Schweizer Announces Receipt of the FAA Production Certificate for the S300C and S300CBi
Schweizer (HAI HELI-EXPO BOOTH C4420), manufacturer of the proven Schweizer S300, S300CBi, and S333 helicopters, is proud to announce it has received a full FAA Production Certificate to produce its iconic S300 and S300CBi helicopters.
Schweizer has been producing aircraft under a Production Under Type Certificate Approval (PUTC), which requires significant FAA oversight for each aircraft produced. The issuance of a Production Certificate (PC) removes some of the oversight and grants the manufacturer permission to manufacture the aircraft without limitations.
“This is exciting news and certainly highly anticipated by our customers around the world,” says David Horton, President and CEO of Schweizer. “With this certificate, the training wheels are off. Each aircraft will not require FAA oversight for every step of production, allowing us to increase production and reduce production time to meet our order demand. That said, we are incredibly grateful to our local FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office and Aircraft Certification Office, as despite COVID and associated supply chain disruptions, they remained very responsive to keep our production moving forward as we worked toward our production certificate.”
Schweizer received the Certificate of Airworthiness for first S300C helicopter produced under the PUTC in July 2021. Since that time, the company has overcome headwinds brought by COVID work stoppages and supply line disruptions to produce eight aircraft under the PUTC.
Four aircraft are actively in production on the Schweizer S300C/S300CBi line with more orders ready to begin production at a new accelerated pace thanks to the production certificate.
Schweizer received the certificate in a ceremony with the FAA on March 1, 2023.