KUNOVICE – June 24, 2011 – The prototype of the new airplane EV-55M made its first take-off from  Kunovice airport in the Czech Republic today. The airplane crew consisted of Evektor test pilot Josef Charvát and military pilot Major Jiří Hána. The take-off took place at 10:55 a.m. of local time and took 30 minutes. During the flight the EV-55 reach the speed of 125 kts and the altitude of 3500 ft. “The airplane behaved exactly as we supposed – it was easily controllable and promptly reacted to the control interventions“, stated Josef Charvát.

The EV-55M is a military variant of the multi-purpose airplane EV-55 Outback which is conceived as a high-wing, twin-engine, turboprop airplane for transportation of 9 - 14 passengers or 1824 kg cargo. The airplane has the most spacious cabin for passengers and cargo in its category with the total volume of 12.5 m³ and its cruising speed reaches 220 kts at 100 flight level. Technical parameters of this airplane predestinate it for operation from short, unpaved runways, possibly from high altitude airports. High productivity and low costs of operation and maintenance represent a high utility value of the EV-55 Outback which can be used by aircraft operators all over the world. The airplane is designed especially for operators from the countries of South America, Africa and Asia with underdeveloped transport infrastructure. Among other very promising customers are companies from the United States, Brazil, Russia, India, China and Australia. The EV-55 objective is replacement of already obsolete twin-engine piston airplanes with capacity for 6 – 9 passengers and it wants to be a successful competitor for single-engine turboprop airplanes.

The EV-55 airplane will be offered in 3 versions of cabin interior arrangement: version for passenger transport, version for cargo transport and combined version (combi version) having space for cargo located in the front part of the cabin and passenger seats in the rear part. The time needed for conversion of the cabin interior between individual versions should not exceed 20 minutes.

This airplane project was initiated by Evektor company and Association of Aircraft Manufacturers in the Czech Republic in 2004. It was followed by establishment of the consortium composed of Czech aircraft industry companies and led by Evektor company. The project was, since the very beginning, financially supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic in form of a grant.

The consortium members are the following companies and organizations: Evektor spol. s r.o.; Evektor-Aerotechnik a.s.; AERO Vodochody a.s.; Alucast s.r.o.; Avia Propeller; Jihlavan a.s.; Jihostroj a.s.; MESIT přístroje spol. s r.o.; Mikrotechna Praha a.s.; PBS Velká Bíteš a.s.; SVÚM a.s.; TEAZ s.r.o, Technometra Radotín a.s.; ÚJV Řež a.s.; UNIS a.s.; Aircraft Institute of VUT in Brno; VR Group a.s. and VZLÚ a.s.

Evektor company was founded in 1991 and belongs among the leading design and development offices in the Czech Republic. It deals with design and development above all in the area of automotive and aircraft industry. The airplane developed by Evektor company include small airplanes EuroStar and SportStar designed for leisure-time flying, four-seat airplane VUT100 Cobra and the multi-purpose airplane  EV-55 Outback.

Evektor management shares this success with hundreds of employees, friends and partners, who had been working to make this flight happened. Having done the maiden flight Evektor is confident of this new aircraft future especially combined with the great interest potential customers worldwide. 

KUNOVICE – March 30, 2010 – An introduction of a new turboprop aircraft, called the EV-55 Outback, has taken place in Evektor´ s premises today. This is an important milestone on the way to the first flight which is planned for the 3rd quarter of this year.

The EV-55 Outback is a high-wing, twin-engine, turboprop aircraft for transportation of 9 or 14 passengers or up to 1,824 kg of cargo. The aircraft has unique characteristics which predetermine it especially for operation on short, unpaved runways or at high-altitude airports. Outstanding operation capability and versatility, high productivity and low operation costs make the EV-55 Outback a high value airplane for operators on the utility market. The aircraft is designed above all for the operators from the countries of South America, Africa and Asia with less developed traffic infrastructure. Companies from the USA and Canada, Russia and Australia belong among targeted customers, too. The objective of the EV-55 is to replace already obsolete twin-engine piston airplanes in operation with capacity for 6 - 9 passengers and successfully compete with single-engine turboprop airplanes which are currently on the market. Military and rescue missions including humanitarian missions are another key areas of operation.

The aircraft project was initiated by Evektor company and Association of Aviation Manufacturers of the Czech Republic in 2004 when an extensive marketing study was elaborated with the objective to find a suitable place on the General Aviation market that is not occupied by competing airplanes. It was followed by establishment of a consortium of Czech aircraft industry companies led by Evektor. Research and university institutions also became a part of the consortium. The project was since the very beginning backed up by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.

“Today, after 5 years of the effort of Evektor´s design team and the other partners, we a have officially introduced the first prototype of the EV-55 Outback. It is a completion of the first and a very important part of development not only for me personally, but also for the whole team. We realize that there is still much work ahead of us. I believe that the airplane will find its customers and will become one of a number of successful projects of the Czech aircraft industry, “ said Mr. Petr Štěrba, chief designer of the EV-55 and deputy of Evektor director.

In the course of development the careful attention was paid especially to aircraft versatility, its utility and low costs of operation and maintenance which are essential for getting a successful position on the market. The airplane will be delivered in 3 versions of passenger compartment arrangement: the version for passenger transportation, for cargo transportation and the so called combi version with the cargo compartment in the front part of the cabin and seats for passengers in the rear part. The time needed for conversion of inner arrangement of the aircraft does not exceed 20 minutes. The members of the consortium are the following companies and organizations: Evektor spol. s r.o.; Evektor-Aerotechnik a.s.; AERO Vodochody a.s.; Alucast s.r.o.; Avia Propeller; Jihlavan a.s.; Jihostroj a.s.; MESIT přístroje spol. s r.o.; Mikrotechna Praha a.s.; PBS Velká Bíteš a.s.; SVÚM a.s.; TEAZ s.r.o, Technometra Radotín a.s.; ÚJV Řež a.s.; UNIS a.s.; Aeronautical Institute of VUT in Brno, VR Group a.s. and VZLÚ a.s.

Evektor company was founded in 1991 and belongs among the leading design and development offices in the Czech Republic. It is specialized especially in development and design of aircraft and cars. The airplanes developed by Evektor include small sports airplanes EuroStar and SportStar, four-seat airplane VUT100 Cobra and above all the EV-55 Outback.

The history of Evektor-Aerotechnik company goes back to the year 1970. At the present time Evektor-Aerotechnik is one of the largest manufacturers of light sports airplanes in the world having sales network in 40 countries of the world and the fleet of more than 1,000 delivered airplanes represented by popular models of the EuroStar and the SportStar. In addition to EV-55 Outback production Evektor-Aerotechnik also supplies aircraft parts and production jigs for the projects of the European aircraft industry; in the past for example share in deliveries for Aero Ae270 and Aero L-159 programs or assembly line production for manufacturing additional tanks for Marshall Aerospace within the scope of the Boeing B747 program.

The project of the all-new EV-55 has achieved another key milestone: on December 16 and 17, 2009 engines were started up for the first time at Kunovice airport (LKKU). Engines and propellers performed properly. This is first but important step on the way to the first flight which is sheduled for the 1st half ot the 2010.