Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirador
According to its maker, US Aircraft Corporation, the A-67 Dragon is scheduled for release in late 2008. However, the whole aircraft had to be be redesigned after experiencing landing gear failure, for which the makers teamed up with the designer of the EMB-312 Tucano. The A-67 Dragon now looks a lot more like the Tucano. US Aircraft Corporation will be working with Geometra in Brazil and the aircraft will be based on the General aviation aircraft Kovacs K52 (which happens to look a lot like the EMB-312 Tucano). According to industry sources, the aircraft is expected to cost between $4 and $5 million a copy vs. Raytheon’s T-6 which goes for between $6 and $8 Million a copy. the A-67 Dragon will be powered by a 1,250shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turboprop, having a 10,200lb gross-weight, and an estimated maximum cruise speed of 381kt (706km/h) at 20,000ft. Endurance will be 10h and external payload 3572 lbs.
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The U.S. would rarely buy a plane that is not "American made," so it sounds to me like they're basically going to try and sell a version of the Tucano through an American partnership, so that it can be considered "American made". I suppose the U.S. will be financing and otherwise heavilly involved in any planes sold to Iraq and Afghanistan, so it could be Embraer is trying to get an "American made" designated version for that as well..
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You know when your going to buy a new computer of a particular model and the price they generally quote you is for the basic/generic variety with a basic oparating system and other software, ..is that 6-8 million for the basic version of the plane, i.e. no advance avionic or weapons ..or perhaps just the pure trainer variety?
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