American Regional Aircraft Industries (AMRAI) is to form a joint task force with IPTN in an attempt to get the N250 flight-test and certification programme back on schedule.
The Indonesian manufacturer and its US-based subsidiary agreed to the recovery effort in mid-December, shortly after the much-delayed maiden flight of the second N250 prototype. AMRAI hopes that with the active participation of its Western management, the programme can be put back on schedule within six months.
Flight testing of the PA2, the first full-size 64- to 68-seat N250-100 prototype, is now running eight months behind schedule. This follows the US Federal Aviation Administration's refusal to accept the aircraft as a certification validation vehicle, because of shortfalls in conformity documentation (Flight International 4-10 December, P12).
AMRAI has warned that unless the aircraft can be certificated and delivered on time, IPTN runs the risk of missing its chances in the US turboprop market. AMRAI wants to deliver the first N270, a 70-seat stretched derivative of the N250-100, to potential North American regional operators in early 2000.
IPTN and AMRAI are now assessing FAA reports and requirements to determine whether partial use of the PA2 can made for certification. "It's very difficult to get PA2 back on line, but we want to salvage something out of it," says a company official.
A third prototype is due to join the programme in September, followed by a fourth and final N250-100 test aircraft in early 1998. IPTN hopes to get FAA airworthiness certification for the aircraft by late 1998, at which point the first N270 prototype will begin an "accelerated" flight-test programme, leading to its certification by the end of 1999.
In the meantime, AMRAI does not now plan to begin construction of its US site in Mobile, Alabama, until 1998. The plant is intended to be used for N270 final assembly and after-sales support. Production had originally been scheduled to begin in 1997.
Source: Flight International
