The FAA issued a Type Certificate May 11 for the Adam Aircraft A500 centerline twin.
The A500, built of high-performance Toray carbon fiber material, is powered by twin Teledyne Continental TSIO-550 engines. Inside the cabin, the plane features side-stick controls, airbags at the crew stations and a flight deck with large Avidyne flat screen displays and Garmin nav/com systems. Final performance numbers will include a 230-knot cruise speed, more than a 1,000 nm IFR range at 75% power, and a cabin altitude of 8,000 feet at a maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet.
Training will be provided at the factory under an FAA Industry Training Standards (FITS) training syllabus.