As if on cue for celebration here this week at NBAA, Sino
Swearingen Aircraft Corp. announced on October 27 the receipt of an FAA Type
Certificate for its SJ30-2 business jet. This, says Sino Swearingen, marks the
first clean-sheet corporate jet aircraft design developed by a new company to
achieve certification since the original concept of a corporate jet emerged
almost 45 years ago.
While that may be debated, the SJ30 has certainly been
working long and hard in the face of many adversities to reach this goal.
Announced in 1986, it survived a loss of interest by erstwhile sponsor
Gulfstream; stagnation of a partnership with Jaffe Aircraft; and a wide miss of
the originally targeted 1995 certification date. Even with the Taiwanese
backing, which has finally brought it to market, the innovative jet was slowed
by an extensive re-engineering (hence the -2 designation) and loss of a
prototype in a test-flight accident.
However, it was all smiles last week when Dr. Carl Chen,
president of Sino Swearingen, declared, "Our company is very proud to announce
the receipt of the Type Certificate for the SJ30-2. The employees of our
company, as well as our investors, have committed many years to achieving this
goal."
Dr. Ching Kuo, chairman and CEO, added, "Just as the
original corporate jets pioneered a new market, we believe the newly certified
SJ30-2 will totally redefine the light jet market. With the ability to operate
up to 49,000 feet, cruise up to 0.83 Mach, and fly nonstop flights to 2,500
nmi, future owners of the SJ30-2 will experience capabilities previously
available only in corporate jets costing twice as much."
Certification approves the SJ30-2 jet for day, night, VFR
and IFR, and single-pilot operations throughout the full performance envelope.
There remain a few outstanding approvals—such as flight into known icing and
certification of the cabin interior—before customer deliveries begin in first
quarter 2006.
