Three newly certified single-engine planes that have been out of production for eight years took flight Monday as Tiger Aircraft LLC officially entered the aviation industry.
Backed by a consortium of Taiwanese investors, the company has labored on the four-person AG-5B plane for nearly four years, breaking ground for a home at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Airport in August last year. That's like four days or four weeks in other industries, said Senator Jay Rockefeller, who brought the Taiwanese to the project.
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The first planes, certified by the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, "help us do what President [George W.] Bush so rightly wants us to do -- open up opportunities for people to enjoy themselves," said Rockefeller.
Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, called the Tigers classic airplanes and predicted demand for them will grow.
The first three are destined for dealers in Philadelphia, Houston and Evansville, Indiana.
Boyer, who represents 380,000 pilots, said may soon turn to small, easy-to-maneuver planes like the Tiger to avoid the complex security procedures and long lines at many commercial airports.
Tiger Aircraft currently employs 65 people and plans to hire another 35 by the end of the year. It can produce eight planes a month, each one consuming 1,200 hours of labor.
The planes, which sell for a base price of about US$220,000, weigh about 585kg empty and can hold 52 gallons of fuel. Its top speed is 260kph and it cruises at 2,550m with 75 percent power.
Tiger Aircraft Chairman and CEO Bob Crowley said the planes were first made by American Aviation in the 1960s. Gulfstream Aerospace made them from 1976 to 1979 but production stopped when the company shut down.
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