Symphony Loads Trainer With Technology

0

Symphony Aircraft joined the glass panel club on Tuesday and became the least expensive certified aircraft to offer the feature and the only one priced at less than $200,000. The two-place SA60, as it is now called, with the Glass IFR package, which includes the Avidyne Entegra primary and multi-function displays, the Avidyne Emax Engine Indication System plus Garmin GNS 430 and GNC 420 GPS systems will set you back just shy of $190,000. But that’s not the most you can spend on the composite high-wing, thanks to agreements with two other high-profile aircraft system suppliers. An SA60 with all the bells and whistles will approach $250,000 but it will be a much more capable aircraft than the Cessna 152 it vaguely resembles and is aimed at replacing. “This is the way the next generation of pilots is going to learn how to fly,” said CEO Paul Costanzo at a Sun ‘n Fun press conference. For an extra $18,500, the factory, in Trois Rivieres, Quebec, will install a BRS whole plane parachute. Another $19,600 will put in an STEC System 55X Autopilot with GPS steering. Options on the glass panel system (electronic charts, weather, text messaging and tracking) can add more than $10,000. At the other end of the scale, a VFR SA60 can be had for as little as $139,900. Costanzo said establishing the two-place model as the leader in its field is the current focus but the future may hold a four-place design. “We have a great concept on paper,” he said.

LEAVE A REPLY