South Korea Next to Make a Bid for Piston Single Market

All recessions aside, the piston single market has been doing pretty well for the last few years. Cirrus has come from nothing to lead the pack in just over a decade and other big names like Cessna, Piper, Mooney, Beechcraft and others are working to keep pace. Flightglobal.com notes that Korea Aerospace Industries has taken note of this and is developing their own piston single. Although it sounds like they're just getting started, the plane will be impressive if it can perform as promised.

The specs and characteristics page at KoreaAero boasts an aircraft with a 240 kt max speed, 1320 nm range and 1100 pounds of payload. This is brought to you by composite construction, a laminar flow wing and Teledyne Continental's newest FADEC engine: the TSIOF-550.

They're definitely a bit behind the power curve bringing this product to market, but they may be able to run in the SR22, Cessna 400, Mooney Acclaim crowd if they can make good on their promises. They must also be looking at markets outside the US. It'd be a lot easier (read: cheaper) to get a plane from Korea to China or India than it would from the states. The reduced wait times and better proximity for parts/maintenance support could certainly help out.

KAI isn't some upstart. They've been producing military trainers, including jets, and other aircraft for quite a while. That means they shouldn't have as many of the funding issues and start-up hurdles to deal with as a lot of companies face. Again, this should help keep costs down.

I'm looking forward to seeing what KAI comes up with on this project. Good luck with your development and testing!