Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has confirmed its interest in entering the US general aviation market as flight tests begin of a proof-of-concept (PoC) light aircraft built by Scaled Composites.
Dubbed the Toyota Advanced Aircraft (TAA), the four-seat piston single is a conventional design, with low wing and tail. The PoC has fixed tricycle gear and two-blade propeller. Flight testing began late last month at Scaled's base in Mojave, California.
Toyota confirms it is studying the potential market to replace around 200,000 older general aviation aircraft now flying in the USA. "There is a potential for a business opportunity here, which is why we are studying it," the company says, but it is stressing the project could be abandoned if the market does not prove viable.
PoC flight testing is part of a three-year effort by the company's US arm, Toyota Motor Sales, to determine whether the aircraft is marketable. The design features an all-composite airframe, laminar-flow wing, advanced avionics and a powerplant providing single-lever control.
US consultancy InterMatrix says it helped Toyota develop specifications and pricing for three aircraft: standard and high-end four-seaters and a six-seat piston single. Two designs were planned under the Toyota Advanced Aircraft banner: the retractable-gear TAA-1 and fixed-gear TAA-2.
Toyota may yet attempt to gain US certification of the TAA. In 1996, Toyota and Hamilton Standard won US Federal Aviation Administration certification foran aircraft engine based on theV8 powering the Japanese manufacturer's Lexus LS400 luxury car, but did not ultimately proceedwith production.
Source: Flight International
