Brand-new at the show is the Ibis Aerospace Ae270 single-engine propjet, challenging
the PC-12's monopoly of the "flying sport-utility" class.
The aircraft here, the sixth Ae270 built, made its first flight
on September 22 and completed 35 hours of qualification testing
before its 4,957-mile trip from the Czech Republic to Orlando via
Scotland, Iceland and Greenland. Senior test pilot Ladislav Snydr
says that the airplane performed flawlessly despite headwinds peaking
at 140 knots. "The only problem is that there is nothing except
the seats and a toilet for the camping," Snydr observed here.
The Ae270 on show here is indeed unfinished, although it has a
full complement of avionics. Its next stop is Texas, where it will
be fitted with an executive interior by DeCrane Seating and Southstar
Aircraft Interiors. The Ae270 is due to be certificated in mid-2004,
with deliveries of the executive version, now named Spirit, to follow
a few months later.
