Sun Jan 02, 2005 1:05 am
#149397
LATEST ARV NEWS!!!
After lengthy negotiations, some ARV owners have at last successfully persuaded the CAA to allow ALL CAA registered ARV Super2 aeroplanes to move onto a PFA Permit.
Of the 35 or so ARVs produced in the UK, about a dozen are on the CAA register. Some of these CAA ARV aircraft have been languishing unused for some time, their owners frustrated by the non-existence of either factory airframe parts or Hewland engine parts.
This new development means that all ARV Super2s can now be kept airworthy. Some of the former CAA ARVs will no doubt be re-engined; but some owners may chose to "stay original", but upgrade their Hewland engines with new parts.
The Manchester-based owners of the Hewland assets are said to have increased the output of the 3-cylinder inverted liquid-cooled two-stroke engine from 70 to 90 bhp; and this should transform the performance.
Two alternative engine options are: the ubiquitous Rotax 912/912S/914 family (a known quantity, if a bit heavy and rather pricey); and the flat-four air-cooled Jabiru engine (which has recently benefitted from a power increase from 80 to 85 bhp). A handful of existing ARVs also use the Mid-West twin-rotor **** which is light, smooth, powerful and compact; but I don't know if this unit is still available from the new Austrian owners, Diamond.
This move from CAA register to PFA Permit should really invigorate the ARV Super2 world; and since the ARV is also to be produced again in the new Opus factory in the USA, it seems that there is now a great future ahead for the ARV Super2.