Hi Mike (and others!)
You have hit the nail on the head but I'm not sure whether you are
right when you claim that established glider factories would take
fewer
man hours to bring out a new design. Only few glider pilots do not
know that the JS1 fuselage was molded of an ASH 26. This was initially
denied by the Jonker brothers but they have finally agreed to pay
royalties to Schleicher. The case is settled now.
But back to certification!
The extremely rigerous EASA type certification process represents a
huge cost burden on manufacturers who in turn have no choice but to
pass these costs on to the gliding community as a whole. But the
exponential increase in regulation over recent years has not only
increased
cost but has also considerably delayed the introduction of new models.
The South African based manufacturer has circumvented this process by
'certifying' his glider in Africa. This, of course, is nowhere near as
costly, time consuming and rigerous as EASA and FAA certification.
Consequently it reduces the costs for putting a new aircraft on the
market quite considerably.
This might initially be welcome news for potential customers but it
will have the same negative impact on the resale value as other owners
of
uncertified aircraft have experienced. It is also unclear to me how
such matters as ADs or other service difficulties are promulgated and
efficiently dealt with.
The point I'm trying to make is that an African certification is not
recognised in other parts of the world. It is my understanding that
forign
certifications can only be recognised by GFA and/or CASA if they are
either issued by EASA and/or FAA. Therefore I'm still unsure how
such aircraft can be legally operated in countries like Australia.
Can anyone enlighten me, please?
Kind regards to all!
Bernard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia."
@lists.internode.on.net>
To:"Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia."
Cc:
Sent:Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:18:59 +1000
Subject:Re: [Aus-soaring] GFA Site/accident
At 11:22 PM 25/04/2012, you wrote:
Gliders, in comparison to say modern airliners are relatively simple
machines - just ask the boys in South Africa who developed the
JS1.They are reputed to have put in over 70,000 total hours to get to
official Type Approval!
I'm not sure what this has to do with anything but that number of
hours may be right including all R&D, setting up a production facility
etc. including dealing with the bureaucrats. That's 35 to 40 people
for a working year or 7 to 8 people for 5 to 6 years. Sounds about
right. Last I heard they were still getting screwed by the Europeans
over EASA certification. From their website
http://www.jonkersailplanes.com/index.php?pageid=84 [1]
Read between the lines.
An established glider factory would take far fewer man hours to bring
out a new design.
Also there's this about certification :
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/aero-2012-slash-new-aircraft-costs-to-lure-pilots-says-gama-371036/
[2]
Can't say a bureaucrat's OK is worth much to me.
BORGELT INSTRUMENTS - design & manufacture of quality soaring
instrumentation since 1978
www.borgeltinstruments.com
tel: 07 4635 5784 overseas: int+61-7-4635 5784
mob: 042835 5784 : int+61-42835
5784
P O Box 4607, Toowoomba East, QLD 4350, Australia
@lists.internode.on.net>
Links:
------
[1] http://www.jonkersailplanes.com/index.php?pageid=84
[2]
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/aero-2012-slash-new-aircraft-costs-to-lure-pilots-says-gama-371036/
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