Advanced Aerodynamics & Structures (AASI) plans to fly the first certification-test Jetcruzer 500 pusher-turboprop business aircraft by the end of this month.
The aircraft is the first with the stretched, pressurised fuselage planned for the production Jetcruzer 500. AASI reports orders for 70 of the $1.3 million aircraft.
The Long Beach, California-based company has completed flight-testing of a prototype modified from the original Jetcruzer 450, which was certificated in 1994 but was never produced. A plug was inserted into the unpressurised composite fuselage, and the uprated, 635kW (850shp), Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-66A and Hartzell five-blade propeller planned for the Jetcruzer 500 were installed.
Two certification flight-test aircraft are modified from Jetcruzer 450s by mating new fuselages to the original wings and foreplanes. A third aircraft will be the first built from the ground up as a Jetcruzer 500, says AASI. US certification is planned for mid-1998, under an amendment to the original Jet-cruzer 450 approval. Deliveries are scheduled to begin by late 1998.
AASI invested $25 million in certificating the Jetcruzer 450, and raised $32 million through a public offering in December 1996 to develop the improved aircraft. Plans for a twin-turbofan Stratocruzer are on hold until AASI's share price rises to a level that will trigger the release of development funds, says the company. A proof-of-concept aircraft is partially completed.
Source: Flight International
