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Looking for that surefire way to get from your superyacht parked on the Mediterranean to your ski house in the Alps?

If this has been a long-standing dilemma for you, Lisa Airplanes believes it may have found your solution.

The all-composite Akoya light sport aircraft, weighing only 661 lbs (300 kg), sports a retractable landing gear with skis for snow and ice landings and unique hydrofoil landing gear, that bear a striking resemblance to shark fins making water landings a reality.

The Akoya is the first offering from the young company and is powered by a single tail-mounted 100hp (0.745kW) Rotax 912 piston engine with a price tag of about €300,000 ($408,195). The engine runs on 95 octane gasoline, rather than traditional 100 octane LL avgas.

The aircraft accommodates two passengers with a range of up to 700 nm (1,300 km) and was first unveiled in 2007, followed by first flight in September of that same year.

Despite the global economic downturn, the product has found itself in a solid position, due to high net-worth individuals not being largely impacted enough to slow luxury purchases, says Benoît Senellart, marketing & communication manager for Lisa.

Senellart adds that Lisa had a fruitful show, with as many as ten new potential customers identified. Lisa will invite these prospective Akoya buyers to the company's Chambery, France facility for comprehensive briefings on the aircraft.

Lisa Airplanes is pressing forward with French and US certification, with first delivery less than a year away in the first quarter of 2010.

The company currently has two test aircraft in its certification campaign, one assigned to ground and the other flight testing.

The aircraft will be first certified with a 1091-lb (495 kg) MTOW as an ultralight in France, then as a light sport aircraft in the US with a higher 1433-lb (650 kg MTOW) for extended range.

By the end of 2010, the Akoya will earn certification under EASA's ELA1 light aircraft classification boosting the MTOW up to 2204 lbs (1000 kg).

Lisa has partnered with Danish Yacht, which offers the aircraft as an accessory to a 125-ft (38 m) long dayboat the with a special aircraft storage platform on the aft of ship, enabled by the folding wings of the 25-foot long Akoya.

To boot, the aircraft also has a built in ballistic recovery system, virtually identical to larger general aviation aircraft like those from Cirrus Design.

The company sees a market for 50 units a year in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and 100 in North and South America.

The aircraft will first be fitted with Dynon avionics and a year later with the Garmin G600 package for the US market.

Lisa expects to produce and deliver 25 Akoyas in 2010, followed by 35 in 2011 and reach a top yearly production rate of 50 in 2011 from its Chambery facility.

The company says that first deliveries in 2010 will be to customers in France, Russia and South Africa.

Video Courtesy of Lisa Airplanes

I'm back in Washington, DC now and just wrapping up some of my EBACE coverage with a few new posts which should be out today. Here's a round up of the big news from the show over the past three days.

In a journalistic sense, if I was to write a complete review of EBACE 2009, my lede would read as follows:

"Exhibitors and attendees breathed a collective sigh of relief upon realizing they weren't the only ones in attendance at this year's European Business Aviation Conference & Exposition in Geneva."

• Project Phoenix to launch Boeing 737 variant
• Aerion sticks to its 2015 supersonic business jet target
• Asian Aerospace's business aviation ambitions
• Grob chief executive maintains SPn ambitions
• Bombardier confident Learjet 85 is on schedule
• Honeywell readies shake-free Phenom engine technology
• Onair makes show debut
• ATR enters the business aviation market
• BBJ to deliver fuel burn improvements
• Lewis Hamilton wows Bombardier party
• Taunt spurs Gulfstream to issue a soft 'go' for supersonic business jet
• Avidyne delivers more functionality for electronic flight bags
• Embraer - deliveries to recover in 2012
• Orbital Premier IA sets speed record
• Learjet club targets cautious customers
• Beechcraft delivers first EASA-approved pistons
• Phenom firsts ready for global adventures
• Pelton on Cessna - the worst is behind us
• Embraer tending to Phenom 100 growing pains
• NetJets Europe slashes deliveries
• BBJ president hands over the reins
• Honeywell's wireless communications now available to Falcon operators, with avionics upgrades to follow
• Blu-ray makes business aviation debut
• Bombardier jets targeted for Honeywell avionics upgrades
• PICTURE: Lifting a Eurocopter Stylence

You can't see it really in this shot, but Lord of the Rings is playing on what looks to be a 60 inch TV. Now, where do I sign up?

You'd be hard pressed to find very many half-century old aircraft designs here at EBACE, though the rugged Pilatus PC-6 just celebrated 50 years in the sky.

The PC-6 recorded its maiden sortie 4 May 1959 and Pilatus has seen nearly 1000 airframes built for service all over the planet.

Pilatus hopes to deliver its 1000th PC-6 sometime in 2012, with between 5-10 built per year.

The 963rd PC-6, on display here at the show, will end up in the hands of Kathmandu, Nepal-based Yeti Airlines. Yeti placed an order for two of the type for cargo services, as well as business and tourist flights in the mountainous Himalayan region.

Pilatus says the aircraf's short take off and landing capability makes it ideal for the unfinished airfields, requiring as little as 50 to 100m (164-326 ft) for a take off roll.

After the show, the aircraft will be handed over to Yeti for a ferry marathon flight from Pilatus' nearby Stans facility to Kathmandu, with stops in Italy, Greece, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Pakistan.

Pilatus customer support manager Thomas Henzi says that Yeti made its final fleet selection after watching two skydivers take a PC-6 above 29,200 feet (8,900 m), abeam with Mt. Everest after departing a nearby rugged airstrip in Shiangboche, Nepal 13,024 feet (3,970 m) above sea level.

Photo Credit Billypix

Consider this the sequel to Pimp My Dreamliner from NBAA last October. Take a look at John Croft's side-by-side video comparisons of the Dreamliner and XWB here at EBACE. What follows is the conceptual interior rendering and floor plan for the A350-900 XWB Prestige.

Technically it's day one of EBACE 2009 here in Geneva, but it definitely feels like day three for all of us at the show. Sunday was prep day, followed by media day yesterday with non-stop press conferences and briefings. The official hall opening is at 9 AM here and the whole Flight team is getting situated for the busy day ahead.

There are a lot of us here at #EBACE, so keep an eye on these Twitter feeds:
flightblogger, mtargettuk, asthecroftflies, bcockburn, sarsfieldkate, niallokeefe, flightdoyle

Here's a good round-up of the media day yesterday (day zero if you prefer):

• Business jet deliveries hit by economic meltdown
  
• Two Gulfstream first flights on tap for this year
• Back to basics for avionics and cabins
• Business aviation not as safe as it is cracked up to be?
• Embraer moves Lineage completions to Brazil
• Cabins are key for Embraer
• Boeing BBJ convertible is available
• Bombardier challenged over quality and cost of Learjet 85
• All aboard Tag's Polar Express
• First Luftwaffe ACJ has maiden flight
• Piaggio nears jet launch decision
• Eurocopter unveils EC145 Stylence
• API winglets certificated for Falcon 2000
• Airbus increases MTOW on its ACJ fleet
• Bombardier boosts business jet operating ranges and maintenance services
• BAE's Avro Business Jet makes show debut
• Affonso maps Embraer's business jet future
• In-flight connectivity options expand for business aircraft operators
• Face the facts: Bill Boisture, chief executive of Hawker Beechcraft
• Project Phoenix to offer air ambulance CRJ 200

GENEVA -- When one thinks of parts and spares for an aircraft, an industrial supply chain often comes to mind, though a partnership of several French and Italian companies are very much a part of that supply chain when it comes to serving the discriminating taste of the passengers on board.

Companies Yves Delorme, Griffe and Ercuis & Raynard have combined forces to leverage their respective individual specialties to offer a complimentary product offering aboard VIP aircraft.

Ercuis & Raynaud specialize in flatware, Griffe in glassware, Yves Delorme in linens.

The companies, three of which date back to the middle of the 19th century, have watched their business, which pre-date powered flight, evolve to provide luxury items from for royal palaces to private mega-yachts and now luxury aircraft.

Representatives from the individual companies work with the aircraft interior designers to customize every last inch of the on-board experience, down to the custom embroidery and branding of every item.

All of these products come with specialized product support, just as the mechanical components of the aircraft do as well.

Olivier Damas, director of Yves Delorme Palace, says that customers typically require 6-7 sets of linens, with one set on board, two at the operator's base and four to give sets on routes frequented by the aircraft, with on-demand spares that can be ready in as quickly as days if required.

The ultra-high end products, often thought to be recession proof, saw a slowdown in business over the first quarter of the year, says Camille Barret, decoratrice for Ercuis & Raynaud. Though, she emphasizes that business is now bouncing back to its pre-recession levels.

Barret adds that some items on display at the show are amongst those selected by the operator of the "largest Airbus", suggesting products in the booth could fly aboard the A380 Flying Palace.

Photo Credit Billypix - Ercuis & Raynaud's Simona Belforte (L) and Camille Barret (R)

***Editor's Note - Periodically throughout the show, Flight journalists go out in the hall to seek out the stories that otherwise wouldn't be told, overshadowed by big announcements. This is an opportunity to take a closer look at lesser seen elements of the big shows. Typically, these items end up in our Flight Evening News, this was an interview I did earlier in the day.

GENEVA -- "Things are a little slow right now," Francois Chazelle, Airbus vice-president of executive and private aviation conceded this morning.

Four-hundred and sixty one miles away, John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer was conceding a very similar point at Airbus Innovation Days briefing in Hamburg.

"If you had to bet [on 2009 orders], bet lower than 300," said Leahy.

Leahy who serves as Airbus chief salesman, says his order guidance originates from Tom Williams, the company's executive vice president, insisting that he would still be working toward the 300 order target, though more than a third of the way through 2009 the numbers tell of the difficult road ahead.

Airbus currently holds orders for 30 aircraft this year, with 19 cancellations, bringing the net order total for 2009 to 11 aircraft.

The stark drop in both private and commercial orders is indicative of the overall state of the marketplace.

The slow economy has sharply dropped demand for new purchases, both commercial and private, though airframers are working to offer upgrades for models already in service, appealing to customer hesitation about major new purchases.    

Airbus today highlighted a growing trend that is being seen across the industry, touting the increased range and payload capabilities of the A320 family Airbus Corporate Jets, rather than making major announcements for all-new products.

Other manufacturers, like Boeing and Bombardier have also announced similar enhancements for their existing product lines.

Airbus did however reveal that two of the six A340 orders booked last year were -500 Prestige models.

GENEVA - Gulfstream announced significant progress on its twin concurrent development programs today, detailing the assembly of the large-cabin G650 and super mid-size G250 business aircraft.

Gulfstream's flagship G650, which is touted to be the world's fastest business jet, is making significant progress structurally with the first fuselage assembled in Savannah, Georgia. The company expects the first set of completed wings to be delivered from Spirit Aerosystems in Tulsa, Oklahoma "in a week or so," says Pres Henne, VP of product development.

In addition, the Rolls-Royce BR725 engines have been podded and Gulfstream has already undertaken "first flight" in the aircraft's simulator and integrated test facility (ITF), which came online earlier this year. In addition to the ITF, Gulfstream has set up an "iron bird" to test the systems integration of the G650 ahead of installation on the first aircraft.

For the smaller G250, which will undergo final assembly in Tel Aviv, Israel, progress has also been swift. Israel Aircraft Industries announced in March that the first G250 fuselage had been mated and Gulfstream announced today that the first wings, also built by Spirit, were shipped to Tel Aviv this past weekend.

The aircraft has undergone its first power on and the G250's flight deck has been "fired up" for the first time, says Henne.

First flight for both the G650 and G250 is expected in the second half of 2009.

Even as progress advances for these new products, Gulfstream, along with the business aviation industry at-large, has faced an onslaught of negative publicity and difficult economic conditions.

The company suffered a particularly bad February with many customer defaults, though there were signs of hope in recent months on the sales side as Gulfstream saw movement in the large-cabin market. CEO Joe Lombardo stressed that one month does not necessarily indicate a trend, though he felt it could signal a bottom to the current negative market conditions.

As a result, Gulfstream has already instituted production cuts, a hiring freeze, layoffs of 1200 employees and furlough of a further 1500. Even under these conditions, the company remains committed to product development, and is "not backing off at all," says Lombardo.

Lombardo was visibly frustrated by the tone of discussion of business aviation calling the recent comments about business aviation by public officials "unfair, unnecessary and irresponsible."

Here in Geneva, the world is looking at EBACE as one of the first opportunities of 2009 to see how the industry's canary is fairing in the proverbial coal mine. Though the largest gathering this year to date is notable not only for what is here at the show, but perhaps more importantly, what's missing.

Recent months have brought us the suspension of programs like the large-cabin Cessna Columbus, suspected cancellation of the mid-size Hawker Beechcraft 450XP and the uncertain status of aircraft companies Grob and Adam, as well as painful cuts in production and staff across the industry.

Perhaps most notably absent, Eclipse Aviation, rightly or wrongly, pushed the industry for more than a decade to create an entirely new class of airplane found in the very-light jet.

Across the industry, development programs - many whose existence was never publicly discussed - have been quietly shelved, with manufacturers opting to batten down the hatches and ride out the storm, rather than invest capital into an uncertain and unsteady marketplace.

Though, for the business jet industry at-large, aircraft manufacturers face an unsustainable competitive landscape. For a moment, imagine a competitive environment where your chief opponent is not your fellow manufacturer's competing product, but your own.  

With backlogs shrinking and aircraft utilization numbers thought to be approaching bottom, operators interested in buying an aircraft are finding purchase rates for existing aircraft far more competitive than buying one fresh off a production line. Manufacturers faced with this reality are undercutting their own price structure to bolster backlogs, all the while driving down prices further as supply outstrips demand.

The coal mine - at this point in 2009 - is particularly inhospitable. This week will be very telling.