Moscow-based Tekhnoavia, an aircraft design house, delivered two piston SM-2000s in December and one turboprop SM-2000T last month. The trio of aircraft went to a Russian customer.

Formally registered with a Myachkovo air club, the piston aircraft are used for training and recreational flying, while the SM-2000T is being flown from Moscow to Ufa and other destinations. The SM-2000 first flew in August and made its public debut at the MAKS 2003 airshow.

Currently operating under Russian Experimental certification, awarded after 60 hours of test trials, the SM-2000T is on its way to acquiring certification to FAR Part 23 equivalent standards in Hungary. Earlier, Tekhnoavia gained Hungarian approval for its SM-92 Finist and SM-92T Turbo-Finist utility airplanes.

Tekhnoavia said it has secured firm orders for five SM-2000Ts. The second SM-2000T will go to the same Russian customer next month, while a UK client is scheduled to take delivery of two SM-2000Ts by June. The turboprop single, a low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear, is aimed primarily at the CIS market. It features hydraulic landing gear, all-metal wings with electric flaps, an anti-icing system, weather radar, autopilot, GPS nav and satellite communications. The aircraft can operate under IFR and perform aerobatics. With an mtow of 5,630 pounds, the turboprop can carry four passengers 702 nm at 10,000 feet at 238 knots. Use of onboard oxygen allows for 864-nm flights at 20,000 feet. Production is established at the Smolensk aircraft production plant in central Russia.