First Flight Planned Sometime This Summer
The light-sport aircraft company Evektor rolled out what it
says is a new generation turboprop aircraft, the EV-55 Outback, at
its factory in Kunovice in the Czech Republic March 30th. The first
flight of the airplane is planned for the 3rd quarter of this
year.
The EV-55 Outback is a high-wing, twin-engine, turboprop
aircraft which can be configured to carry 9 to 14 passengers, or up
to 4,000 lbs of cargo. The aircraft is designed for operations on
short, unpaved runways or at high-altitude airports. While Evektor
says the primary target market for the aircraft is operators in
countries like South America, Africa and Asia where there is less
developed infrastructure.
Evektor says it hopes the EV-55 Outback will compete with
twin-engine piston airplanes with a capacity 6 to 9 passengers, as
well as single engine turboprop airplanes which are currently in
production. The company says the airplane will be a good fit for
humanitarian, military and SAR missions.
The aircraft project was initiated by Evektor company and
Association of Aviation Manufacturers of the Czech Republic in 2004
with the objective of finding a niche in the General Aviation
market not already occupied by existing airplanes. It was followed
by establishment of a consortium of companies from the Czech
aircraft industry, managed by Evektor. Research institutions and
universities also became a part of the group. From its inception,
the project has been supported by a science and research program
from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.
“Today, after 5 years of the effort of Evektor´s
design team and the other partners in consortium, we a have
officially introduced the first prototype of the EV-55 Outback. It
is a completion of the first and a very important part of
development not only for me personally, but also for the whole
team. We realize that there is still much work ahead of us. I
believe that the airplane will find its customers and will become
one of a number of successful projects of the Czech aircraft
industry, “ said Mr. Petr Štìrba, Chief
designer of the EV-55 Outback and deputy director of Evektor.
As the airplane was developed, significant attention was paid
versatility, utility and low cost of operation and maintenance. The
company plans Passenger, Cargo and Combi versions of the
airplane,the latter of which would combine a cargo compartment in
the front portion of the cabin, and seats for passengers in the
rear.