Coming To The North American Market
The FAA has issued the Sky Arrow 650 TCS and TCNS,
manufactured by Iniziative Industriali Italiane of Rome, Italy, a
type certificate under the FAR Part 23. Although both aircraft
types use the same certified powerplant, a 98 hp Rotax 912-S2, the
two aircraft differ in system and equipment, which allow the Sky
Arrow 650 TCNS to be certified VFR Day & Night and, once the
additional equipment becomes approved, for IFR flying.
ANN's Jim Campbell has flown various iterations of this aircraft
and is pleased to see it come to the market in certified form.
"They're got a great little flyer... the prototypes we've flown
handle very well, offer truly intoxicating visibility and are more
fun, than most, to fly. And... that was (then) on a lot less
horsepower, only 80 HP. The prototypes were impressive and we're
looking forward to seeing what the certified birds can do. The
pricing is very aggressive--just the thing for a starving flight
school that's looking for a low-cost aircraft, that will be even
less costly to operate."
The whole operation has been conducted by the technical office
of Iniziative Industriali Italiane S.p.A., directed by Corrado
d'Alessandro. Since the Sky Arrow's previously issued JAR-VLA
certification did not allow night and IFR flying, the company
targeted the highest category of certification for those
iterations. Certified under more stringent FAR 23 rules, the Sky
Arrow TCS/TCNS meets or exceeds the same design, manufacturing and
performance standards as much larger and more complex certified
aircraft. For instance FAR 23 is applied to normal category
aircraft up to 12,500 lbs as well as commuters up to 19,000 lbs
carrying 19 passengers and crew.
Among the FAR 23 compliances, not included in the
JAR-VLA rules, are listed fatigue issues, lightning protection, new
crashworthiness limits for seats and airframe as well as the system
redundancy, necessary under this certification. The first Sky Arrow
650 TCNS certified under FAR 23 will be displayed at the Pacific
Aerosystem booth (Iniziative Industriali Italiane) booth, located
in space MD5B at Lakeland. For this state-of-the-art, all carbon
fiber tandem seater, the company has set an extremely aggressive US
introductory price of $83,500 for the Sky Arrow 650 TCS and $
85,500 for the Sky Arrow 650 TCNS, (delivered in the US), both
fully equipped and ready to fly.