The first approval of two airplanes in one stroke awarded the first SLSA certificates for an Australian design (other than the Jabiru engines already approved). You can read my report on J250 in the December 2005 EAA Sport Pilot.
And then we had 20…SLSA approvals, that is. Jabiru’s Pete Krotje announced his company had received not one but two FAA airworthiness certificates for J250 and the new J170. The latter is aimed at the flight training market. Smaller than the J250 which has an enormous baggage area — being based on the the four-seat J400 — the J170 is based on the proven two-seat Jabiru, the Calypso. It will be powered with the company’s four cylinder, 80-hp 2200 engine. Smaller, yes, but J170 still has a broad 45-inch cabin with plenty of headroom. The J170 is big in other ways, too, with a 562 pound useful load and a whopping 35 gallons of fuel (which may not all be used in training applications). Meanwhile J250 is your cross country cruiser with room for all your gear and able to cruise easily at SP/LSA’s 120-knot speed limit.
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