Sino Swearingen was set to roll out the first production- conforming SJ30-2 business jet this week and plans to kick-start flight testing before October.
Five test articles will be manufactured, says Sino Swearingen - a joint venture between Swearingen Aircraft and Taiwanese investment company Sino Aerospace - with three flying and two static. Certification and first deliveries are lined up for the third and fourth quarter of next year - more than two years later than planned.
Delays in the fabrication and assembly of the aircraft's wing and fuselage at the Gamesa Aerospace production site in Spain in 1998 contributed to the hold-up.
The company says: "The flight testing process should take around 12 months and will be conducted at our San Antonio [Texas] facility. Production and final assembly will be undertaken in our new plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia."
The company has clinched 164 orders for the $4.8 million aircraft, with a quarter of the sales destined for the European market.
Sino Swearingen plans to deliver nine aircraft in 2001, 35 in 2002 and 65 a year from 2003.
Source: Flight International