August Ends On High Note For Troubled Company

A bit of good news for beleagured bizjet maker Sino-Swearingen... as the company announced Thursday the first SJ30 customer type rating has been issued by the FAA.

The type rating was issued to Mr. Hamish Harding, Chairman of Action Aviation and SSAC's distributor for much of Europe and the Middle East.

Sino Swearingen recently received FAA authorization to conduct in-house flight training for customers seeking SJ30 type ratings. The course is FAA authorized for both two-crew and single-pilot operations. The type-rating course consists of a minimum of 48 hours of classroom instruction, and up to 26 hours of flight training.

With initial SJ30 customers, flight training is provided in an aircraft supplied by the company. A fully capable Level D simulator is planned in the future.

"The SSAC flight training course was carried out in a professional and efficient manner," said Mr. Harding, who holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is type rated in Citation jets. "I was pleased to be able to learn in an actual aircraft and felt privileged to be able to learn so much from the SSAC test pilots who personally participated in the certification of the aircraft."

The news of the first type-rating comes at the end of a troubled month for the Taiwanese-American planemaker, which saw more than 100 layoffs at its San Antonio, TX headquarters. More layoffs were also reported at the Martinsburg, WV plant that produces the SJ30 fuselage, wings and empennage.

As Aero-News reported, the company maintains the layoffs are temporary -- and stem from unforeseen issues with ramping up the production line from its development phase, to mass-production. While the future of Sino-Swearingen remains a bit cloudy... for now, the company is stressing the positive.

"We are thrilled to see Hamish Harding earn his SJ30 type rating," said Bob Kromer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "It's quite a milestone as we transform from an engineering and development company to one that delivers and supports customers and their airplanes. During the flight test program, the SSAC team worked very hard to develop an airplane with predictable and straightforward handling qualities, while offering our customers levels of performance never before available in the light jet market."

"We've redefined the price/performance equation for light jet operators," Kromer added. "Additionally, we offer an airplane with very predictable and honest flying qualities. We're very proud of that."

SSAC's SJ30 business jet is a high performance twinjet aircraft with a range of over 2,500 nautical miles and the highest cruise speed in the light jet industry of Mach .83 (560 mph). This single pilot certified jet operates at altitudes to 49,000 feet and maintains a "Sea Level Cabin" of 12 psi through 41,000 ft.

FMI: www.sj30jet.com