But Is It Ready For Primetime?

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the Type Certificate for the Ae270 Propjet aircraft on February 24, 2006. The FAA certification follows certification by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) late last year.

"The FAA and EASA Type Certificates affirm successful come-back of Aero, oriented in past 50 years on military aircraft technology, to the original development and production of civil aircraft as well. New certificates for civil aircraft development and production represent not only a good base for the Ae270 project continuation but also for other potential projects in this sphere," said Petr Klimes, Aero Chairman of the Board and President.

"Our goal now is to start the Ae270 aircraft operation, gain operational experience and to start further upgrades program of the Ae270 commercial-technical parameters," said Josef Sonsky, Vice-president for the Civil Program.

IBIS Aerospace, a joint venture between Aero Vodochody and Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation of Taiwan created to produce and market the Propjet, was issued the EASA Type Certificate for the Ae270 aircraft on December 12, 2005. IBIS representatives tell ANN the final UCL flight test for FAA certification was carried out on October 4, 2005, while the final FAA flight test took place on April 25, 2005.

While the FAA certification clears the way for the Ae270 to begin operations in the US, there still remains some work to be done before the aircraft is ready for US audiences. In an interview with ANN's Jim Campbell last year -- just after the company received the EASA cert -- IBIS North American General Manager Wayne Plucker said there still remained some work to do to optimize the aircraft for global marketing.

"For our purposes, we think we need to probably go back and do a little work on the aircraft to make it more competitive for the marketplace," Plucker said. (You may download the entire interview here.)

Funding was also a concern for the project at that time. However, IBIS sources tell ANN they expect the Taiwan side will put further investment into the project for Ae270, version B development -- the version that will incorporate the changes Plucker alludes to.

FMI: www.ae270.com