Seawind Is Back In Business

The company that has been working for over 10 years to bring the Seawind amphibian to the certified market is back up and running, Seawind President Dick Silva said this week. “The Seawind people don’t know how to give up,” the company said in a news release. A year and a half after the only prototype was lost and the test pilot was killed in a crash, the company has reorganized and found new funding to re-hire staff and complete certification of the airplane.

The company that has been working for over 10 years to bring the Seawind amphibian to the certified market is back up and running, Seawind President Dick Silva said this week. "The Seawind people don't know how to give up," the company said in a news release. A year and a half after the only prototype was lost and the test pilot was killed in a crash, the company has reorganized and found new funding to re-hire staff and complete certification of the airplane.

Silva said a group of investors has joined with a number of customers to provide the funding needed to resume the project. "It will take us about three months to complete the second flight-test aircraft, which was about two-thirds finished when we ceased operations," Silva said. A thorough investigation found no in-flight failure or any other issue with the aircraft, the company said. Over 80 copies of the experimental version of the Seawind are flying.

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AVweb's Russ Niles interviewed Silva about the company's status last summer.
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