First Flight Planned Sometime This Summer

The light-sport aircraft company Evektor rolled out what it says is a new generation turboprop aircraft, the EV-55 Outback, at its factory in Kunovice in the Czech Republic March 30th. The first flight of the airplane is planned for the 3rd quarter of this year.

The EV-55 Outback is a high-wing, twin-engine, turboprop aircraft which can be configured to carry 9 to 14 passengers, or up to 4,000 lbs of cargo. The aircraft is designed for operations on short, unpaved runways or at high-altitude airports. While Evektor says the primary target market for the aircraft is operators in countries like South America, Africa and Asia where there is less developed infrastructure.

Evektor says it hopes the EV-55 Outback will compete with twin-engine piston airplanes with a capacity 6 to 9 passengers, as well as single engine turboprop airplanes which are currently in production. The company says the airplane will be a good fit for humanitarian, military and SAR missions.

The aircraft project was initiated by Evektor company and Association of Aviation Manufacturers of the Czech Republic in 2004 with the objective of finding a niche in the General Aviation market not already occupied by existing airplanes. It was followed by establishment of a consortium of companies from the Czech aircraft industry, managed by Evektor. Research institutions and universities also became a part of the group. From its inception, the project has been supported by a science and research program from the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

“Today, after 5 years of the effort of Evektor´s design team and the other partners in consortium, we a have officially introduced the first prototype of the EV-55 Outback. It is a completion of the first and a very important part of development not only for me personally, but also for the whole team. We realize that there is still much work ahead of us. I believe that the airplane will find its customers and will become one of a number of successful projects of the Czech aircraft industry, “ said Mr. Petr Štìrba, Chief designer of the EV-55 Outback and deputy director of Evektor.

As the airplane was developed, significant attention was paid versatility, utility and low cost of operation and maintenance. The company plans Passenger, Cargo and Combi versions of the airplane,the latter of which would combine a cargo compartment in the front portion of the cabin, and seats for passengers in the rear.

FMI; www.evektor.com/outback.