Safire Aircraft has announced additional suppliers for its Safire Jet and says it plans to increase the price of the six-seat very light jet following first flight later this year.
Addison, Texas-based Keith Products will supply the vapour cycle air-conditioning system and Barry Controls Aerospace of Burbank, California will provide the new-generation integrated engine vibration isolators and aircraft mounting structure.
Opa Locka, Florida-based Safire says it has secured enough funding to finance the programme through first flight and is confident of raising the required investment to complete certification, planned for 2006. The widespread validation of this market sector, Safire says, is luring a number of potential investors. The next step is to finance the 153,000m2 (500,000ft2) production facility in Opa Locka and continue to build the support infrastructure, Safire says. Talks are under way with potential partners to offer training, customer support, insurance and finance.
Safire has 396 orders for the 1,100lb(4.9kN)-thrust Williams International FJ33-4-powered Safire Jet and says once the aircraft has completed 10h of flight testing around 364 early deposit holders will be required to place 15% of the original $1.3 million purchase price to secure a production position. The current $1.4 million price tag will rise by $100,000 for new orders placed after the maiden flight. Safire plans to build two flying prototypes, one static-test article and one fatigue-test article, all of which will be assembled at Opa Locka.
Source: Flight International
