Dave Siciliano
Final Approach
Flew up to Ada today while doing some practice instrument work and visited with George and Tim over lunch. Afterward, George showed me through the shop and update me on some of the things they are doing.
Of course, first and foremost is the Cirrus turbo kit. If you don't know the story, Tim seemed to be the one that saw the need and pushed for the development of the turbo. They did the R&D on their own and retrofitted a couple planes with the system. The folks at Cirrus noticed, flew down for demo flights and began ordering kits. GAMI has delivered about 35 to date: the factory installs them.
George is always entertaining and always has great lunch stories! He thought back about the Aeorstar and how it was designed (he was there for some of the design work) and wondered why no one retrofitted one with jet engines. The plane was dive tested to 300 knots indicated; skin is thicker than needed for the recips; and George thought a great retrofit VLJ if some of the quirky systems would be redesigned. Still much better than beginning from scratch.
We discussed a lot of other things, but it's always great to visit with these folks and talk planes. Even when you think you know a lot, these folks make you feel like a novice.
Best,
Dave
Of course, first and foremost is the Cirrus turbo kit. If you don't know the story, Tim seemed to be the one that saw the need and pushed for the development of the turbo. They did the R&D on their own and retrofitted a couple planes with the system. The folks at Cirrus noticed, flew down for demo flights and began ordering kits. GAMI has delivered about 35 to date: the factory installs them.
George is always entertaining and always has great lunch stories! He thought back about the Aeorstar and how it was designed (he was there for some of the design work) and wondered why no one retrofitted one with jet engines. The plane was dive tested to 300 knots indicated; skin is thicker than needed for the recips; and George thought a great retrofit VLJ if some of the quirky systems would be redesigned. Still much better than beginning from scratch.
We discussed a lot of other things, but it's always great to visit with these folks and talk planes. Even when you think you know a lot, these folks make you feel like a novice.
Best,
Dave