Six-seat light amphibious twin heads Skyspan's high-performance jet family
Australia's Skyspan Aerospace has unveiled plans to develop a family of high-performance business jets, starting with a six-seat light amphibious twin dubbed the Twin Sea Dragon.
The Twin Sea Dragon will be available in kit form within the next 15 months, says the Brisbane-based company, with a certificated version to be rolled out within two years.
Skyspan managing director Douglas Archbold says there is a niche market for a twin amphibious jet in its key markets: North America, Asia and Australasia. The aircraft will be powered by two 1,500lb-thrust (6.67kN) Williams FJ33-4 turbofans and the flightdeck will feature Avidyne FlightMax Entegra avionics.
The Twin Sea Dragon will be priced at $1.6 million. A single-engined version, equipped with a parachute recovery system, will sell for around $1 million.
"The Twin Sea Dragon will dominate its class as a result of its price, speed, safety, flexibility and design," says Archbold, adding that its modular construction "allows for a smaller or even a bigger version of the jet without major retooling".
Archbold says the only amphibious jet currently available is the $30 million Russian-built Beriev Be-200, which weighs more than 40,800kg (90,000lb) and is solely intended for military and heavy commercial use.
The Twin Sea Dragon is designed to operate from land and water and will have retractable landing gear and an extendable, electrically powered water propeller to allow quick and easy docking of the aircraft.
Its Kevlar hull prevents water ingestion problems and engine flame out, and reduces impact problems in the water, says the company. The aircraft has a 2,870km (1,550nm) range, a 67kt (125km/h) stall speed and will climb at a rate of 3,200ft/min (16.2m/s).
The Brisbane-based company is eyeing locations in Queensland to house a 10,000m2 (108,000ft2) manufacturing site for the Sea Dragon family, which will be targeted at the owner-flyer, air-taxi and coastal-surveillance markets.
KATE SARSFIELD / LONDON
Source: Flight International
