Mon, Oct 25, 2004
Symphony Ramps Up North American Production
Symphony President, Paul Costanzo, and American Symphony
principal, Tim Baldwin, painted the history and present status of
the Symphony aircraft design in this forum at AOPA Expo in Long
Beach (CA).
They said the story began in 2001 when OMF GmbH received FAA
certification for the Symphony 160, a two-place, tri-cycle gear,
high-wing aircraft. It is powered by a Lycoming for a cruise of 128
kts. Originally certified in Germany, the aircraft was designed to
fill the market niche left unfilled since production of the Cessna
152 and Piper Tomahawk ended two decades ago. OMF Aircraft in
Canada was to create a strong North American presence for the
Symphony line of aircraft.
According to Costanzo, financial woes led to the demise of both
companies by January, 2004. Then Costanzo, president of the former
OMF Aircraft, put together a group of US and Canadian investors who
formed Symphony Aircraft Industries (SAI) headquartered in Three
Rivers, Quebec, Canada. They purchased the assets of the former
companies including the type certificate. SAI also created a
subsidiary named American Symphony Aircraft, Inc., located in
Moline (IL), to be distributor in the US under the leadership of
Tim Baldwin.
"All of us at Symphony have been working hard to establish our
supply chain and start production," said Symphony President, Paul
Costanzo. "We are now in the process of building our first two
aircraft, a process that will speed up until we are at full
production in February, 2005."
Symphony's 2005 production schedule includes:
- Q1 2005 7 units
- Q2 2005 12 units
- Q3 2005 14 units
- Q4 2005 17 units
- Total 2005 50 units
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