Business & GA

Italian airframer Oma Sud, at Oshkosh for the first time with its soon to be certified twin-engine Skycar, says it will come to next year’s AirVenture with another new aircraft - a factory-built light sport aircraft (LSA) called the Red Bird.

The all-composite LSA will fly for the first time in late August or early September and will initially be configured as a retractable low-wing design with side-by-side seating for the European very light aircraft market. European certification is expected by the end of 2011. For the US market, Oma Sud will create a fixed gear version of the 100hp (75kw) Rotax 912-powered single that meets ASTM standards for the category.

Meanwhile the first of six Lycoming IO-360-C1E6-powered Skycars ordered by Florida-based Miami Air Lease, are in final production at the company’s second assembly line in Opa Locka, near Miami. The main assembly line in Italy is capable of producing 24 aircraft per year, says Oma Sud chief executive Valter Proietti.

Proietti says the first aircraft will be delivered by end of October, followed by three more by year’s end. US certification of the $975,000 aircraft is expected before the end of October.

• All the latest news, video and images from EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010