2 February 2016
VIDEO The 12-passenger twin turboprop Dornier Seastar amphibious aircraft is to go into production. The all-composite airframe will be made by the Canadian factory of Diamond Aircraft.
The Seastar is an impressive aircraft powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop engines mounted in tandem above the fuselage. It cruises at 180kt and can operate in waves up to two feet high. It can also operate from land with retractable tricycle landing gear.
“We’re excited to be producing the airframe for the Dornier Seastar,” said Peter Maurer, President and CEO of Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. (Canada).
“It is a sophisticated and substantial aircraft with an MTOW of over 10,000lb and capacity to carry two crew plus up to 12 passengers. Thanks to its unique design features the Seastar is superior in every important measure such as speed, range, endurance, direct operating cost, to name a few.
“While the large fuselage and one-piece wing are bigger than the typical Diamond components, our production of similarly sized structures for the D-JET program and other contracts, gives us the experience and ability to complete this challenging task.
“Although the Seastar is entirely different than any Diamond model, there are significant similarities in design philosophy and production methods that make this an excellent fit.
“Both Diamond and Seastar aircraft designs feature no-life-limit composite airframes with failsafe and redundant design concepts. Both are produced using low temperature, out-of-autoclave curing processes for better field reparability and both take a similar overall design approach to safety.”
https://youtu.be/hn9sDDNjKfQ
Dornier selected Diamond to manufacture the airframe for several reasons, the German company said.
“Diamond was responsive to our needs, has the necessary experience, resources and facilities and their airplanes are known for their high build quality,” said Dr Albert Halder, President and CEO of Dornier Seawings GmbH.
“We will work very closely with Diamond, with our specialists resident at Diamond’s London facility to oversee the progress, support tooling and process development, and to provide engineering and production liaison with our team in Germany.”
The initial contract calls for the manufacture of ten airframes, with options for subsequent units. The first flightworthy components are in production, said Diamond, with delivery of the first airframe to the Dornier Seawings facilities in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, for final assembly and completion, scheduled for Q2 2016.
