With A Look At Light Jets…
With the onset of summer, the big show at Oshkosh is just six weeks away, and this year promises to be an interesting one in the wide-open spaces of Wisconsin. Though the buzz over new jets has eased off a bit as the trek to certification proves long and slow, and insurance requirements for the owner/pilot loom high, interest seems to be picking up as some of the players start inching closer to that finish line. Still, the only example of a light jet flying with its (destined for) production engines is the Adam A700. Eclipse says it is working on three copies of its first certification flight-test aircraft, all of which will feature Pratt & Whitney Canada PW610F engines. First flight of its prototype is expected by the end of the year, Eclipse says. The single-engine Diamond D-Jet is still in early stages of development, the company said yesterday, so don’t look for it in the skies this summer. At Avocet, CEO David Tait stepped down in April, though he remains on the advisory board. Their ProJet is still in the design phase. Cessna recently has been testing the PW615F it plans to fly on its Citation Mustang, scheduled for certification in 2006. Safire Aircraft Co. recently suspended operations pending a hoped-for infusion of cash, as AVweb‘s Business NewsWire reported yesterday.
