Polish engineering company Metal Master has returned to Paris with its Flaris LAR-1 personal jet where it declared that the five-seat single will eventually be joined by a family of business jets, all following the LAR nomenclature.
“The LAR-1 is the baby of the family,” says Rafal Ladzinski, co-owner of Metal Master and Flaris project director. "We next model will be a twin-engined design," he adds.
The five-seat LAR-1 made its international show debut at Paris 2013. It is believed to be the only single-engined personal jet programme being developed by a European company to CS-23/Part-23 certification standards.
Europe’s only other known personal jet project – the Diamond D-JET – was suspended by its Austrian developer in 2013, due to a lack of funding.
US airframer Cirrus Aircraft looks set to be the first to market with a certificated single-engine jet. Its five-seat Vision SF50 is poised for approval and service entry later this year.
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“We have had an overwhelming response to the LAR-1,” says Ladzinski, who designed the aircraft along with Andrzej Frydrychewicz – creator of PZL’s propeller-driven Orlik, Kruk and Wilga. “We’ve designed an aircraft that is lightweight, cost efficient, easy to fly, easy to maintain and very safe,” says Ladzinsky.
The LAR-1 will be equipped with two emergency parachutes – designed by Czech company Galaxy. One is positioned in the tail and deployed to slow the aircraft down. The other is located in the centre of the fuselage and designed to bring the LAR-1 safely to the ground.
The €1.6 million ($1.8 million) type is powered by an 8.5kN (1,910lb) thrust Williams International FJ33-5A turbofan. The carbonfibre type is projected to have a maximum take-off weight of 1,650kg (3,650lb), a cruise speed of 380kt (700km/h), a stall speed of 62kt and a range of 2,500km. It will also feature a tailored version of the Avidyne Entegra 9 cockpit.
“The LAR-1 will take off and land from unpaved runways and grass strips,” Ladzinski continues. “It can be used in various missions including air taxi operations, personal transport, emergency medical services and surveillance. It could also be turned into a UAV,” he adds.
The LAR-1 is scheduled to fly later this year. It will initially be validated under the Polish civil aviation authority’s S-1 experimental aircraft designation with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2016 or early 2017. The certificated version – approved to European CS-23 standards – is expected to follow in 2018. “We are also targeting US certification as this is a key market for the LAR-1,” Ladzinski says.
Source: Flight International
