New variant with wheel tail expected for warbird market (270 words)

Published: 2/13/2001

Romanian producer Aerostar privatized in February of last year, has sold its first IAK-52W aerobatic trainer into the Australian market with an order placed by Camden, New South Wales-based Red Star Aviation Pty Ltd. The aircraft, which was delivered during the summer of last year, is being displayed at the Australian International Airshow, Avalon (February 13-18) by Red Star Aviation, which is the agent for Australia and New Zealand for Aerostar. The IAK-52W is the Aerostar-designed westernised version of the standard Yak-52, over 1,800 of which have been produced by Aerostar since 1976. According to Lindsay Sinclair, Managing Director of Red Star Aviation, it is the westernised features, which makes the aircraft attractive to the Australian market. " The extra range and baggage capacity in particular, are important new attributes for the Australian market where the aircraft is in demand as both an aerobatic trainer and for warbirds enthusiasts ". A new model of the IAK-52W is also close to being launched. The IAK-52TW is a variant with a tail wheel and specifically targeting the warbirds enthusiasts market. Also close to finalization is the Aerostar-01, an ultralight airplane, developed totally by Aerostar and due to be launched in the next few months. Aerostar has stated that it is keen to develop a new civil aircraft in cooperation with a foreign producer, but as yet such a partner has still to be identified. There have however been extensive collaborations on the military side of the business, the most recent being with Elbit and EADS on the upgrade to the MiG-29 called the Sniper.

Article ID: 2352