GRAHAM WARWICK / NEW ORLEANS
But company president determined to retain overall control as company makes moves for limited outside finance
Adam Aircraft is looking for outside investment in its CarbonAero piston-twin programme, at therequest of customers concerned that all funding so far has come from one individual.
President John Knudsen says Adam is prepared to sell "less than 10%" of the firm to outside investors. "We don't want to lose control," he says.
The CarbonAero programme is being financed by businessman George Adam, who Knudsen says has committed to fund it to completion without outside cash. The project is on schedule for the first flight of a conforming prototype in June, Knudsen adds, leading to certification in the first half of 2003. The firm has a 38-order backlog worth $25 million.
The CarbonAero is a centreline-thrust, all-composite twin, powered by digitally controlled Teledyne Continental TSIO-550 piston engines, fore and aft of the pressurised fuselage. The aircraft was designed by Burt Rutan, and recent changes include adding an airstair door, a 460mm (18in) fuselage stretch, and a 610mm wingspan extension, says Knudsen.
Adam is building a facility in Denver, Colorado, capable of producing up to 100 aircraft a year. The basic aircraft costs $795,000 with Garmin avionics.
An electronic flight instrument system, de-icing and other refinements take it up to $920,000, with further avionics options adding a another $70,000 to the price, Knudsen says.
Source: Flight International
