San Antonio, Texas, USA – Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation (SSAC) announced today that the first SJ30 customer type rating has been issued by the FAA. The type rating was issued to Mr. Hamish Harding, Chairman of Action Aviation, SSAC’s distributor for much of Europe and the Middle East.
Sino Swearingen recently received FAA authorization to conduct in-house flight training for customers seeking SJ30 type ratings. The course is FAA authorized for both two-crew and single-pilot operations. The type rating course consists of a minimum of 48 hours of classroom instruction and up to 26 hours of flight training. With initial SJ30 customers, flight training is provided in a company supplied aircraft but a fully capable level D simulator is planned in the future.
Mr. Harding, who holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate and is already type rated in Citation jets, commented, “The Sino Swearingen flight training course was carried out in a professional and efficient manner. Even though the course details are still being ironed out, those small issues were more than compensated for by the privilege of learning so much about handling the SJ30 from Sino Swearingen’s top test pilots. The SJ30 is a magnificent aircraft to fly. I was impressed with the performance that I saw in the real aircraft – high speed cruise of 486 knots and range of 2500 nm are both easily achieved, which is much better than any other light jets I have flown. In fact the SJ30 climb speed is faster than the high speed cruise of some other light jets. But even with all this performance, the SJ30 still has very manageable Vref approach speeds of around 105 knots, thanks to leading-edge slats and large trailing-edge flaps. Overall, I have found the SJ30 no harder to fly than the Citation CJ1 that I am used to flying”.
Bob Kromer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing said, “We are thrilled to see the first SJ30 type rating issued to one of our first retail customers. It’s quite a milestone as we transform ourselves from an engineering and development company to one that delivers and supports customers and their airplanes. During the flight test program, the Sino Swearingen team worked very hard to develop an aircraft with predictable and straight forward handling qualities, while offering our customers levels of performance simply never before available in the light jet market. We’ve redefined the price/performance equation for light jet operators and offer it in an airplane with predictable and honest flying qualities. We’re very proud of that.”
The SJ30 is a high performance light jet with a range approaching 2,500 nautical miles and is capable of cruise speeds up to .83 Mach or 486 KTAS. The SJ30 is certified for single pilot operations and a sea level cabin altitude can be maintained up to 41,000 feet due to the aircraft’s 12 psi cabin pressurization differential.
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