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.

FMI: www.skyarrow.com