Adam Aircraft believes a gear collapse during testing of its A500 piston twin will not significantly impact certification, already much delayed from its originally scheduled date of 2003. During hot-weather testing at Fort Meyers, Florida with aircraft 003, the left main gear retracted during a landing rollout.

Adam says the all-composite aircraft experienced minimal damage to the left wing and tailboom, and was ferried back to the company's Denver, Colorado headquarters for repair. Aircraft 003 is one of three engaged in a certification flight-test programme that has passed the 1,400 flying-hour mark.

After repeatedly missing its published schedules for US certification, Adam is reluctant to give a new date for Federal Aviation Administration approval of the twin-boom, centreline-thrust aircraft. By mid-March, it says, 235 of 242 test reports required for initial type certification had been approved by the FAA, with tests for three more reports completed and the remaining four tests scheduled for completion by the end of the month.

Function and reliability flight tests must also be completed before certification is granted and deliveries begin. Adam has completed wing-fuselage mating on aircraft 005, but 004, now in flight test, is intended as the first customer aircraft. It has yet to have its interior installed.

Meanwhile, the FJ33 turbofans on the first A700 twinjet derivative of the A500 have been returned to manufacturer Williams International for upgrade with dual-channel full-authority digital engine control and other changes to ensure full conformance with the FJ33-4A-15 standard certificated in September last year. The aircraft is also being pressured to allow flight testing to higher altitudes.

Adam has announced plans to build two more A700s to complete development and certification, and expects to begin deliveries of the aircraft, originally scheduled for certification in mid-2003, in 2006. It has also announced plans to open a facility in Ogden, Utah to manufacture and assemble the A500 and A700, operating in parallel with its Denver plant.

GRAHAM WARWICK/WASHINGTON DC

Source: Flight International