Despite the economy, specialty aircraft continue to enjoy strong sales and a Canadian company is celebrating the FAA certification of its "next generation" line of bush planes. Found Aviation has a Bigfoot model on display at AOPA Summit. It's the conventional-gear version of the Expedition introduced a few years ago and spokesman Drew Hamblin said it's a serious performer in the back country with all the comforts of a nice cross-country aircraft.
The airplane is based on the Found Bushhawk, which was designed in 1964 and was in production until 2007. It was designed as a workhorse able to carry big loads of people and freight to remote locations. The next-generation version has glass on the panel and leather on the seats, while retaining the ability to carry five people or four drums of fuel into an unimproved field in the wilderness. The aircraft are available with turbocharged and normally aspirated Lycomings and sell for about $600,000, depending on the options.
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