June 11, 2003
PAC 750XL Update
Greetings,
Certification
The CAA Flight Test Audit was completed on May 11, 2003.
The Flutter testing was completed in New Zealand by PACS Engineering of California, on May 27,2003.
There will be a final one day CAA audit on June 13, 2003 and, no doubt, some final adjustments, placards, questions, answers.
However, all paperwork must have a finite end, and PAC is looking to June 30, to have it all wrapped up.
Because of the strong sales of new Cresco's into the Australian skydiving marked, PAC is also certifying the XL to meet the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority
(CASA) requirements.
This places the PAC engineering staff in the unenviable position of certifying the PAC 750XL with three distinctly different government aviation authorities, almost
simultaneously. ( An you thought getting your jump door approved was hard !) CAA, FAA and CASA.
Meanwhile, while this is in progress, PAC is completing non-certification details for the skydiving, passenger and cargo markets. The jump door, exit/camera step, floater
rail and cabin rails are being completed. The passenger/cargo door will be more conventional, and is in the pipe.The oxygen system and IFR certification are work in
progress plus the anti-ice system is in the planning phase.
Air-condition is being engineered into the heating and ventilation system as well as the new seating arrangement for ten passengers.
Sales
Mike Finch, the PAC Sales Representative, has been hard at work writing orders for the Cresco's, and the PAC 750XL's. Several Chieftain operators are keen to move into
the PT6 powered XL's. The Cresco's have proved that if you can keep two Lycomings and the landing gear fed and happy, you can definitely afford the Pacific Aerospace
Turbines. You can either pay the Bank for a few years (while making a nice little profit). Or alternatively you can pay the Bank, the maintenance shop, the engine shop, the
prop shop, the radio shop, and pray you don't have an engine make metal or have a gear up landing, forever.
Regulations
April 2003, saw the signing of the second phase of the FAA/CAA Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement ( BASA ) in Wellington, NZ. As I understand it, the key point of this
agreement is that it allows each agency to recognize the technical and engineering data of the other. Applied to airworthiness, this agreement is very good news for Pacific
Aerospace Corporation,UAC and the skydiving industrry. It means that the FAA will recognize the CAA's Type Certificate, greatly streamlineing the whole US certification
process.
This BASA is "work in progress" and I am lead to believe that over time the scope of the BASA will be expanded to include STC's and licenses.
This agreement is part if the FAA's strategy of unclogging the certification pipeline in the US. The FAA has long been criticized by the US aviation industry for placing
undue burdens on manufacturers on items that have no bearing on safety. The effect of this roadblock has been to slow down new technology and raise the price of new
products.
Skydiving
The Skydiving Industry here, in the US, saw a slow-down earlier this year but is undergoing a nice recovery this summer.
MORE SALES
We are taking orders.
Give us a call, send us an e-mail, we will be glad to show you how the PAC 750XL will fit into your operation.
The PAC 750XL is designed to MAKE YOU MONEY.
Regards
Philip Esdaile
Utility Aircraft Corporation
PO Box 1235
Woodland, CA 95776
USA
(530) 750-3226
www.utilityaircraft.com
