US-based AeroCourier Group has unveiled plans to produce a single-turboprop utility aircraft which will be designed and fabricated in Indonesia, but assembled and certificated in the USA. The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company has received a launch order for 20 aircraft from AirShares Elite.
The AeroCourier is intended to compete with the Cessna Caravan, but is designed to carry containerised freight. To reduce costs - the aircraft will be priced at under $1 million - the company has "outsourced" design to Indonesia Aerospace (formerly IPTN) and is paying a flat fee for the design of the aircraft, says AeroCourier president Paul Jackson.
The first of two conforming prototypes is scheduled to fly in December next year, leading to US certification in the middle of 2004. The company needs to raise the initial tranche of $20 million, which will allow construction of the first prototype, by the middle of next year.
The plan is to pay Indonesian Aerospace to build the airframe, but AeroCourier will own the design rights and tooling, says Jackson. Final assembly and flight tests will be performed in Wichita, Kansas. AeroCourier is evaluating Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 and Walter turboprop engines.
The AeroCourier is an all-metal, unpressurised aircraft with high wing and fixed gear. The aircraft has a useful load of 1,860kg (4,100lb) and can carry six company-design LDX containers, 18 of which can be stacked in the space occupied by a standard LD3 container.
Source: Flight International
