Beechcraft Denali To Certify In 2025 The long delayed Beechcraft Denali has commenced Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification testing. The clean-sheet aircraft was anticipated to enter service in 2023 but issues with the new GE Catalyst powerplant powering the new aircraft served to derail that timeline. Additionally, Beechcraft decided to add Garmin's Autoland as standard equipment which will take-up extra time.
The timeline has been pushed back to 2025 and they are still pushing the current testing regime as they go. In fact, there are three test articles which have accumulated approximately 2,000 hours across 830 flights. "We have three prototypes flying with more than 830 flights, and we've accumulated almost 2,000 hours on these three aircraft," Lannie O’Bannion, Textron Aviation’s senior v-p of global sales and flight operations, told reporters during a briefing at the company’s Wichita headquarters last week. "We continue to talk to the test pilots and they are just amazed with this aircraft and its performance."
Although testing is advanced O'Bannion is still being tight-lipped about performance figures and they won't release them until they attain certification. So for now we have to stick with the initial projected figures for the Denali which include a full-fuel payload of 1,100 lbs, maximum cruise speed of 285-knots and range of around 1,600 nautical miles carrying up to 9 passengers. Of course the aircraft can be configured as a cargo variant. The aircraft, once in service will give some competition to other turboprop singles like the TBM of Daher and even the PC-12 of Pilatus. For more information: Cessna Aircraft Company 1 Cessna Blvd. Wichita, KS 67215 www.cessna.com ***
