Adam Aircraft Receives A500 Type Certificate

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It’s been a long time in coming — more than seven years, to be exact — but May 11, 2005, saw the FAA issue a Type Certificate (TC) to Adam Aircraft for its A500 Centerline Twin. We are very pleased for our team who worked so hard for this TC, said Adam Aircraft Chairman and CEO Rick Adam. I am also very happy for our customers who will be able to pilot their A500s soon. Working with the FAA, we have produced a next-generation twin that meets or exceeds the highest safety and regulatory standards. The A500 is constructed of high-performance Toray carbon fiber material and powered by two Teledyne Continental TSIO-550 turbocharged piston engines in a centerline configuration. Inside the cabin are 26-G seats, side-stick controls, airbags at the crew stations and a glass flight deck with displays from Avidyne with Garmin radios. An air-stair door, club seating and, according to the company, “the largest cabin in its class” round out the A500’s top features. Final performance numbers will include a 230-knot cruise speed, more than a 1,000-nm NBAA IFR range at 75% power, and a cabin altitude of 8,000 feet at the aircraft’s maximum operating altitude of FL250. The first major production milestone for the A500 was announced in October 2004, with the rollout of S/N 004, the first customer aircraft. Since that time, five other customer aircraft have been added to the production process. Facilities in Englewood and Pueblo, Colo., and in Ogden, Utah, will help the company ramp up to its goal of producing six aircraft each month. Additionally, Adam expects to obtain an FAA production certificate. Placing customers into their planes for the very first time is always the most rewarding part of any aircraft development process, said Joe Walker, president and COO of Adam Aircraft. We are looking forward to delivering this great aircraft to our backlog of more than 65 customers. The A500 support structure includes nine factory-authorized service centers, and AOG field service assistance will be provided to maintain the highest degree of dispatch reliability for customer aircraft. Training for pilots will be provided at the factory under an FAA-approved FAA Industry Training Standards (FITS) training syllabus.

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