Aircraft
SPn certification date could slip again
Grob Aerospace is facing the possibility of a further delay to the certification of its new SPn light jet.

Grob Aerospace is facing the possibility of a further delay to the certification of its new SPn light jet. During the first week of this month, the German manufacturer will be re-evaluating the status of the flight-test program to decide whether to push back the target of completing type certification by the end of next year’s second quarter.

Delays of around two to three months to the first flight of the third prototype SPn have meant that it was not expected to fly until the last few days of last month, at the earliest; more likely this milestone could slip to next year. Last year’s crash of the program’s second prototype resulted in a nine-month delay for certification, which was originally targeted for the end of this year’s third quarter.