Adam A500 Is A Star!

Adam Aircraft President Joe Walker announced in a press conference Thursday at AirVenture that fans can see the company's A500 model in Miami Vice, a Michael Mann production to be released nationwide tomorrow. "Aside from Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, one of the other stars in the movie is the A500," said Walker, with an almost embarrassed grin.

Mann has a reputation for featuring exotic hardware in his television and movie productions -- think Ferraris and cigarette boats. Company founder and CEO Rick Adam said the A500's styling captured Mann's imagination, with the resultant request use the aircraft in the movie coming last year.

"Aside from starring in the movie, Mr. Mann assures me that there will be some spectacular aerial cinematography shot both of and from within the A500," said Adam.

Adam and Walker presented the company's production report card before making the big movie announcement. As exciting as the movie news is, the company's progress toward production of its A500 piston and A700 jet aircraft should electrify fans and prospective customers alike.

Since delivery of the first A500 at last year's AirVenture, Adam has begun production at a rate of one aircraft per quarter, and is on track to increase to 2 per month by the end of 2006. Their order backlog has grown from $400 million last year to nearly $800 million now. They have 7 A500's in the air accumulating over 4000 hours on the fleet. Serial number 9 is slated for a September delivery, with numbers 10 through 20 in production. The company expects to make between 50 and 60 deliveries next year.

Progress on the A700 continues apace as well. With the A500 program firmly in a groove, Adam decided to half its work staff while doubling that of the A700 program. The A700 benefits from 65% parts commonality and 90% supplier commonality with the A500, which should greatly reduce certification time and costs.

Additionally, Walker presented a certificate to Chief Turbine Test Pilot Kan Sasine for a record flight set in the A700 on a flight from Denver to Oshkosh on July 7th. The run took just 2.62 hours at an average speed of 348+ mph!

Adam brought an A700 with a completed interior and ANN was able to sneak a few pictures. Suffice to say, A700 customers should be more than satisfied!

Earlier this year Adam announced it's partnership with Jet Support Services Inc. (JSSI) to provide an exclusive "tip to tail" maintenance cost guarantee program. The costs announced at last year's NBAA convention were affirmed at AirVenture, and should make prospective buyers look twice. Maximum guaranteed hourly maintenance costs are $250 for the A500 and $350 for the A700. When factoring the warranty, hourly costs will be even lower for the first two years.

Overall a truly "stellar" report for Adam!

FMI: www.adamaircraft.com