26 September 2008
UK-based Farnborough Aircraft, the company behind the Farnborough F1 Kestrel is now in administration.
Plans for the six-seat single-engine turboprop design, created by Richard Noble (the man behind the Thrust SSC world land speed record), were first unveiled some ten years ago. It was planned as a means to single-handedly invent air taxi operations in Europe. It claimed to be an aircraft ‘optimised to be the best possible combination of breathtaking speed, comfort, utility and affordability’.
Only one prototype has ever been built – in the US, under the Experimental category. It first flew in 2006. More recently, attempts had been made to raise finance in the Middle East. The most recent estimate had been that first deliveries would be made in 2010.
The aircraft was recently seen in public at the Farnborough Airshow. We understand that there are several parties interested in buying the project.
<b><i>FLYER</i></b> flew the aircraft quite recently – see our report in the October 2008 issue of the magazine.
