FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
2002
2002 - 2374.PDF
AIRVENTURE The annual gathering of the US Experimental Aircraft Association, which took place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from 23-29 July, attracted around 750,000 visitors and 2,500 aircraft. No new designs were unveiled but a number of aircraft made their AirVenture debuts, notably the Aviat Aircraft two-seat Pup, TL-Ultralight TL-200 and Gippsland GA-8 Airvan. Adam Aircraft's A500 prototype made an appearance fresh from its first flights. POWERPLANTS FAA approves, but SMA struggles Europeans see diesel engines that run on jet fuel as the future of general aviation, but the USA is not convinced SHOW REPORT riTOraaiii BRENDAN SOBIE SMA has received US Federal Aviation Administration certifica tion for the SR305-230 diesel engine, but is struggling to gener ate interest in the powerplant from general aviation manufacturers. Cirrus Design and EADS Socata are testing the engine, but say they are not ready to offer a diesel option on their light aircraft ranges and are expected to wait until the engine enters production. Maule, the first manufacturer to order the SR305-230, is set to install it on its M7 this quarter ready for flight testing. New Glasair & New GlaStar is try ing to convince a US court to shut down German manufacturer OMF's Symphony light aircraft line due to their dispute concerning royalty issues for the aircraft. In April New Glasair & New GlaStar filed a suit against OMF to reclaim $1.1 million in design royalties for the OMF-160 Symphony. This is based on the design of the GlaStar kitplane, which New Glasair & New GlaStar acquired from Arlington Advanced SMA chief executive Jean-Marc de Raffin says as pressure increases to ban leaded fuel, diesel engines that can run on jet fuel will become the future of general avia tion. The French manufacturer plans to extend diesel to its other products and has begun work on a diesel version of its SR230-300, with certification due in late 2003. German diesel engine manufac turer Thielert has secured European certification for the TAE-135 diesel engine, but is not marketing the powerplant in the USA. US engine developers, however, Development, which in turn had acquired the rights from bank rupt original manufacturer Stoddard Hamilton Aircraft. OMF responded by filing a countersuit against New Glasair (Flight International, 18-23 June). The threat comes as OMF is ramping up production of the two- seat Symphony, having secured US Federal Aviation Administration and German LBA certification in June for an increased gross weight and instrument flight rules are less keen on pushing diesel products following the lack of aircraft manufacturer interest. Textron Lycoming sales manager Ray Crist says the company is not due to fly its first diesel engine until late this year, with FAA certification not scheduled until 2004. Teledyne Continental began flying its first diesel engine, developed under NASA's General Aviation Propul sion programme, last quarter. The US engine manufacturers are concentrating their efforts on full authority digital engine controls (FADEC), but development is slow. (IFR)-equipped version of the high-wing trainer following a costly two-year effort. OMF plans to increase produc tion from three to five aircraft a month in December or January, says director of sales and marketing Bill Sprague. However, the com pany fears potential customers could be put off by the lawsuit, which calls for OMF to stop produc ing the Symphony because New Glasair claims OMF has failed to pay royalties agreed under a contract Adam Aircraft and Lancair plan to certificate their A500 and Columbia 400 with FADEC- equipped engines within the next few months, following approval of Continental's TSIO-550. Cirrus is also evaluating this engine for its SR22, but chief executive Adam Klapmeier says it is not meeting "the expected minimums". Lycoming also has been slow to certificate its FADEC-equipped IO-540 engine. Senior engineer Michael Sitar says certification has been postponed until early or mid-2003. with Glastar's previous owners. New Glasair & New GlaStar pres ident Mikael Via says he expects a court ruling in September. Sprague, however, says any outcome is at least two years away, adding that OMF plans to continue building aircraft in the meantime. OMF has delivered only 28 OMF-160s to date, with outstand ing orders for 65 aircraft. The German manufacturer delivered and displayed the first IFR variant at AirVenture. PARTNERSHIP Four-seat Firefly comes to light for first time at Oshkosh Velocity's four-seat Firefly made its debut at AirVenture. The aircraft is based on Velocity's XL model, with a modified wing and vertical stabilisers designed by the government-owned Korean Aerospace Research Institute. The aircraft, which made its first flight last September, will be manufactured and marketed in the USA through the Florida-based company. Velocity is also developing a two-seat trainer and six-seat twin and is exploring manufacturing joint ventures in China and Portugal. DISPUTE Royalty discord threatens Symphony's encore 22 6-12 AUGUST 2002 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
