Textron Aviation rolled the first production SkyCourier out of the Wichita factory last Friday.
The production roll-out comes after 2100 hours of flight testing since May 2020 across three test airframes.
"Today is a rewarding day for our employees who have worked to design and build what I believe will become a legendary airplane for our company,” said Ron Draper, president and CEO, Textron Aviation.
“The SkyCourier brings an impressive combination of cabin flexibility, payload capability, performance and low operating costs to the twin engine utility segment. We look forward to this highly versatile aircraft entering the market very soon.”
The aircraft is destined for Fedex Express, which has ordered 50 cargo-version SkyCouriers with an option for 50 more. The courier compane was instrumental in the design and specification for the aircraft.
SkyCourier production uses many of the latest technology in aircraft manufacturing, including the use of monolithic machining throughout the airframe. With this technique, major assemblies are milled from a single piece of metal rather than assembled from smaller pieces, reducing the overall number of parts and resulting in a more precise tolerances for easier assembly.
The aeroplane is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-65SC turbo-prop engines and features a McCauley C779, a heavy-duty 2.7-metre aluminum four-blade propeller, which is full feathering with reversible pitch. Avionics are Garmin G1000 NXi. The SkyCourier has a 900 nautical-mile maximum range and a max cruise of 200 KTAS.
Textron Aviation is expecting full type-certification in the first half of this year, after which the first examples will be delivered to Fedex.