Extra Aircraft has received approval form the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the Avidyne Entegra Release 9 integrated flight deck in the German-built Extra EA-500 single-engine turboprop. The certification allows IFR day and night operations in EA-500s fitted with the Entegra Release 9 upgrade.
The EA-500 is a turboprop version of the Extra 400 six-seat single built at Extra’s 64,000-square-foot production facility at Dinslaken Airport near Dusseldorf. The EA-500 is powered by the Rolls-Royce 250-B17F/2, flat-rated to 450 horsepower. With full fuel and at 75 percent power, the airplane has an initial rate of climb of 2,000 feet per minute and a takeoff roll of under 1,000 feet. The optimum cruise level is FL 180 where, with a true airspeed of 230 to 240 knots, operators are seeing 23 gallons per hour fuel flow. The range with 45-minute reserve is close to 1,700 nm.
The airplane is currently certified only in Europe by EASA, but can achieve U.S. registration with some additional cost. Purchase price is less than $2 million.
“We are excited to have our Entegra Release 9 system as the flight deck on the EA-500,” said Dan Schwinn, Avidyne’s founder. “Extra’s high-performance business-class aircraft is a perfect match for the Release 9 system, which was designed specifically to make single-pilot IFR flying safer and easier.”
