Adam A700 Inches Closer to FAA Certification

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With FAA certification of the Eclipse 500 imminent, and Cessna saying it still plans to get its paperwork later this year, other manufacturers wanting to compete in that market are racing to get their aircraft approved. For its part, Adam Aircraft last month said it has begun systems and flight testing for the A700 VLJ, with flights of the prototype jet taking place virtually every day. The company said it continues to add experienced test pilots, demonstration pilots, and other flight department professionals, increasing its ability to keep planes in the air, check off required flight hours for certification, and complete necessary certification summaries and reports. Currently, two A700 examples are flying, s/n 001 and 002, with 576 and 45 hours of flight time, respectively.

Meanwhile, Adam continues working toward full certification of its A500 piston twin. In May, the company delivered A500 s/n 007 to its customer and has already completed the layup process for s/n 012’s carbon-fiber composite fuselage. In addition to working on full certification, ongoing efforts at the factory include streamlining the assembly hangar and accelerating the manufacturing process for future A500 copies. Adam said that, as its manufacturing team learns from each completed airplane, staff hours per task continue to decrease, which will allow the firm to reach the corporate goal of six A500 deliveries per month in 2007. In May, Adam Aircraft President Joe Walker told the European Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland, that economic expansion in Europe and the Middle East could mean a market for up to 1,000 VLJs in that region alone over the next 10 years. Adam clearly wants some of those sales and appears to be hard at work to make it happen. The firm looks forward to achieving European A700 certification by the end of 2007.

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