Let'sgoflying!
Touchdown! Greaser!
Found myself unexpectedly in San Antonio yesterday and was looking around for something to do. I saw on another forum someone else looking for the same and the Sino Swearingen factory was mentioned - now that's right up my aisle, so I called them asking about a tour somehow without revealing that I would never have enough personal assets to even qualify for a loan for one of the interior light bulbs on the a/c let alone a whole jet....and they graciously agreed!
http://www.sj30jet.com/
We got a great guided tour by the gentleman who is charged with the task of commencing a flight training program for the new SJ30 they are developing. So far they have built about 7 of them. They make the wings, fuselage in WV and truck them here to ksat for assembly on the NE side of the field. You can see one plane just got back from Wa where it was for icing certification and is still painted up and rigged out with probes, sensors and cameras. Apparently the ride with the FAA was a sphincter-clencher as they inadvertently entered severe.. but they were able to stay clean. This airplane we were allowed to sit in the cockpit. It was pretty stripped out, no interior and a couple of tech seats in the back with computers and test equipment attached. The cockpit is no different in general size than the CJ, although there is a LOT less glass. Seems like the front window is about 6" high - definitely not designed for sight-seeing! There were a couple of Honeywell flat panels but we didnt get into the details of it much.
Mach.83
2500nm range
certified to 490, can hold sea level cabin to 410
has very similar engines as the CJ, FJ44s
leading edge slats, carrier a/c style landing gear, a neat flying strake instead of a typical yaw damper, I think he said 14,500ramp weight.
After the tour we dined at the Salt Grass, pretty nice, then a late pm departure home in the CJ (KSAT, Bowie 3 departure to JCT then direct in clear skies and setting sun) and a night flight to elpaso and back in the turboprop
http://www.sj30jet.com/
We got a great guided tour by the gentleman who is charged with the task of commencing a flight training program for the new SJ30 they are developing. So far they have built about 7 of them. They make the wings, fuselage in WV and truck them here to ksat for assembly on the NE side of the field. You can see one plane just got back from Wa where it was for icing certification and is still painted up and rigged out with probes, sensors and cameras. Apparently the ride with the FAA was a sphincter-clencher as they inadvertently entered severe.. but they were able to stay clean. This airplane we were allowed to sit in the cockpit. It was pretty stripped out, no interior and a couple of tech seats in the back with computers and test equipment attached. The cockpit is no different in general size than the CJ, although there is a LOT less glass. Seems like the front window is about 6" high - definitely not designed for sight-seeing! There were a couple of Honeywell flat panels but we didnt get into the details of it much.
Mach.83
2500nm range
certified to 490, can hold sea level cabin to 410
has very similar engines as the CJ, FJ44s
leading edge slats, carrier a/c style landing gear, a neat flying strake instead of a typical yaw damper, I think he said 14,500ramp weight.
After the tour we dined at the Salt Grass, pretty nice, then a late pm departure home in the CJ (KSAT, Bowie 3 departure to JCT then direct in clear skies and setting sun) and a night flight to elpaso and back in the turboprop
