Twin booms and push/pull engines set the Adam M–309 apart
When it comes to new aircraft development projects, there's a giant chasm right in the middle of the general aviation market. Cirrus Design and Lancair have shown that new single-engine piston projects can succeed. At the top end, Eclipse, Safire, Raytheon, Sino Swearingen, and others are hard at work on brand-new twinjet designs. But in the middle there's a vast emptiness - or there was until last year when Adam Aircraft Industries stepped forward with a new piston twin design meant to capture the middle ground.
The Adam M–309 - as it has been called during development - recently received a new name as a result of a "name the plane" contest conducted this spring over the company's Web site. The name, CarbonAero, reflects the airplane's all-carbon-fiber construction. Two people who each entered parts of the name were to be honored at EAA AirVenture 2001 in July. The M–309 model number emerged because the airplane is the 309th model penned by Burt Rutan, who was tapped to do the initial design work and build the proof-of-concept airplane. Meanwhile, work on the Adam project is moving forward as the company completes the preliminary design stage, a task that had a June deadline.
When you see the Adam proof-of-concept airplane you'll possibly confuse it with only one other general aviation model, the Cessna Skymaster. Cessna built the twin-boom, push/pull twin from the mid-1960s until the early 1980s. It was a controversial airplane. Cessna hoped it would forever solve the engine-out problems found on conventional twins. Pilots with multiengine ratings earned in the Skymaster received a centerline thrust restriction, and were limited to flying only that model of twin. It did solve the asymmetric thrust issue when an engine is lost on a conventional twin, but it suffered from the same lethargic single-engine climb rate problems common to other twins. The setup introduced another problem: Without the asymmetric thrust to clue a pilot into which engine was lost, sometimes the wrong engine was shut down at the worst possible time. That happens on conventional twins too, but it seemed even more prevalent on the Skymaster, or Mixmaster, as it was often dubbed. When the general aviation airplane business tanked in the early 1980s, the 337 was one of the first models dropped by Cessna.
So why would someone resurrect the idea of a centerline-thrust twin? Because the design does have a lot of safety merit, and many who own and operate Skymasters have found them to be tough, reliable airplanes. One such owner was George F. "Rick" Adam Jr. A civilian pilot, graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, and a former Air Force captain, Adam has owned many airplanes over the years, including a Skymaster. The one-time general partner with Goldman Sachs and Company later founded a very successful and fast-growing company called New Era of Networks in Colorado. He recently sold the company to Sybase Inc., where he remains a general manager. He currently owns and flies a Cessna CitationJet. The immaculately restored Douglas DC–3 in which he is a partner is just for fun.
While he enjoys the other airplanes, he still misses flying a simpler, personal airplane such as the Skymaster. In observing the general aviation market he noted the success of Lancair and Cirrus at the lower end of the market and the emerging technology in the jet line, but was frustrated by the lack of progress in the middle. A relatively new pilot - he learned to fly in 1992 - he was also struck by the lack of progress in aviation. "My yardstick is in computers," he notes. He wrote his first computer program in 1964 and has been a part of the wild computer revolution from the beginning. By contrast, aviation advances, particularly in general aviation, seem glacial. "I sought an opportunity to dramatically increase progress in aviation. Where can I make a contribution? I saw that opportunity in the light twins."
We called on Rutan to draft the initial aircraft. Typical of Rutan designs, this one is all composite. The resulting Adam CarbonAero is way more than a Skymaster ever hoped to be: projected maximum cruise of 250 knots, normal cruise of 220 kt, and an economy cruise of 190 kt - all at 20,000 feet. The pressurized Skymaster struggles to cross the 200-kt threshold. With 250 gallons of fuel, the production M–309s should range as far as 1,500 nautical miles at economy settings. Out front and out back will be turbocharged Continental TSIO-550s, each managed through a single lever connected to a full authority digital engine control (FADEC) system. The engines will produce between 300 and 350 horsepower. Pressurization will keep the six-seat cabin at an altitude of 8,000 feet at the maximum operating altitude of 25,000 feet.
The proof-of-concept (POC) airplane built by Rutan has flown more than 130 hours over the past 15 months. Rutan is still a consultant to the company, but company President John C. Knudsen runs the day-to-day operation. Like Adam, Knudsen hails from the military. He flew A–6 Intruders and A–4 Skyhawks during his naval career and logged more than 150 aircraft carrier landings. He finished his military stint flying P–3 Orions in the Navy Reserves. Prior to working for Adam Aircraft, Knudsen was an attorney with a law firm in Denver and served as a trial counsel for the FAA. The Army is also represented at Adam. Thomas E. Wiesner, vice president of sales and marketing, is an Army helicopter veteran. He holds a fistful of civilian ratings and was previously president of Rocky Mountain ExecJets, a Denver-based fractional jet ownership company. Cecil Miller, chief operating officer, has had a distinguished career with several general aviation companies, including many years as vice president of operations and vice president of manufacturing for Raytheon. He most recently was vice president of operations at Cirrus Design, where he helped that start-up company finish its certification efforts and set up manufacturing.
Adam Aircraft houses its staff at a new office and hangar facility located on Centennial Airport near Denver. The 55,000-square-foot building includes a large hangar where the next three M–309s will be built for certification purposes. The company plans to build a factory elsewhere on the airport. The certification process should wrap up in the third quarter of 2003, with first deliveries following a short time later.
Adam is among the first manufacturers to participate in the FAA's new Certification Process Improvement program. Under the CPI program, airframe manufacturers involve the FAA earlier in the design development process rather than later. In addition, the manufacturers are free to a greater degree than usual to hire approved consultants with expertise in particular areas - called DERs (designated engineering representatives) - to assist in the certification. Since the FAA authorizes the DERs, the agency tends to approve their work more expediently than it does information submitted directly from the manufacturer.
The POC airplane built by Rutan has shown the company that its performance numbers appear to be valid. It also showed a single-engine climb rate of 500 feet per minute, which is much better than most light twins can manage. However, experience with the POC has driven a number of changes, including moving the cockpit 18 inches forward and moving the cabin door ahead of the wing root. This will provide even greater cabin space. The door will be an airstair affair rather than a clamshell. At least one of the twin booms will house baggage compartments capable of carrying skis or golf clubs. Pilots will appreciate the trailing-link landing gear and the side-stick flight control system.
In late March, the company filed with the FAA for its type certificate. It plans to begin producing parts for the next airplane this month and to make a decision on what avionics suite it will use later this year or early next year. Whatever the choice, it will come standard with a glass cockpit. Garmin and Goodrich are the front-runners for winning the cockpit display and avionics competition, according to Rick Adam.
The entire airplane will be built of carbon composites. The company intends to employ the latest composite manufacturing techniques to help it hold down production costs and weight. Among the technologies being investigated is co-curing, which allows complex, multipart pieces to be cured all at once. As a result of this process, the entire 42-foot CarbonAero wing will be essentially one piece.
Through the use of this technology, Adam officials hope to keep the price of their airplanes very competitive. And it appears that they have been successful. The price for the first 20 was set at $695,000. Another piston twin, the Beech Baron, routinely sells for more than $1 million. The next block of 10 CarbonAeros, carry price tags of $725,000 each. Units in that block were still available at press time. Prices for units beyond number 30 have not been set. However, Knudsen says the company's goal is to sell the airplanes for far less than $1 million.
But in this day and age when other manufacturers seem enamored of light-jet engines, why not at least a turboprop engine? Knudsen says price and complexity are the reasons. The cheapest turboprop engines are $200,000 each. "Our major market is the owner-pilot. People are comfortable with piston engines. They want a twin, but they want it to be controllable if they lose one. We have that airplane."
To secure a delivery position, the company requires a $25,000 refundable deposit. An additional deposit of $25,000 is due at the first flight of the conforming prototype, which is planned for the summer of 2002. Once certification is achieved, another $50,000 is necessary to maintain the delivery position. The deposits, with 4 percent interest, are refundable at any time, but they are not held in an escrow account. The company uses the deposits as general funds.
Many companies, particularly start-up companies, hold deposits in escrow to give buyers a better sense of security. Adam Aircraft is not doing that because it has no intention of not building the airplane, says Wiesner. "We have no debt," he continues. "All we have are assets. If for some reason we were not able to move forward, the sale of assets would more than pay back the position holders." Rick Adam is funding the entire start-up of the company and perhaps the balance as well. "We're not looking for investors," says Wiesner, "we're looking for partners. We believe our early customers can be our partners by providing valuable feedback and insight as we develop the airplane."
