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The new version of the kitplane will be accessible for a larger range of people wishing to build an aircraft structure themselves from preformed and pre-cut components. Aviatech Image
Aviatech Products R.C. and its partners have announced the launch of the Super Cyclone Kitplane 2.0 project, a technical improvement of an aircraft kit that the company has been manufacturing for several years.
Estimated at nearly $300,000, the project will allow the company to offer a much more technological version than the actual kitplane. Easier to assemble, the new version of the kitplane will be accessible for a larger range of people wishing to build an aircraft structure themselves from preformed and pre-cut components.
“We have noticed over the years that the complexity of assembling the current kitplane and the limited technical support could complicate the task for a non-experimented person. In partnership with University of Quebec in Chicoutimi (UQAC) and our financial supporters, we are working on making major technological improvements to the kit, facilitating the assembling and developing a technical guide, which will allow buyers to build the totality of their aircraft without requiring professional services,” said Aviatech Products R.C.’s CEO, Carl Duguay., adding the Super Cyclone, a reconstitution of a Cessna 185, is by far the best bush plane on the market.
The project
For a duration of two years, the project will be divided into four stages. During the first stage, a mechanical engineering student from UQAC will design several plans of different parts of the aircraft to build by using a 3D scanning of an assembled aircraft or drawings.
In the second stage, Aviatech Products R.C. will identify which changes have to be done to the kit in order to facilitate the building and assembling of the pieces, reducing component manufacturing cost as well as improving the overall performance of the aircraft.
After making the identified changes to the kit, new 3D designs of all parts will be realized along with drawings of the modified manipulations. The company will then use 3D drawings of the components to make new drawings to show partial assembling.
Finally, a technical text describing all manufacturing steps will be written which, added to the technical drawings, will form a complete easy-to-follow document. The manual will be complementary to the kitplane and will be available for buyers.
Valued partners
In addition to UQAC, Aviatech Products R.C. benefits from the involvement of numerous valued partners, such as Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, the city of Alma, the Lac-Saint-Jean Local Development Centre and Aluminium Valley (via Rio Tinto funds for Aluminium Valley).
The university also receives financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), which will financially support the project for a minimum of six months.
The manufacturer plans on delivering the first components within the next year, including the wings—an aspect which, according to Duguay, will bring happiness to hundreds of Canadian and American pilots who have shown high interest towards the kitplane’s new version.
Significant benefits for the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean area are anticipated, such as the development of highly qualified staff in the field of aeronautics and the creation of new aluminum product applications.
