Grob Aerospace resumed the SPn flight-test program on February 23, with acting chief test pilot Tore Reimers and flight-test engineer Alan Lawless taking to the air in prototype number one. The next prototype, number three, should fly in the second quarter, followed early this fall by number four, the first fully conforming SPn.

Prototype number two was destroyed in what is believed to be an elevator flutter accident during a high-speed pass near Grob’s airport in Tussenhausen-Mattsies, Germany, on November 29 last year. The German Federal Office of Civil Aviation gave the go-ahead to resume flight testing of prototype number one after Grob technicians performed a 300-hour maintenance check and detailed inspection on the first SPn. EASA certification of the all-composite Williams FJ44-3A-powered SPn is expected in the first quarter of next year, with FAA certification in the second quarter.