Sino Swearingen Touts SJ30-2 Sales

Sino Swearingen's expanding dealer network has reportedly placed 18 firm orders and 5 options for the SJ30-2 business jet, now nearing the start of FAA certification testing.

Kelner Aviation of Thunder Bay, Ontario says it ordered five firm and five optional aircraft; Sino Swearingen Monaco claims orders for eight SJ30-2s; and Deep Blue in Lensburg, Switzerland is said to have ordered five.

Sino Swearingen rolled out the first of five conforming SJ30-2 prototypes this summer, and company chief Jack Braly says first flights are slated to begin "sometime in the next days and weeks."

The company expects FAA certification at the end of 2001, upon completion of a 1,400-hour flight test program. Though the SJ30-2 has existed in various forms for years, the latest model is different enough to warrant a fresh start.

"The FAA wouldn't allow us to check the boxes with that airplane," Braly says. "So five aircraft required for the [Part 23] test program are under construction--three flying prototypes and two static test articles."

Sino Swearingen says it's conducting functional tests of the first prototype's electrical, hydraulic, fuel and flight control systems this week, to be followed by engine runs, ground vibration tests and high-speed taxi trials.

Once certification is achieved, SJ30-2 production will shift to the company's new plant in Martinsburg, WV. The first production assembly--a forward fuselage--is slated to arrive in Martinsburg before the end of this year.

Two Williams Rolls FJ44-2A turbofans will power the seven-seat SJ30-2 to Mach 0.80 or better, Braly says, with 2,500-nmi NBAA IFR range and a ceiling of FL490.

With the latest orders, Braly claims commitments--unrefundable $75,000 deposits--for 175 SJ30-2s, a backlog worth around $800 million if all options are exercised.