Found Aircraft Canada received FAA certification for its Expedition E350 on Dec. 23. Drew Hamblin, the company’s director of marketing and sales, described it as “an early Christmas gift from the FAA.”
The type certification includes day and night Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) for the E350 tricycle gear aircraft, as well as for the E350 with Aerocet 3400 and 3500L floats installed. Introduced at AirVenture 2007, the Expedition E350, described as a “hybrid combination of cross-country and STOL aircraft” by company officials, is a successor design to the Found Aircraft Bush Hawk-XP.
“Certification of the E350 is the culmination of over two years of development by our dedicated team of employees and suppliers who worked hard to make this day happen,” said Hamblin. “The Expedition was designed to be the true meaning of a high performance, flying SUV and the undisputed heavy-hauler in its class.”
Judging from its specifications, the Expedition may just be “the most versatile piston aircraft in the world,” as the company claims. It offers STOL performance and features rugged landing gear allowing it to operate from short, unprepared airstrips. It has a full fuel payload of more than 900 lbs, which means it can carry four passengers and 100 lbs of baggage for 700 nautical miles. “That kind of flexibility in loading means that E350 owners will not have to choose fuel over friends when planning long cross-country flights. The Expedition will do exactly what its name means: an extended journey undertaken by a group of people,” Hamblin stated.
Production of the E350 started in December with first deliveries scheduled for the first quarter of 2009. Each aircraft is built to order, with options including the new Garmin G600 glass panel and Flight Dynamic’s EVS-100 forward looking infrared camera. Construction utilizes a steel tube frame with carbon fiber and aluminum skins.
For information: ExpeditionAircraft.com
