Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC
Colombian manufacturer El Gavilan hopes to select a North American production site for the Gavilan 358 utility aircraft by 15 September. A tour of potential locations in Canada and the USA will begin on 28 August, using the aircraft displayed at the AirVenture 2000 show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA, this month.
Several potential partners will be visited, says El Gavilan president James Leaver. "We are looking for investment to a certain extent, but mainly we are looking for someone with a Federal Aviation Administration or Transport Canada production certificate."
A deal with British Columbia-based Advanced Wing Technologies to produce the Gavilan in Canada, announced last year, fell through, says Leaver (Flight International, 17-23 November).
The piston-single Gavilan is already type-certificated in the USA, but Bogota-based El Gavilan needs a North American production certificate if it is to expand the market for the aircraft beyond the handful of Latin American countries which accept a Colombian production certificate.
There is "no way" the Colombian firm will get a US production certificate, says Leaver, as the two countries do not have a bilateral agreement. "It's a political matter and out of our hands."
El Gavilan hopes to begin North American production in six months, using Colombian-made kits. At Oshkosh, "30 to 40" option agreements reserving North American production slots were handed out. As recipients have a month to place deposits securing delivery, "we don't yet know the results," says Leaver, "but we're optimistic."
Securing a North American production base would boost the prospects of developing a turbine-powered version of the aircraft. El Gavilan has begun work on a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6-powered variant, development of which is expected to take "over a year", Leaver says.
Production of the Textron Lycoming TIO-540-powered Gavilan 358 is likely to continue in Colombia, Leaver says, aimed mainly at the military markets in Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. The Colombian armed forces operate five aircraft.
Source: Flight International
