Maverick Jets has sold its twentieth MC-750 custom-build personal jet but says that it has no plans for a fully-certificated model.
At the National Business Aviation Association's convention in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month, which saw large orders of new personal jets from Cessna and Eclipse, the company secured "several" $45,000 deposits for the lightweight twin jet kitplane.
The five-seater is certificated as an experimental amateur-built aircraft, under which the buyer is responsible for 51% of the completed build, but is permitted "professional assistance".
The gross weight of the all-composite Maverick Jet is 2,360kg (5,200lb), and it can be flown by general aviation pilots without a type rating once they have acquired a letter of authorisation from the US Federal Aviation Administration. Full certification, which would require cabin pressurisation and de-icing, would "quadruple the price" and is not being pursued, the company says.
The $750,000 Maverick Jet was designed with the low-time general aviation pilot in mind, with its two General Electric T58-based 750lb-thrust (3.5kN) MC-750 engines restricting the aircraft to low airspeeds, says the Florida-based company. The range is 2,960km (1,600nm) and the aircraft is designed to cruise at 31,000ft (9,450m) at up to 300kt (555km/h).
The aircraft has accrued more than 300h of flying over three years, and the company moved into full production of five aircraft a month in July. Maverick Jets is finalising dealership agreements in 22 countries.
Source: Flight International
