SN006 Going To Company Co-Founder

If all goes to plan, the first production Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 business jet will be delivered this week... to one of the aircraft's namesakes.

The San Antonio (TX) Express-News reports Morris Douglas Jaffe Jr. -- the "J" in the plane's moniker -- will take delivery of SN006 later this week,16 years after he teamed with Ed Swearingen to develop a high-speed, long-range bizjet.

"It's only been 16 years," Jaffe said. "It's been a white-knuckle ride, but it's almost there."

Even the phrase 'white knuckle ride' may not do the SJ30's development justice... as the aircraft has seen its share of teething difficulties.

A need for additional funding eventually led Swearingen and Jaffe to a lopsided partnership with the Taiwanese government. Today, Taiwan owns nearly 90 percent of the company -- despite calls from one Taiwanese lawmaker for the company to be shut down unless it secured additional outside funding.

Earlier this year, Sino Swearingen laid off 150 employees between its San Antonio headquarters and its fabrication plant in Martinsburg, WV due to production problems. The news came shortly after the company announced plans to invest more than $20 million on a 220,000-square-foot production facility in San Antonio.

Things have been on an upswing lately, however -- as last week, Sino earned its certificate of airworthiness from the Federal Aviation Administration.

"This COA culminates over 10 years of research, design, construction, flight test and certification efforts by the employees of SSAC," Sino-Swearingen CEO Ching-Chiang Kuo said. "A true testament to the design of the SJ30 lies in the fact that there is no other aircraft in this class that outperforms the SJ30 despite the length of time it has taken to bring this plane to market."

Jaffe says he paid $6.19 million for his seven-passenger jet back in December. He'll use the plane for his business, Jetran International Ltd. The plane will replace a Lear.

FMI: www.sj30jet.com