Reduces Empty Weight By 120 Pounds Compared To Fiberglass Construction

Advanced Aero Components (AAC) has announced the availability of carbon-fiber Heritage G2 and G3 kits.

Advanced Aero Components acquired the legendary Glasair 2 and 3 assets from Glasair Aviation in 2017.  The acquisition included all tooling, parts inventory and intellectual property related to the Glasair 2 and Glasair 3.

Company president Ian Baker said new aircraft overall empty weight is up to 120 pounds lighter than the fiberglass version previously supplied by Glasair Aviation and it incorporates a number of enhancements, according to a report posted on the Glasair Owners Association blog.

The G2 and G3 fuselages are the same except for several extra carbon fiber laminates on the G3. The G2 is designed to accept a Lycoming 180HP YIO-360 engine up to the 210HP YIO-390, and the G3 can be fitted with anything from a YIO-540 300HP to a YIO-580 320HP, and even a Rolls Royce M250 turbine. The cowling has been redesigned to provide more room for bigger engines, and the engine mount has been beefed up considerably. Advanced Aero has an OEM pricing agreement on experimental range of OEM engines with Lycoming, and with Hartzell.

The new G2/G3 wing is slightly wider and incorporates blended wingtips as standard which allows for increased fuel capacity and range with minimal penalty. A new fowler flap option will be available soon. Baker estimates that the average builder will be able to finish the aircraft in about 1200-1800 hours depending on the builders skill set.

All kits are considered “quick-build” as standard, but AAC will offer even more fast-build options in the future that will further reduce build times.

The G3 is offered with retractable flush-fitting gear only, while the G2 can be built as a fixed-trike or retractable gear. Advanced Aero’s machine shop in Australia is responsible for producing the improved retractable main gear which is designed without uplocks on the mains and with flush-fitting doors, with a new max gear extension speed of 150 knots. Baker says the gear doors are vastly stronger than the original version.

Pre-Oshkosh pricing for the first 20 standard basic airframe kits is set at $96,995 for the G3, and $93,995 for the G2-RG. The engine, prop, avionics, and interior and wiring are not included in the kit. Baker says the first 3 kits are available now.

AAC will showcase a new G3 kit at AirVenture later this month.

(Image from Facebook)

FMI: Source report