ATLAS AVIATION is to build an improved ACE turboprop trainer following the crash of the prototype in February.
The new ACE II, is scheduled to be flown, in the second half of 1996. The aircraft will differ from the original principally in its use of the more powerful Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68, rather than the original PT6A-25. Other changes include updated avionics and a fuselage stretch just aft of the wing.
The Denel subsidiary plans to continue offering the all-composite ACE for intermediate training requirements, and the ACE II for more advanced needs.
The first ACE crash-landed at Johannesburg, injuring the pilot and flight engineer.
Source: Flight International
