Hang around general aviation airports long enough, and you’ll probably run across someone with a beautifully restored classic airplane, one they might have found as a wreck in someone’s garage or even in a barn. That scenario means the chance to save some significant money making an airplane fly again, assuming, of course, the new owner has the patience to survive the restoration efforts. These kinds of classic finds are usually limited to an old Aeronca Champ, or a Piper Cub or maybe an antique Taylorcraft. But a pressurized, single-engine turboprop…never. At least until now.
Brian Foley & Associates recently discovered the Interceptor 400 that was being “carefully stored in obscurity on a farm in Wichita, Kansas.” Not only is the actual Interceptor 400 airplane for sale, but so are the airplane’s FAA type certificate, drawings, jigs and tooling. “Shortly after the Interceptor 400 was certified and a few built in the 1970s, the manufacturer had some liquidity issues and ceased production,” Foley said in a news release. “Compounding this, the aircraft was ahead of its time, certified a decade before the appearance and market acceptance of single-engine turboprops.”
The Interceptor 400 could fit nicely between products like a Cirrus SR22 and the TBM 900 turboprop series. The aircraft seats four and is powered by a single Honeywell TPE331 turboprop engine capable of producing 840 shp. The 400 cruises at 244 knots with a maximum speed of 266 knots, at altitudes up to 24,000 feet and carries a 900 nm range.
Foley thinks many aircraft manufacturers will find the design and tooling to be an interesting way to extend their current product offerings for personal travel or as a turbine trainer for companies that also produce jet aircraft—all without the (conservative) $100 million clean-sheet design cost. The deal also includes the shared type certificate and tooling for the Meyers 200 piston-powered aircraft, of which over 100 were built with many still flying today. Currently owned by Interceptor Aviation, the Interceptor 400 package is being marketed by AvStrategies.
