when to take the next steps of growth,” he said. flight. Quest gradually has been ramping up production at Quest was founded in 2001 to design, certify and manu- its Sandpoint, Idaho assem- facture a STOL bush utility bly plant. aircraft to meet the needs of The company had de- missionary and humanitarian livered 22 of the P&WC aviation organizations. PT6A-34-powered utility air- These organizations op- craft through September. erate in countries where Quest CEO Paul Schaller said, avgas is either expensive or “The production certificate unavailable. However, the will allow us to streamline the bulk of Kodiak sales are to production and delivery pro- private parties. cess over time, as we take The Kodiak provides R E

responsibility for inspections B seating for 10, can take off in R U H

and coordinate changes with T less than 700 feet at its

Gippsland Nomad T T

the FAA’s Seattle Manufactur- A 6,750-pound mtow, has a M ing Inspection District Office.” Quest will produce three STOL Kodiaks per month at its useful load of 3,100 pounds, Quest also announced Sandpoint, Idaho facility, rather than the four it had climbs at 1,500 fpm and originally planned to produce by this month. that it is curtailing plans to cruises at 185 ktas. The maximize production at four three-screen Garmin G1000 aircraft per month by this month and will settle on a rate of avionics suite is standard and synthetic vision is an available three per month. The move prompted the company to lay option. The aircraft is available with a variety of interior pack- off 25 of its 330 employees; it had hired 200 new employ- ages, including an executive “Summit” package in club ees during the last 20 months. configuration. Prices begin at $1.45 million. The changed production rate means it will be producing On September 25, Kodiak S/N 08, operated by the Bible a new airplane every seven days rather than the planned translation support service Jaars, arrived at its new base five. Schaller said the company decided to lower its weekly in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea, after a six-day, 9,000- production count in response to the sluggish economy. mile flight. –M.H.

44aaAviation International News • November 2009 • www.ainonline.com