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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 0988.PDF
BUSINESS AVIATION LAUNCH JUSTIN WASTNAGE / MINDELHEIM Grab takes the wraps off G160 Ranger turboprop Six-seat business aircraft to take on high-speed rivals TBM700 and Piper Malibu Grob Aerospace has launched its G160TP Ranger six-seat, high speed turboprop business aircraft. The G160 will be priced at under €2 million ($2.1 million) and is set to compete against high-speed turboprops such as EADS Socata's TBM700 and New Piper's Malibu Meridian (Flight International, 1-7 April). The Ranger will be powered by the 640kW (850shp) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42 and have a cruise speed of 270kt (500km/h) at an altitude of 31,000ft (9,500m). Grob chief oper ating officer Andreas Strohmayer expects the aircraft to win the bat tle for range against the TBM700 - it can fly 3,300km (l,800nm) with seven 90kg (2001b) people on board, compared with the TBM700's 1,200km. Strohmayer also says customers will prefer the G160's 1.42m cabin height over the Meridian for com fort, and over the Ibis Aerospace Ae270 Spirit for the all-composite aircraft's low maintenance costs. The aircraft will have a payload of 720kg, which Grob says is the largest in its class. Grob is building the first proto type at its Bavarian facilities in Tussenhausen-Mattsies, outside Mindelheim, and the aircraft will start ground tests in August. The first flight is scheduled for September and certification by both European and US authorities is expected in the second half of next year. "Far from selling the aerospace division of Grob, as some people predicted, the launch of the G160 provides us with a business aircraft platform for the next 15 years," says Strohmayer. The Ranger has been designed to be stretched easily and Grob expects to launch larger variants in the future, he adds. The company says that although it would like to see a change in regulations permitting commercial operation of single-engined aircraft flying under instrument flight rules in Europe, it has not factored this change into its business plans and would break even by selling 20-30 aircraft a year. Grob plans to ramp up sales and marketing activity in the USA by appointing several distributors this year and intends to do some com pletions at its Bluffton, Ohio, facility. Span: Length: Height: 13.0m 11.4m 3.43m 42.6ft 37.4ft 11.3ft FLIGHT H1II1 Ullyrtl ACCIDENT First S J30-2 prototype in fatal crash A Sino Swearingen Aircraft SJ30-2 light business jet crashed during flight testing on 26 April, killing chief test pilot Carroll Beeler. The first production prototype - N138BF - was reportedly engaged in flutter tests when it crashed north of Del Rio, Texas. Beeler was the sole occupant. San Antonio, Texas-based Sino Swearingen refuses to comment on the crash. The Texas Department of Public Safety says the aircraft was flying at Mach 0.9 at the time. The previous highest speed acknowledged by the company was M0.83, which is the SJ30-2's maxi mum operating Mach number. Sino Swearingen planned to use three aircraft in the certification flight-test programme, the second of which - serial number 003 - joined the test programme in March. The crash is likely to delay certification, but no date for US type approval has been announced since the company's Taiwanese backers installed new management last year. The former head of Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures (AASI) Dr Carl Chen replaced Jack Braly last year as chief executive, after Sino Swearingen's Taiwanese investors agreed to provide the additional funding required to take the much-delayed programme through to certification. Chen had been replaced as head of AASI when it acquired Mooney Aircraft and abandoned development of the single-turbo prop JetCruzer. Following the management change, Sino Swearingen said its backers are committed to funding the programme to complete certifi cation and delivery of the SJ30-2. The original aircraft first flew in 1991, followed nine years later by the first SJ30-2 prototype. IN BRIEF AIRCRAFT ADDED Jet Aviation has added four air craft to its worldwide management fleet, including a Gulfstream V and a Bombardier Global Express. The move brings the total number of GV and Global Express business jets in its managed fleet to seven and 11 respectively. The busi ness aviation service provider has also added a Dassault Falcon 900EX business jet to its European charter division. The super-large cabin aircraft will be based in Cologne, Germany. IBIS CHOICE Ibis Aerospace has selected Chelton Flight Systems to pro vide primary flight and navigation instrumentation for its Ae270 sin gle-engine utility turboprop. Chelton's avionics suite includes the FlightLogic Synthetic Vision dual-screen electronic flight instrument system, which will be fitted as standard on the seven- seat VIP-configured Ae270 Spirit. US certification is sched uled for the end of the year, leading to first deliveries early in 2004. The Ae270 is being certi fied for FAR 23 single-pilot operation and will be eligible for FAR 135 operation. TAG ACQUISITION TAG Aviation has acquired Signature's Los Angeles-based charter network. The move expands TAG'S brokerage busi ness, establishes its presence in southern California and positions the business aviation services company as preferred charter provider to the 42-location Signature fixed-base operation. ANGLO FIRST Johannesburg, South Africa- based Anglo American has become the first authorised line service centre in Africa for Gulf- stream's large-cabin business jets, the GIV and GV and new G300, G400, G500 and G550. D FOR SIMULATOR FlightSafety International's Houston, Texas-based Raytheon Hawker 800XP flight simulator has received Level D training approval after upgrading with a Vital 9 visual system and new host computer and motion base. www.flightinternational.com FLIGHT INT ERNATIONAL 6-12 MAY 2003 23
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