Aircraft
T-prop single starts life as P Navajo piston twin
Converting a piston twin into a turboprop single may seem like a bizarre idea, but an international team of technicians and engineers in Russia and Switzer

Converting a piston twin into a turboprop single may seem like a bizarre idea, but an international team of technicians and engineers in Russia and Switzerland has combined its expertise to produce just such a transmutation. [Beech created the Lightning experimental prototype in the mid-1980s by placing a Garrett TPE331 in the nose of a Baron 58P airframe.–Ed.]

Encouraged by growing market acceptance of single-turboprop executive aircraft designs and aware of the demand for low-cost but reliable air transport in the former Soviet Union, Intracom  in 1998 set about developing an innovative solution. The combination of a proven airframe with a turboprop engine widely used in eastern Europe and Russia was perceived to be an attractive way to bring a new design to market relatively quickly.