Plans call for the four-place, all-metal aircraft to be fabricated overseas, assembled in the USA and sold through franchised dealers.
AFI president Tom Prescott says that the target introductory price for the retractable-gear pusher-propeller Prescott II is $100,000. This will be achieved by selling the production franchise to an overseas company, to reduce labour and product-liability insurance costs, he says. AFI will assemble the aircraft and handle marketing and support.
Prescott says that funding has been secured to certificate the aircraft under the US Federal Aviation Administration's new Primary Category, which allows owner-performed maintenance. Franchised dealers will sell the aircraft and, for a single monthly payment, provide training, insurance, hangarage and support, he says.
AFI plans to build a factory in San Antonio where it will produce the first four units, two for certification testing and two for demonstration purposes. Certification is scheduled for 1996. The type-certificate and production tooling would then be transferred to an offshore company.
Prescott hopes to establish a "very large" dealer network, initially in the USA, and plans to unveil its franchise scheme in the next three months. Under the scheme, dealers will be provided with all the materials needed to sell and support the aircraft. AFI already has a list of interested dealers, he says.
Improvements planned for the production aircraft include a clamshell-style step door, to ease entry; a one-piece wing housing trailing-link main gear; and a fully trimmable horizontal stabiliser. AFI says that the Prescott II will offer "the cabin volume of a [Beech] Bonanza with the speed of a Mooney".o
Source: Flight International
