Vulcanair is looking forward to the first flight of its VF600W prototype, pending the Italian authorities releasing temporary documentation. This follows a six-week delay from the original schedule. Marketing manager Gianni di Stefano told EBAN: “The VF600W Mission is a completely new aircraft. This has meant that since 1999 the company has been involved with a huge number of activities, while the manpower has ‘only’ increased by 125 per cent (from 80 to 180 people). So considering that the average development of a new aircraft normally lasts something like 12 years, I think we’re on time.”

The aircraft has so far been in development for over three years. Di Stefano explained: “In early 1999 an SF600 Canguro fuselage was used as a base for the development of the Mission, in order to reduce the cost and eventually the final price. In fact, the Mission’s fuselage comes from the Caguro’s but with some variants due to the latest developments in structural technology.

“In addition, the engine is mounted on the nose, which means the cantilever and lighter wing

add a different amount of stress to the fuselage.”

The Naples-based company believes that the VF600W will be attractive on the market because of a cheap price, low DOC and a constant and square fuselage section. The aircraft’s closest competitor is the Cessna Caravan, although Vulcanair’s aircraft will be considerably cheaper. Di Stefano was quick to defend the claim that the aircraft may steal future business from Cessna: “As my old boss used to say, with hard work we can simply enlarge our slice of the pie by making the whole pie bigger. So hopefully all the slices will keep growing bigger and bigger.”

The marketing manager declined to comment on how many aircraft had been ordered. He added: “So far we’ve had no problems at all in developing a new aircraft; I think it’s all a matter of guessing what the market needs.”