Last year at Sun ‘n Fun Joe and Chris Gagliano, a father-son aerospace design team from Titusville, Fla., unveiled their design for a pusher prop inverted V-tail Light Sport Aircraft. This year they returned to report the proof of concept model has flown, and quite successfully.
“The proof of concept model is a full-sized aircraft,” explains Joe Gagliano, the father of the father-son team. In addition to being co-founder of Advanced Aero, he’s also project manager and test pilot. “We made the first flight in January and we were pleasantly surprised. The aircraft handled extremely well and was surprisingly like a jet as it was so smooth. Because of the design there was no vortex coming off the propeller that touches the fuselage and tail.”
The proof of concept model sports a metal wing, a composite fuselage and a carbon fiber boom and stabilizer. The boom keeps the aviation impaired from accidentally walking into the propeller. The aircraft also includes a BRS parachute system for extra safety. The cockpit measures 48 inches wide, making it one of the wider LSAs on the market.
Over the past several months the company has been taking orders for the aircraft. Last year at this time, it had about 160 orders on the books. This year it is looking at more than 340 orders, including five from a flight school that is looking at the design to replace its Cessna 152s.
The price of the aircraft will be in the $45,000 to $65,000 range.