Sat, Jun 11, 2005
Thorpe-211 Engineer "Earned His Keep"
IndUS Aviation says it's the first
manufacturer in the United States to acquire a Special-Light Sport
Aircraft (S-LSA) Airworthiness Certificate under the ASTM Consensus
Standards. The certificate was issued on Wednesday by Inspector
Rick Murdock of the FAA Southwest Region's Fort Worth Manufacturing
Inspection District Office (MIDO).
IndUS Aviation registered their Jabiru 3300-powered Thorpedo
model as N211LS (for "T211 Light Sport"). MIDO Manager Vaughn
Schmitt responded, "This is a great accomplishment for IndUS
Aviation. We are proud to partner with IndUS in issuing the
Airworthiness Certificate for the first Light Sport Aircraft
produced in the US."
Scott Severen, IndUS' Director of Marketing and Sales says it
took plenty of teamwork at IndUS and a collaborative partnership
with the Fort Worth MIDO to achieve early certification as a S-LSA.
"The FAA has been exemplary in their support and assistance. This
would not have occurred without the vision of Ram Pattisapu, owner
of IndUS Aviation. And engineer Rahul Rajvanshi really earned his
keep," said Severen.
The Thorp T211 was designed by John Thorp and originally
certified as the T11 in the mid 1940's. Thorp's designs include the
Piper Cherokee, P2V Navy Bomber and the T18, the first homebuilt to
fly around the world.
IndUS has taken the original airframe design and updated the
powerplant to a lighter, more powerful 6-cylinder engine, and
upgraded the instrumentation. The result is a significantly lighter
empty weight that delivers much improved performance, says
IndUS.
While IndUS has a backlog of sales orders, they state they also
have excellent production capacity. "There are still late summer
delivery positions available," said Severen.
"Expect to see the Thorpedo followed up by the T11 Sky Skooter
model, which is powered by the 85 HP Jabiru 4 cylinder engine,"
added Severen, "It's coming soon!"
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