Start-up seaplane builder MVP Aero is adding undisclosed but “exciting” new features below the water line of its tri-hull amphibious aircraft, says director of digital marketing and co-founder Michael Lynds.
“Below the water line there’s a lot of exciting engineering that you won’t see on any other planes, and it’s arguably as exciting as above the water line,” Lynds says. “But because of that it’s patent-pending.”
MVP launched the eponymous, two-seat seaplane a year ago at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The $189,000 aircraft was pitched at the same market that has shown so much interest in the similarly-priced Icon Aircraft A5, which is now in production.
But MVP made the aircraft’s versatility a key point in the design, with a foredeck that can be used as a fishing platform and a tail boom sized to accommodate a hammock between the vertical tail and the engine block.
The launch event included key sponsors, such as former Cirrus executive Alan Klapmeier.
Since last January, the programme has made steady progress, completing the design engineering work, Lynds says. But the pace of work is being held back by a lack of timely funding support.
The company is ready to begin building a flying prototype, but must wait to receive a new round of financial investment.
“Funding dictates everything. If we have full funding we’d be out of the gate and in production in three years,” Lynds says. “Funding is coming in waves and not all at once, which kind of like stretches it a little bit.”
A timeline released at the launch event a year ago predicted the MVP would be certificated as special light sport aircraft by 2019.
“Maybe push that back six months to a year,” Lynds says.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
