Adam Keeps Coming Up With Surprises

04.01.05 Special Edition: Adam Aircraft Surprised a majority of the aerospace world, Friday, with the announcement that they intend to certify as many as 11 new aircraft in the coming weeks, "now that the A500 and A700 are so very, very close to certification."

Among the eleven aircraft is a space vehicle (above) that has been certified as a new derivative of the original A500 piston engine aircraft design. According to Adam Aircraft's Rick Adam, Richard Branson/Virgin has purchased 250 on a virtual handshake deal from Nekkar Island.

A new Light-Sport Aircraft will be based on the A500, using lightweight spruce and a pair of Rotax 277 engines. Multiengine and single engine versions of a composite seaplane using the A700 fuselage mounted on an aux fuel tank (as the pontoon) are expected to be certified, "within days."

Adam also notes that they have received a "great deal" of interest in a proposed A700-based non-stealth UCAV from the Pentagon... "though we can't say much about it for National Security reasons."

"Rumors of no one wanting to fly any Adam aircraft have no bearing on the creation of this product", says Joe Walker, President of Adam Aircraft. The other six newly certified aircraft are also variants on the A500 and A700 design and include a novel A500 biplane and A700 triplane.

"There is an 80% parts commonality among all the aircraft, making line extensions incredibly simple," said Rick Adam. While neither the original A500 nor the original A700 were in the list of eleven aircraft, Adam confirmed that this is "simply a matter of convenience because of the strong market demand for the space vehicle and the UCAV. The A500 and A700 have completed all certification testing and thus are, in effect, virtually certified."

FMI: www.adamair.com