FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE-THE DISCOVERY 201 By Willie Bodenstein On 17 July 1997 the Avia Accord 201 a twin engine twin boom aircraft designed by E. Maslov of Russia's Avia Aircraft took to the sky for the first time. Like all Russian aircraft the 201 is a rugged, versatile utility aircraft, designed to deliver cargo or people to remote, limited access locations by air, whether on land, snow or water. Established in 2011 in the USA Discovery Aviation is a fully integrated aircraft manufacturer, with comprehensive engineering, development, certification, flight test, production, sales and service capabilities. Its first venture was to bring the Accord 201 to the US to be certified as the Discovery 201 and be put into production. In 2013 Discovery launched the seven-place utility workhorse with a state of the art Garmin EFIS cockpit at the Sun 'n Fun Airshow held annually in California. Powered by two 210 hp Continental IO-360 engines with Hartzell props the 201 has a maximum cruise speed of 113 knots, stall at 65 knots, has a useful load of 1800 lbs. and a maximum range of 1350 Nmi. The Discovery 201 offers easy rear access loading and can handle more than eight feet of cargo if the rear seats are removed. The cargo area can be designed in a variety of ways to meet the needs of different passenger configurations and cargo requirements. Capable of operating from paved runways and rough fields the 201, referred to by owners as the 'flying pickup truck', is designed to operate in various weather conditions. When equipped with optional floats or skis, the 201's versatility extends itself to operations to water and snow. With its twin engines mounted on the high wings cockpit visibility is excellent. Discovery exhibited the 201 at AirVenture 2015. However, an exhaustive search of the web has not brought to light any news since regarding the company or its products.

Aviation Economy

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