Dornier Seawings this week reported they had made a successful first flight of the New Generation Seastar twin turbine amphibian.
The Seastar is a 12-seat corporate transport/short-haul airline aircraft powered by two PT6A-135A turbo-prop engines in push-pull configuration. It has an all-composite airframe, which the company says is corrosion-free even in salt water.
The New Generation Seastar is significantly improved from the original Seastar which was designed and developed in the 1980s.
The 31-minute flight took place at Oberpfaffenhofen in Germany on 28 March, with the company reporting the aircraft flew and handled well.
“[the] first flight was completed successfully and confirmed the nice handling qualities of the Seastar," test pilot Wolfram Cornelius reported. "All systems functioned correctly. The advanced avionic system reflects the state-of-the-art in cockpit design and is a good baseline for future development.”
The avionics suite is Honeywell Primus Epic 2.0, with four 250-mm LCD screens installed in a straight line. The cabin can be configured for passenger transport, cargo or aeromedical missions.
Dornier Seawings is projecting a maximum speed of 180 KTAS, and MTOW of 5100 kg and a range of 900 nm for the New Generation Seastar.