When you fall off a horse, get back on. That's what we're told will be happening as early as mid-week, at ANN Sponsor Sino-Swearingen, where the fast, high-flying SJ30-2 will start more test flights next week.

An ANN News-Spy, well-placed enough to be believable, gave us enough information that we knew we'd need to check it out. We called Gene Comfort, Sr. VP of Marketing, to ask what was up. "You've got a better news-spy than I do -- you guys are really good!" We knew we were on the right track.

Not only will the quick machines be flying again; the test-flight program will re-start, on a higher level. Gene told us, "The testing will be stepped up; we'll soon have two airplanes flying. S/N 4 is being fitted right now with data test equipment. We'll fly it again, calibrate the equipment, and get back into test mode in earnest. We will be in 7-day-a-week, day -- and night -- testing." There are plenty of 'routine' things to test, in a night program. "At night, we're going to do things like cruise, fuel burn, cross-country testing," he told us.

There's plenty more to do. We understand from our spy network that there's going to be as many as 1500 hours more of testing. Gene continued, "S/N 4 will be our aerodynamic test aircraft. This particular airplane will do stalls, the V-tests, and so on. We're not going to do any modifications, until we establish baselines. Tests will include maneuverability, altitude, and so on."

Second test machine to be airborne soon:

S/N 3, another flight test machine, is virtually ready to fly, we're told. "They put things on, they take them off -- it's virtually complete. All the wiring is in the airplane; the panel ready to go in," Mr. Comfort told us. "They're installing it momentarily." That machine will be used to test avionics, systems, pressurizations tests -- anything that's not aerodynamic.

There's massive data collection going on; channel after channel of important data will be recorded, and relayed. The telemetry is relayed to the home base, as well as to the dedicated mobile unit; engineers are right on the truck during flights; and there's usually a flight test engineer aboard,
too.

We learned that S/N 5, previously designated as a customer aircraft, is at Martinsburg (WV), with the fuselage and wings under construction. The major components are then shipped to Texas.

The final assembly takes place in San Antonio, where they start with a 'raw fuselage' -- no windows, no doors, no empennage, no leading-edge slats, ailerons, lights, etc. Texas plant workers put the big parts into a jig, and start adding parts. Gene told us, "I don't know the exact date when it [number 5] will go into the air. This machine will be used for avionics, pressurization -- and other systems, if needed."

Mr. Comfort had to get back to work, but our brief talk led him to make one more comment, that shed light on what goes into a comprehensive flight test program. It's not just all the things that need to be done -- it's getting them all done, in the right sequence, in the shortest practical amount of time -- while making sure there's enough time not blocked out, to attend to the essential other tasks -- inspections, maintenance, and so on. He said, "The flight test program -- the planning process is amazing. It's astounding, all the things that need to be considered."

Then, you have to sell that 'better mousetrap.'

Sino-Swearingen's veep gave us a glimpse of the near future: "We're really aggressive on this test program. We've had people in our company, all the way to the top -- they have committed to financing aggressively; they're with us, 100%.

"Salability, including fractional ownership, government, fleet, and charters worldwide -- all these markets look good."

Expect to hear a lot more from Sino-Swearingen, once some of the new test data start to download...

FMI: www.sj30jet.com