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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0567.PDF
GENERAL AVIATION AMPHIBIAN KATE SARSFIELD / LONDON Seawind sails towards certification Four-seat aircraft set for North American approval by late 2004 will be first factory-built composite seaplane Seawind North America (SNA) is developing a certificated version of its Seawind 300 kit land and sea plane and says the four-seat piston single will become the first-ever composite seaplane to gain approval. Transport Canada and US Federal Aviation Administration certification is due in the third quarter of next year. SNA general manger Paul Marshall says: "When we launched the kitplane 11 years ago we always had a certificated version in the back of our minds. But it has taken a long time to raise sufficient funds and pull it off." SNA says it has sold nearly 170 Seawind 300 kits, of which 57 are flying. Development of the factory-built version, the 300C, is split between three SNA-controlled divisions. Marshall says Quebec, Canada- based Advanced Aero is responsible for manufacture; Flight Dynamics, also based in Quebec, manages research and development; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Seawind is responsible for the sales and marketing effort. "We have made a number of modifications to the company kit demonstrator in an effort to refine the design. The aircraft has over 1,600 flying hours and we are also building other parts for structural testing," he says. A trailing link landing gear replaces the kit's fold-up design; the cabin headroom will be raised 50mm (2in) and the wings extended by around the same amount to house the new landing gear. The aircraft will be powered by the same Textron Lycoming 225kW (300hp) IO-540 piston engine, although Marshall says SNA is considering a diesel option. "Theilert [Aircraft Engines] is devel oping a 315hp diesel engine model which we are looking at very closely," he says. Earlier this month SNA received Transport Canada's approval for its vacuum assist resin transfer mould ing method of manufacturing. This, Marshall says, is a sophisticated resin infusion process used in the building of composite parts. "It is traditionally used in boat building, but we have perfected it for aircraft. By controlling the resin-to-cloth ratio we are able to produce a strong and light composite." Both the seaplane and the land- plane will be priced at around $300,000. "We plan to build up to 30 aircraft in the first full year of production [2005], increasing to around 175 aircraft a year by 2007," Marshall says. SNA's target markets are private owners, air ambulance and homeland security operators. Seawind North America has sold nearly 170 Seawind 300 kits, of which 57 are completed and flying LAW ENFORCEMENT Anti-drug helicopters face cable trap threat Mexico's general attorney office, the PGR, this month lost three heli copters being used in a counterdrug operation, Montana III, initiated last February in Guerrero state. Two Bell 206 Long Ranger IVs and a Bell 206B Jet Ranger III crashed over a four-day period, causing the death of three pilots and three law enforcement agents. Two of the helicopters, lost on 10 March during a crop-spraying mission against marijuana and poppy plantations in Ahuacuot- zingo, were gunned down, accord ing to initial reports. Government sources, however, are indicating that the loss of the two helicopters could have been the result of a cable trap - an increasingly frequent method of inhibiting the crop-spraying activi ties of PGR-operated helicopters. Four days later, a single Bell 206 Long Ranger IV returning from a crop-spraying sortie struck a cable spread over the breadth of a valley near Los Corrales, around 50km (27 miles) north east of Zihuatanejo. As a result, the heli copter crashed and the pilot was killed. Over the past seven years, the PGR has registered 122 gunfire attacks against its helicopters. Cable traps are a relatively new method of curtailing flights near or around illegal plantations and the PGR has registered 37 incidents within the past 18 months. FLIGHT TESTING Lancair prepares all-electric Columbia 350 for approval Lancair has resumed certification flight testing of derivatives of its Columbia 300 after restarting production of the all-composite four-seater last month. Production and certification work had been halted while the Bend, Oregon-based company arranged additional financing. Certification of the "all-electric" Columbia 350 is expected next month. The aircraft is powered by the same 230kW (31 Ohp) Teledyne Continental IO-550 as the Columbia 300, but with full-authority digi tal engine control and a dual-bus, dual-battery electrical system replacing the basic aircraft's dual vacuum pumps. The Columbia 400 is a turbocharged version of the basic aircraft, expected to be capable of 230kt (425km/h) at 18,000ft (5,500m) ini tially, compared with the Columbia 300's 190kt, and 240kt at 24,000ft when certification work is complete. The specification twin- turbocharged TSIO-550 engine was installed in mid-March, with cer tification expected in July. Lancair expects to certificate the Columbia 400 in two stages, clearing the turbocharged aircraft to the Columbia 300's 18,000ft ceiling initially, then extending approval to 24,000ft after completing additional flight tests - a process expected to take around two years. The company resumed deliveries in February against a backlog of over 170 Columbia 300,350 and 400 orders. 24 25-31 MARCH 2003 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL www.flightinternational.com
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