A TWO-SEAT light aircraft designed in Germany in 1942 and produced in Egypt since 1950 is to be certificated and produced in the USA for the training and recreation markets.
Shadin Aircraft plans to build the Bucker Bestman Bu.181D (produced by Heliopolis Aircraft Factory as the M.1 Gomhouria) as the G10 Aeropony.
St Louis Park, Minnesota-based Shadin is taking orders for the G10 at an introductory price of $85,000 for experimental-category aircraft to be delivered ahead of US certification. After Part 23 certification, planned for the third quarter, the price will increase to $95,000, says the company.
The flight-test aircraft, has been completed in Egypt and is expected to be delivered to Shadin, in late April. The aircraft has a low wing, fixed taildragger gear, sliding canopy and a 110kW (145hp) Teledyne Continental O-300 driving an aluminium, two-blade, fixed-pitch propeller. Shadin has added AlliedSignal Bendix/King instrument-flight-rules avionics.
Initial G10 airframes will be built in Egypt until tooling has been transferred to Shadin, which will be able to produce 104 aircraft a year.
Heliopolis will continue to manufacture aircraft for sale in the Middle East and Africa, while Shadin has the marketing rights for the rest of the world.
Source: Flight International
