A New French Entry Into The Single-Engine 4-Place Business Arena

By Geoff Sobering

Cobalt Aircraft of Toussus-leNoble, France brought their prototype Co50 aircraft to AirVenture. The Co50 is a single-engine, canard, airplane targeted at the US business market. The Co50's planned $650k price places is solidly in the same niche as the SR-22 Turbo, DA-50, and similar aircraft. The Co50 has 4+1 seating, accommodating four adults with the rear-seat center arm-rest usable for a child. The cockpit has side-sticks and a single-lever FADEC throttle with a mechanically programmed propeller linkage with a "best power" and "best economy" selector. Power is provided by a twin-turbocharged TCM TSIOF-550-D2B producing 350 hp, driving a Hartzell three-blade aluminum propeller. Cruise speed at 75% power is expected to be 220 kn, with a best-efficiency cruise of 202 kn at 55% power. Maximum range is predicted to be 1150nm with a ceiling of FL250.

Cobalt Prototype

The first flight of the prototype is scheduled to start in the late fall of this year, with certification starting by the end of 2010. The Co50 will be initially certified with the FAA, but it has been designed to meet EASA requirements for European certification in the future. FAA certification is expected to take two years, with a first customer delivery in about two and one-half years. Marcellette Cloche, of the Cobalt marketing department, emphasized that their business model is not predicated on large number of initial orders or sales. She went on to say that Cobalt is not at AirVenture looking for orders, but mostly to raise awareness of the airplane in the GA community. Cobalt is also looking for US distributors. Production will be in the US, although the plant location has not been determined.

3+1 Seating Configuration

The structure of the Co50 is different that the typical stressed-skin monocoque structure. A spine of carbon-fiber and structural-foam takes the main loads from the wing spar, rudders, and engine. The fuselage is therefore a much lighter fiberglass structure with only one ring-frame aft of the doors and bulkhead behind the cabin. This design contributes to the 1874 lb empty weight, and the 1213 lb useful load. Instead of the usual wing-tanks, all the fuel is carried in one tank below the cargo area. This simplifies both the wing structure as well as plumbing and fuel management.

FMI: www.cobalt-aircraft.com