Huge Order for Quicksilver SLSAs

Quicksilver yesterday announced the sale of 77 of its recently certificated S2SE model, an open air ultralight style airplane constructed with aluminum tubing structure and sailcloth covered wings. Quicksilver, the most prolific ultralight manufacturer in history, has produced kits (and some completed airframes) for 15,000 aircraft since the 1970s.

The deal is with the Provincial Government of Guanxi and JH Nanning Group for what Quicksilver calls the "development of aviation" in southern China. The first S2SEs will go to a new university under construction that will offer flight training and other aviation related courses to a planned 16,000 students.

The airplanes will be manufactured in the United States and assembled in China. If all goes as planned, the deal will ultimately lead to manufacture of the light sport model under license by Chinese factories. It is a first step, a Chinese official said, toward China designing and building a new generation of aircraft designed, manufactured and assembled in China.

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