Wingspan 20 m | Length 16 m | |
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The Indonesian Aerospace N-219 is a twin-engine, 19-seater transport aircraft designed by Indonesian Aerospace for multi-purpose missions in remote areas. It is intended to operate in and out of remote, semi-prepared airstrips; suitable to conditions in Indonesia's archipelago.
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Design and development
The N-219 was developed from the CASA C-212 Aviocar and, like that design, is also of all metal construction. It is claimed that it will have the largest cabin volume in its class (6.50 x 1.82 x 1.70m), along with a flexible door system to allow a multi-purpose missions for transporting passengers and cargo. The aircraft is designed to comply with FAR 23 (commuter category aircraft) and will be certified in 2016, with the first deliveries scheduled for 2017. Indonesian Aerospace has also planned to have a first roll-out of the N-219 aircraft on 10 August 2015 to coincide with the Indonesia's National Technology Day. Foreign certification will be pursued later with the help of EADS CASA. The initial price was forecast to be US$4 million each, while the predicted development budget was about $30 million for 15 aircraft. The forecasted price was later adjusted to $5 million.
Due to funding shortages loans for US$65M to develop the N-219 were procured from the $1B Qatar-Indonesia Joint Investment Fund in 2006.
In June 2011, the Industry Minister requested that the Indonesian government provide Rp.59 billion (US$6.9M) to complete the N-219 prototype. Budi Darmadi, Director General of the Industry Ministry's Advanced Technology-Based Seed Industry indicated he believed that the aircraft has good market potential, due to the age of most other aircraft in its class.
The total market for the N-219 was forecast as 97 civil and 57 military aircraft. In August 2013, the company announced that they had secured an order for 100 aircraft from Lion Air for delivery in 2016. On 13 April 2015 three memoranda of understanding were signed between the manufacturer and Nusantara Buana Air for 20 aircraft with ten on option, with Aviastar Mandiri for 20 aircraft with ten options and with Trigana Air Service for ten aircraft with five options.
The roll-out of the N-219 to the public was scheduled for 10 November 2015, after many delays, but, this was delayed indefinitely, due to the unavailability of President Jokowi to officiate.
In November 2015 one prototype had been completed, but an official roll-out had still not been carried out, nor had flight testing commenced.
Officials announced that the prototype had been completed in early 2016. It was scheduled to make its first flight at the end of 2016, however, due to technical issues the event was postponed. Indonesian Aerospace stated that they were "busy" and were trying to complete other orders on helicopters and aircraft, which caused the production line to be "overloaded".
On August 2016, officials stated that the prototype of N219 had entered its testing phase in order to get its certification. Airbus Industrie stated that they would help the certification process.
On 23 January 2017, the aircraft's first flight was again postponed until March 2017. This plan was later cancelled and it was re-scheduled to occur in April 2017. According to officials, the aircraft's wiring and landing gear design were the cause of the delays.
Specifications
Data from Manufacturer
General characteristics
Performance