Kate Sarsfield/LONDON
Liberty Aircraft has unveiled its Liberty XL-2 two-seat factory-built aircraft around three years after the programme was conceived. The privately owned company will begin taking orders from 1 July, targeting private fliers and training schools.
The single-engined, side-by-side, tricycle-gear XL-2, designed by the Europa kit aircraft team, is priced at $85,000. Liberty expects sales of around 250 aircraft a year.
The company, which has kept the programme under wraps until now, says the first flight is due for the fourth quarter of this year. Three prototypes are planned.
Liberty director Keith Wilson says: "Liberty undertook an independent marketing study and exhaustive design evaluation in 1997, which highlighted the need for a modern certified aircraft that gave the customer performance, comfort, range and value for money both in terms of purchase price and total operating costs."
Although some technical details have been released, Liberty declines to reveal the names of the engine and parts suppliers as well as its choice of manufacturing and final assembly provider. "We are in the final stages of negotiations with these companies and plan to make an announcement in four to six weeks," Wilson says.
The part-metal, part-composite, piston-engined XL-2 has a 1.2m (4ft)-wide cockpit, a payload of more than 270kg (600lb), a cruise speed of around 120kt (220km/h) and range of more than 925km (500nm). European Joint Airworthiness Requirement for very light aircraft (JAR-VLA) certification is set for completion by the end of the year, followed by US Federal Aviation Regulation FAR-23 approval for general aviation aircraft in early 2001. First deliveries are lined up for the second quarter of 2001.
Liberty has established a sales and marketing office in Florida and is eyeing light aircraft maintenance and service centres across North America to support the aircraft.
Source: Flight International
