One Test Remains Before Start Of Customer Deliveries

Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation (SSAC) announced Monday the company's SJ30-2 business jet successfully completed its final flight test into actual icing conditions last week. The test, conducted March 1 in Provo, UT, consisted of the FAA requirement to complete a 45-minute hold in actual maximum continuous icing conditions. The test flight was flown by pilots Mark Fairchild and John Siemens, and Flight Test Engineer Schuyler Horn.

The SJ30 -- which received its FAA type-certification last October -- is equipped with electrically heated windshields and uses engine bleed air heat to anti-ice the wings and engines. Pneumatic boots are used to de-ice the horizontal tail. The approval flight involved 50 minutes of maximum continuous icing conditions and more than another hour of intermittent icing conditions, which resulted in a build up of over 4 inches of ice on unprotected areas of the aircraft.

"The airplane performed remarkably well in the extreme icing conditions we encountered," Siemens said. "It is also my opinion that the SJ30 performed better in the ice than any other airplane I have previously certified for flight in known icing conditions... the flight characteristics and handling qualities were very good with this residual ice accumulation."

"In the post flight debriefing, the flight test crew all agreed that the SJ30 is one of the safest airplanes on the market today when it comes to flying in icing conditions," Siemens added.

Last month, Siemens and other members of the flight test crew completed artificial ice shapes testing at Roswell, NM. This testing is required to demonstrate aircraft handling characteristics -- including stability, control, and stall characteristics -- with simulated ice attached to the airframe, replicating what would accumulate on unprotected surfaces during flight in a 45-minute maximum continuous ice encounter.

With the successful completion of the icing tests, the only hurdle remaining for Sino Swearingen before the company can begin customer deliveries is the FAA's sign-off on the bizjet's interior, which is expected shortly.

FMI: www.SJ30Jet.com