With the stroke of a pen, the FAA has certified that the Thrush 510P joins its sibling, the Thrush 510G, as being fully compliant with the most modern certification standards — and able to officially fly at its fully operational gross weight of 10,500 pounds.
The new certification marks the culmination of more than eight years of work from the engineering team at Thrush Aircraft, which was given the mission of ensuring every new 500-gallon aircraft built by the Albany, Georgia, manufacturer is certified to today’s most modern regulatory standards, and able to operate legally at their full weight capacity.
In addition, Thrush will offer kits to current Thrush 510P operators that will allow their aircraft to also be in compliance with the new certification standard.
The kits, which will be available through the Thrush dealer and factory Service Center network, are estimated to take about 24 man-hours to install.
The new certification covers Thrush 510P serial number T34-273 forward, which includes virtually every PT6A-34AG powered aircraft built since the new Thrush began manufacturing in 2003.
about 180 510Ps already in the field will be eligible for the kit and its accompanying gross weight increase, according to company officials.
“We made a significant investment in putting our designs through the rigors of FAA performance and structural testing because our customers count on our airplanes to be fully capable of bringing them home safe and sound each night,” said Payne Hughes, president of Thrush Aircraft. “It’s a responsibility all of us here take very seriously – and loose guidelines and overload factors published more than 40 years ago don’t instill the level of confidence we think customers deserve. Which is why we want to ensure our airplanes are always built to the highest standards possible.”
“What we now have – in both the Thrush 510P and the Thrush 510G — are airplanes you can load to their maximum and have full confidence when you do. All day. Every day. You simply shouldn’t settle for anything less,” he concluded.
