B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 1 - (Page 44) NEW AIRCRAFT N BA A 2007 Business Aircraft Marketplace 2007 “Move your head around.” That’s what the flying instructor said. Then parallax will tell you which is the speck of dirt on the windshield and which is the other aircraft on a collision course with you. This annual Show News review of new business aircraft will, as always, endeavor to differentiate between the squashed bug and the glorious butterfly emerging from its chrysalis…not that it is always easy to do so in the early stages of pupation. Since the Orlando convention a year ago, new objects have come into view and some have been sponged away. Others, happily, have risen in the probability league—perhaps to be seen for real when we congregate in Orlando, again, next year. —Paul Jackson Props and Turboprops Rapid turnover in the props and turboprops field has resulted in the elimination of several designs showing promise 12 months ago but unable to evince any signs of significant progress in the intervening period. The ATI RT-700, Evektor EV-55 Outback, Grob G 140 and G 160 Ranger, Harbor City Shuttle, Moller Skycar, OMA-SUD Skycar, Terrafugia Transition and even the Ibis Ae 270 Spirit fall into this category. The last-mentioned is shortly to suffer the dissolution of its Czecho-Taiwanese development partnership, suggesting a loss of confidence from which recovery will be impossible. Evektor is investing profits from its successful lightplanes into the EV-55 but needs more investors in order to move forward. Three upgrades of well-established turboprops are, briefly, in the limbo between announcement and delivery; Epic offers a convincing variation on its developing theme; and Lancair and Sreya are among many who have new offerings for the amateur constructor seeking sophistication. ing additional speed. Certified by the FAA in December 2005, the resultant King Air 90GT featured a pair of flat-rated P&WC PT6A-135-A turboprops offering cruising speed some 27 kts higher than that of the baseline C90B; up to 50-percent reduction in time to climb to 30,000 ft; and reduction in maximum takeoff weight field length. Announced on the eve of the EBACE show in Geneva on Comp Air 12 May 21—by which time Hawker Beechcraft was in the pilot seat—the latest, further improved C90GTi “injects” Rockwell Collins Pro Line 21 equipment into the avionics suite, together with ACSS (L-3 Communications) TAWS+ terrain warning. The prototype began trials in early 2006 and deliveries are now imminent. Verdict: Nearly here Beechcraft King Air 200GTI Beechcraft King Air 200GT The midsize King Air version is also in line for more power. This year’s Geneva exhibition marked the public conception of a B200 re-engined with P&WC PT6A-52 turboprops flat-rated at 850 shp at 25,000 feet, giving an additional 25 kts of cruising speed. Rockwell Pro Line 21 avionics have been fitted to this T-tail twin-Beech since 2003, so in these two respects it now equals the 90GTi. Most else is the same as the B200, except for a basic operating weight of 8,625 lb. Deliveries start about now. Verdict: Nearly here debut at Oshkosh in July. While the jet is on indefinite hold, the CA-12 will transition Comp Air from a kit manufacturer—albeit of big aircraft in carbon composites—to a producer of fully certified machines. The second CA-12, due in mid2008, will be the conforming prototype, with longer, wider fuselage for eight/10 seats; enlarged tail surfaces; and 1,650 shp Honeywell TPE331. All the FAA’s boxes should be ticked by first quarter of 2010, but production will not necessarily be at the company’s Merritt Island, Florida, plant. The “under $3 million” CA-12 has the costlier Pilatus PC-12 in its sights, assuming customers are not desperate for the latter’s useful freight door. Promised performance includes 310 kts cruise; 29,000-foot ceiling; and 2,535 nmi, plus reserves, with 1,300 lb or six passengers. Next from the company will be the six-place Comp Air 600. Verdict: Slim chance Epic Dynasty and LT Aircraft Investor Resources, now trading as Epic Aircraft, already and successfully occupies the middle ground between certified and kit-built carbon fiber aircraft. July 17, 2004, saw the maiden flight of the Epic LT kitplane—of which at least 10 are now airworthy—while the prototype Dynasty was first exhibited at last year’s NBAA Convention. The only difference between the two is that the Dynasty comes factory-built with an FAA pedigree. In fact, certification, due next year, is under way at the Canadian Centre for Aircraft Certification, near Calgary, Alberta, which is, says Epic, more efficient and less expensive than its U.S. equivalent. Manufacture will be in Calgary too, with fly-away deliveries starting in 2009. The sleek six-seater, with its PT6A-67A turboprop, cruises continued on page 46 Beechcraft King Air 90GTI Beechcraft King Air 90GTi Meeting the challenge posed by personal jets, the then-Raytheon Aircraft optimized the evergreen King Air 90 for private owner/operators requir44 Comp Air 12 This turboprop adaptation of the earlier Comp Air Jet made its first flight on April 14 and a public September 25, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.