After completing all ground testing, the Seawind 300C received its flight permit and took to the sky over Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Canada, for certification flight testing.
The Canadian National Research Council (NRC) will perform the flight test piloting under the direction of DAR Chief Test Pilot Robert Erdos. The flight analytical work will be performed by John Taylor, who recently retired as vice president of engineering at Bombardier.
The Seawind will be manufactured at the company’s 82,000-square-foot manufacturing and hangar facility at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Airport in Quebec, Canada.
The flight test aircraft was piloted on its first flight by Paul Kissman, and the NRC’s Harvard chase plane was piloted by Anthony Brown, both of whom are NRC test pilots. The initial flight lasted about an hour, as Kissman got familiar with the amphibian.
After a debriefing, the Seawind was flown to Ottawa, where the full flight testing program will be conducted.
“It will take about four weeks for the NRC to install the flight test instrumentation, after which full flight testing will begin,” said Richard Silva, president. “We are looking forward to the completion of flight testing and the start up of production. We have a backlog of over 50 customer orders.”
For more information: Seawind.net or 610-917-1120.
