The 4-place piston market is seeing some innovation and technological advances. However, many of them rely on engine technology that doesn't seem to have much room for growth and a few of them are incredibly expensive. A couple of South African companies have come up with a home-grown 4-place piston plane that could potentially make a big break into the piston market around the world. The aircraft is the SA Ravin 500 and the motor is the Adept Airmotive 320T.

You may notice that the Ravin looks similar to the Piper Comanche. That may have been influenced by the fact that the founder of the company actually owned a Comanche. He thought it was a great plane, but decided to perfect it. The result was the Ravin 500 and a smaller sibling, the Ravin 300.

The current versions of these aircraft are powered by Lycoming engines. According to the specs page on their website, 160 gallons of internal fuel tanks give the Ravin 500 a range of 2000 nm at cruise speeds just a touch short of the 200 knot mark. Those numbers are pretty amazing for a 4-place piston...part of that is undoubtedly thanks to nearly 1700 pounds of useful load (734 pounds of people and bags after filling the gas tanks.) This truly showcases the capabilities that composite construction offers.

Those numbers are made even more impressive when you look at the purchase price of 2.5M Rand, or roughly $330,000. That's right, the aircraft with these numbers costs over a hundred thousand less than an SR-22 and close to half as much as a Cessna 400. It seems that an aircraft like this could be a serious contender in any piston aircraft market...and that's with the old engine.

South Africa's Independent Online (iOL) has an article today about the teaming effort between SA Ravin and Adept Airmotive. SA Ravin is taking advantage of Adept's cutting-edge technology and the result is an aircraft that is completely designed and totally South African.

Adepts motors have a V configuration and work on any unleaded fuel except diesel. They have FADEC controls, they're liquid cooled and are fine-tuned to give the power, efficiency and reliability that we seek as pilots. The 320T model is 320 hp, tubocharged workhorse. According to iOL, Adept's 320T cruises at just over 9 gallons per hour, weighs 60kg less than the equivalent competitor's engine and could potentially increase the range of the SA Ravin to 2700 nm!

It sounds like a truly revolutionary engine, doesn't it? It isn't certified yet...they're seeking EASA certification right now. If that leads to FAA certification though, this motor could be a serious challenger to the American motor powerhouses. I'd love to see some new technology and better performance injected into that market to shake things up!

In the meantime, the SA Ravin 500 is going to enjoy the benefits of the truly impressive and efficient engine. This all-South African machine is a great new entrant to the 4-place market. Congratulations to RA Ravin and Adept Airmotive on your new partnership and your impressive results. I look forward to seeing your creations in person!