Adam Aircraft completed a successful series of tests at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. "Overall, the Eglin effort met all testing goals and provided an abundance of data that will help ensure the highest level of performance by the A700 in a variety of adverse...
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Adam Aircraft completed a successful series of tests at the
McKinley Climatic Laboratory at
Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
"Overall, the Eglin effort met all testing goals and provided an abundance of data that will help ensure the highest level of performance by the A700 in a variety of adverse weather conditions," said Tom Bisges, senior vice president-engineering and program management.
During the five day testing exercise, the
Williams FJ-33 engines were exposed to freezing fog, freezing rain and blowing snow to evaluate the ground performance of the engine inlet anti-ice system under extremely harsh environmental conditions. The anti-ice tests, conducted for
FAA certification credit and critically evaluated, were completed satisfactorily and will form the initial part of the overall Powerplant Operating Characteristics and Airplane Anti-ice Protection certification effort, set for completion later this year. The testing also involved exposing the aircraft and all of its systems to temperatures as low as -40F evaluating the effects of cold on the flight controls, avionics, ECS, engine starters and other critical systems.
"The aircraft performed very well during these extreme tests, including successful battery starts of the engines at the -40 degree limit," said Bisges. "These low temperature tests were primarily for company development and the results will be used to formulate improvements to be certified as part of the Hot and Cold Weather certification testing which will also be completed later this year."
Adam Aircraft achieved numerous successes in 2007. The company's primary focus continues to be completing
FAA Type Certification for the A700 very light jet (VLJ). Milestones for the A700 certification program included FAA Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) and the addition of three new flight test articles into the flight test program. The A700 certification program continues to be on track for completion this year.
Adam Aircraft also implemented the new Make Production Fly (MPF) program. In order to achieve high rate production, the company made the decision to slow production of the A500 in order to stream-line the process. "Building the best airplane possible for our customers is paramount and we are making sure we have the right processes in place in order to build a complete product that exceeds expectations,” said Adam Aircraft President Duncan Koerbel. The new MPF allows us to accomplish this objective." He called 2008 a pivotal year in acheiving company goals of successfully ramping up and bringing the its propeller-driven A500 to market and achieving certification of the A700.
Accomplishments achieved by Adam Aircraft in 2007 include:
• A700 S/N 3, the first fully conforming prototype, flew for the first time on April 9
• A700 S/N 4 followed with a first flight on August 24
• A500 25,000 ft certification was received on September 17
• A500 certified Traffic Avoidance System and Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System was certified in September
• The newly implemented MPF program experienced success through the development of several new large tools to build wing and fuselage structures with greater repeatability
• A500 S/N 15 is experiencing a 50 percent reduction in man hours as a result of the new MPF process
• FAA Type Inspection Authorization (TIA) to begin FAA flight testing on the A700 for certification credit was issued November 30
• Completion of the expansion into the new Ogden, Utah facilities
• Successful completion of company environmental tests on the A700 at Eglin AFB
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