19.02.2007: Certification inspections for Antares 20E self-launchers
Having sucessfully certified the Antares 20E, the already finished aircraft are now brought up to certified condition, and are undergoing certification inspection. This work is performed on multiple aircraft simultaneously, and one aircraft is finished each week.
Many Antares owners also use this chance to upgrade their aircraft to the latest series state. This includes exchanging the onboard 12V battery with a DC-DC converter and the addition of an improved fairing at the intersection between fuselage and vertical stabilizer. These modifications can be performed with a reasonable amount of work, because new designs for the series production are made with retrofitting in mind. It is our experience that this increases the already high customer satisfaction.
However, all this work being performed means that we are getting close to our capacity limits. As can be seen clearly on the picture, all the work being performed on new and existing aircraft means that the volumetric capacities of the final assembly hall are fully used.