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.