Tue, Mar 07, 2006
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.
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