A step forward in what has been viewed as a stop-start development program for the Mistral rotary aircraft engine was announced today. The company says preparations are underway to begin flying the three-rotor engine on a Maule MX-7 testbed in Florida.
“We are extremely pleased with the progress that our engineering and development team has made in recent months on the G-300 engine,” said Philippe Durr, CEO of Mistral Engines. “We have the engine mounted on a Maule MX-7 flight test aircraft and it is currently undergoing ground power tests at our U.S. base in DeLand, Florida.”
In addition, the company says that alongside the flight-test program that “the engineering team is about to successfully finish the structural testing in the U.S.” Engine endurance tests are also scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year.
“Because of our confidence that we will receive FAA type certification for the G-300 within the year, we will be accepting advanced delivery preorders for the experimental version of both the G-200 and G-300 engines beginning at AERO Friedrichshafen,” Durr said. “We are already in active talks with a number of world-class aircraft overhaul facilities about obtaining FAA Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) for our engines on popular general aviation aircraft.”
The Mistral G-300 is a normally aspirated three-rotor, liquid-cooled engine with proprietary FADEC (full-authority digital engine control) and a gear-type prop reduction drive. The last time we had a firm price for the engine was in 2006, and that was $35,900 for the 230-hp turbocharged, two-rotor G-230TS and $31,500 for the 190-hp normally aspirated G-190 two-rotor.
For more information, visit Mistral’s website.
