Jack Pelton, former Cessna CEO and interim EAA president, now is leading a new general aviation business consortium that aims to promote and sell remanufactured aircraft. The Aviation Alliance’s first product is called the Excalibur, which combines the fuselage of a Cessna 421 with two Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135A turboprop engines, an all-new interior, and Garmin avionics, for about $2.5 million. “We’ve assembled a who’s-who of aviation leaders and resources on this team to ensure both our mutual success and our customers’ satisfaction,” said Pelton. A prototype of the Excalibur will be flying this summer and deliveries will start later in the year, Pelton said.
Barely into 2013, the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, launched the season for general aviation shows. Focused on light sport aircraft, the event aims to draw serious buyers looking for a chance to kick the tires and go for a test flight before buying an LSA of their own. Organizers said attendance was better than last year, despite damp and windy weather that kept some airplanes on the ground. The show also offers a chance to check out new products before they’re unveiled at Sun ‘n Fun, with new ADS-B gadgets and a real-time airplane tracker among this year’s introductions. Officials said about 258 LSA aircraft were sold worldwide in 2012.
