You may have read about the restoration of the Windecker Eagle, the first composite airplane to be designed and certified under Part 23 regulations. The Windecker team says the airplane should be ready to fly this month and Wei Hang, the Chinese entrepreneur who commissioned the restoration, has decided to start up production for the single-engine piston airplane in China.
Hang purchased two Windecker airframes for the restoration project along with the production certificate and has started building two manufacturing facilities in China: one in Chengdu and one in Tongliao, where the airplanes will eventually be built. Hang plans to market the airplanes that for the budding aviation market in Asia. Whether the airplanes will also be reintroduced to the U.S. market has not yet been determined.
The airplane currently in restoration in Mooresville, North Carolina, will be test flown by flight test pilot designated engineering representative Len Fox before it is dismantled and transported to China, where it will be used for marketing purposes.
The avionics and other equipment that will be installed in the new airplanes have not yet been selected, but a company representative said plans are for the airplanes to have state of the art gear with several avionics options, including glass.
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