Lufthansa Flight Training (LFT) has signed up as the first customer for the Grob G120A single-engined trainer, with an order for three aircraft plus four options.
The aircraft will be used by LFT subsidiary Airline Training Center Arizona (ATCA), based in Goodyear near Phoenix, Arizona, in the USA, to carry out preliminary flight training for pilots of the German armed forces. The G120A flew for the first time last year, and is due to be certificated in September, which will clear the way for ATCA to receive the first three aircraft by the end of that month.
Tussenhausen, Bavaria-based Grob says the G120A has been designed for basic and advanced training roles, and is fully aerobatic with a retractable landing gear. Unusually for an aircraft of its size, it is also fitted with advanced avionics, including electronic flight information system (EFIS)displays in the cockpit for instrument flight training.
The all-composite G120A is powered by a 349kW (260hp), six-cylinder Lycoming engine. Grob claims it is capable of an initial climb rate of over 1,200ft/min (6m/s) and a maximum speed in level flight of 172kt (318km/h).
The Grob-Werke Aerospace Division has produced G115-family trainers since 1987, selling 370 to date, including 99 for the UK Royal Air Force, five for the UK Navy, 12 to the United Arab Emirates air force, 74 to the Egyptian air force and 54 to Australian pilot schools.
Source: Flight International
