Single-engined turboprop to be aimed at European owner-fliers as well as US market
Grob Aerospace's G160 Ranger single-engined turboprop business aircraft made its first flight late last month, kick starting the German manufacturer's US marketing drive.
The 850shp (630kW) Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A-powered Ranger flew for 35km (19nm) on 29 March, reaching an altitude of 9,000ft (2,745m) and a speed of 120kt (220km/h). Grob chief test pilot Uli Schell says initial findings from the first two test flights, both carried out with fowler flaps extended and landing gear down, showed potential for final performance to exceed the forecast 270kt maximum cruising speed. Grob is also likely to replace the G160's four-blade Hartzell propeller with the five-blade Mühlbauer MTV-5 composite propeller it uses on its G140TP four-seat utility aircraft.
The all-composite G160 was assembled in mid-March at Grob's plant in Tussenhausen-Mattsies outside Mindelheim, around 100km from Munich, and the aircraft performed around 4h of ground tests before its first flight.
Andreas Plesske, chief executive of the Grob Group, says the G160 will play a central role in the company's strategy to have "two legs" to its aerospace business, with general and business aviation aircraft balancing out the company's traditional military ab initio trainer sales. "Clearly the trainer market is very cyclical, so we need to focus equally on developing innovative civilian products," he says. Plesske estimates development costs and time are "at least half that of any comparable non-carbonfibre aircraft". Grob started development of the six- to eight-seat turboprop in January 2003 and displayed a prototype at last year's Paris air show.
The €2 million ($2.4 million) G160 is to be aimed at owner-fliers in Europe, where single-engined commercial use is still banned. Grob believes the aircraft's range of around 3,300km with six passengers will be its principal selling point, coupled with a fuel capacity of 1,375 litres (360USgal) in fully wet wings. The aircraft is to be fitted with a trailing link landing gear for rough strips, and requires 650m for take-off or landing.
The company has a Blufton, Ohio, maintenance facility and is aiming for four regional distributors in North America and an agent in South America within six months, says Plesske.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE / MINDELHEIM
Source: Flight International
