Intracom signs manufacturing deal after completing flight tests of turboprop GM-17 Viper
Swiss modifications specialist Intracom is to start serial production of its re-engined Piper PA-31P Navajo and is targeting sales at the lower end of the general aviation market.
Geneva-based Intracom has completed flight tests of the GM-17 Viper and has signed a manufacturing deal with component supplier Aerotech Slovakia ahead of planned serial production this year. The GM-17 replaces Navajo's two wing-mounted 425hp (317kW) Lycoming TIO-540 turbocharged piston engines with a single 750hp Walter M 601E turboprop installed in the nose section of the fuselage.
The modifications, which have reduced the maximum take-off weight by 400kg (880lb), also include new navigational equipment, hydraulics and landing gear. Structural components will be manufactured by the Smolensk aircraft plant in Russia and final assembly and completion will be carried out in Geneva. Intracom is aiming to produce one aircraft a month from the second half of this year.
Intracom president Nick Schmidt says the company has received 32 orders for the six-seat, $650,000 Viper, mainly from Russian and Australian owner-flyers. "There are two possibilities: either we can modify existing Navajo owners' aircraft or source secondhand aircraft for new customers," he says.
The aircraft flies under an experimental category and Schmidt says certification is unlikely "without the co-operation of New Piper Aircraft", which owns the design rights. "We have held talks with Piper about ultimately producing a certificated version, but it would be double the price and thus lose its competitive edge," says Schmidt.
The GM-17 Viper has a maximum range of 2,500km (1,350nm) and a top speed of 233kt (430km/h) at an altitude of 25,000ft (7,500m). Intracom is also developing a stretched version of the Viper, incorporating a 760mm (2.5ft) fuselage plug, which it intends to start testing in 2006.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE / LONDON
Source: Flight International
