Countering suggestions that its Pogo orders may be on shaky
ground, Adam Aircraft president and chief operating officer Joe Walker
reaffirmed to reporters Tuesday that the VLJ air taxi operator's order for 75
twin-engine A700 jets is still on.
"There's no change there," says Walker. Even if one of the
"fleet" purchasers were to back out, however, Adam can steel itself, Walker
says, by mitigating backlog, interlacing fleet orders with the 60 or so orders
by owner/operators. Currently Adam has 225 fleet orders for the $2.25 million
aircraft, and Walker would not divulge buyers other than Pogo. In total Walker
says Adam has roughly $100 million in back orders for its twin-engine turboprop
A500 (80 aircraft), and about $750 million for the A700 (282 aircraft). The
next available A700 can be had in first quarter 2008.
Show News learned that Pogo has been shopping around for
other VLJs. The company's new president and chief operating officer, Cameron
Burr, said he's talking to Embraer about its newly launched VLJs, and to other
OEMs. Cessna confirmed that it has not spoken with Pogo regarding a switch to
the Mustang. "Our original intention was to be operating A700s today," says
Burr. Embraer verified to Show News on Tuesday that it has been speaking with
several potential air taxi operators, including Pogo.
Walker expects A700 certification to be complete in late
2007, "depending on the FAA's schedule." A700 S/N 1 has logged more than 350
hours and has been tested to 30,000 ft and 310 kts. Adam pressure-tested the
cabin to 41,000 ft. On Monday it delivered its first production A500 (S/N 5) to
its new owner here at the show. The aircraft is operating under a interim type
certificate, issued in May, that does not include IFR night flight,
pressurization or deicing as further certification proceeds in parallel.
Walker also announced a new media campaign to tout the
roominess of the A700 when compared with the competition. He says the A700
offers 240 cu-ft of cabin space, while the Cessna Mustang has 205 cu-ft, and the
Eclipse 500 just 160 cu-ft. A700 S/N 1, on display here at NBAA, features a
pressurized cabin with seven seats and lavatory with an expanded nose baggage
area that can be stashed with four sets of golf clubs. The twin-boom aircraft
also has a fuel belly pod, pressurization system and autopilot. With that much
cabin space, Adam can offer an eight-seat air taxi configuration or a
seven-seat version with an unbelted lavatory. Moving that much cabin around has
its downside, however— Walker says the maximum range with eight passengers is
only a bit more than 300 nmi.
