Liberty Aerospace expects to achieve US Federal Aviation Administration certification of its new Continental IOF 240-powered XL-2 all-composite two-seater in September. Deliveries of the XL-2, which made its debut at the Experimental Aircraft Association's Sun 'n' Fun show, should follow next year, says vice-president of sales and marketing Ivan Shaw.
The digitally controlled 93kW (125hp) IOF 240 replaces the Rotax 912S, which was initially selected by Liberty for the XL-2 light aircraft, which is based on the Europa kitplane.
Liberty has sold 70 aircraft and Shaw expects sales to jump after the first demonstration aircraft starts flying at the end of this month. "We're just now starting to market the aircraft," Shaw says. The firm recently completed design refinements, which include an enlarged fuel tank (Flight International, 1-7 January).
Meanwhile, Adam Aircraft is aiming for an accelerated seven-month FAA certification process for its Carbon Aero A500 light aircraft. The first production version is due to fly in June.
Adam is building four production aircraft to speed up the certification process and plans to build 25 aircraft in 2003 and 50 in 2004. "We're confident we can meet these dates," chief executive Rick Adam says. "We should essentially have a fully assembled aircraft in the next few weeks. We don't want to be caught with taking multiple years to deliver aircraft to customers," he adds.
Source: Flight International
