Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

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Matt Thurber

SST Flugtechnik, an EASA-certified design organization, has filed for insolvency. The company is the type certificate holder for the Extra 400 and 500 single-engine airplanes and provides support for the few that still operate. It also develops modifications for special-mission and other aircraft.
Nine Extra 400s and no Extra 500s are shown on the FAA registry. Designed by Walter Extra, the piston-powered Extra 400 is a high-wing composite airplane that was FAA-certified in 1998. A turboprop version, the Extra 500, received an FAA type certificate in 2013, but it’s not certain whether any were ever delivered. According to Wikipedia, “In 2014, the company sold the design rights to the EA-400 and -500 to the Chinese company Jiangsu A-Star Industry.”
Extra Aircraft is a completely separate business, manufacturing unlimited aerobatic airplanes including the EA-200 and -300 series, the most recently certified being the EA-330SX.
Germany’s local court of Memmingen has appointed Matthias Hofmann of law firm Pohlmann Hofmann as provisional insolvency administrator for the SST Flugtechnik case.
“Following an initial assessment, we are in close contact with the company’s management and employees and with EASA. Our main focus is to find an investor in the short term in order to secure the future of the company,” said Hofmann. “If no solution is found in the next few days, operations will probably have to cease at the end of February.”

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Extra 400/500 Type Certificate Holder Files for Insolvency

German company provided support for the few that had been manufactured

Germany’s local court of Memmingen has appointed Matthias Hofmann as provisional insolvency administrator for the SST Flugtechnik insolvency case.

Extra 400/500 Certificate Holder Files for Insolvency

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