No one can accuse Kestrel Aircraft of lacking ambition. The company unveiled a revised cabin mock-up of its in-development, all-composite single-engine turboprop over the summer. It features an executive interior nearly as opulent as what would be found in a new $40 million corporate jet, resplendent with high-gloss wood veneers, upscale leathers, a wide aisle and oversized oval cabin windows reminiscent of a Gulfstream. Basically, everything a traditional turboprop is not. All this in an airplane that is expected to hit the market with a price tag around $3 million.
The interior design is largely the brainchild of Kestrel industrial designer Ray Mattison, who cut his teeth in the business working at Cirrus Design on the SF50 Vision jet. Mattison said the executive layout, with a spacious club-four passenger grouping aft of the cockpit, is just one of nine interiors Kestrel is developing for the aircraft. The others will accommodate missions as diverse as medevac, cargo and a high-density configuration for eight passengers. “It’s a very flexible cabin,” said Mattison, and “we hope that one cabin design will accommodate different seating layouts.” The cabin will feature a seat tracking system that will facilitate quick changes between configurations.
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