Vickers Aircraft USA announces the Fast4: a new vision for high-performance single engine piston aviation

Equipped with four seats, an all carbon fibre construction, folding wings and a targeted 1,300-nautical-mile range, with four adults, full fuel and at 235 KTAS.

Vickers Aircraft USA is entering the high-performance piston market with the Fast4, a new low-wing four-seat aircraft designed to bring together speed, innovation and affordability.

The Fast4 builds on over a decade of development of the Vickers Wave and its variants, alongside a new carbon fibre manufacturing technology designed to reduce build time, issues and production costs. Vickers intends to pass those cost savings on to customers.

Over the past 30 years, carbon fibre materials and composite manufacturing have advanced enormously. Vickers is bringing those advances to a modern aircraft designed to meet the expectations of an increasingly informed customer base, pilots and owners who understand what modern materials can deliver and have been waiting for an aircraft that reflects that potential.

The company has put its manufacturing technology through destructive testing and is now applying its experience to what it sees as its most transformative aircraft yet.

"Fast4 has been on our drawing board for some time," said Paul Vickers. "We have monitored what pilots are asking for: performance, useful load, range, safety in an aircraft that is affordable to own. Now we are bringing those ideas together in one exciting new aircraft."

The full carbon fibre Fast4 is being designed with seating for four, a BRS air frame recovery parachute and the potential to incorporate Garmin AXIS and Autoland technology. Vickers is targeting:

– Max. Cruise Speed 235 KTAS

– 1,300 nautical miles of range

– 1,520 pounds of useful load

– 102 gallons of fuel capacity

– Folding wings, designed to reduce required hangar space by 50%

– IFR

Through its co-engineering philosophy, Vickers plans for the FAST4 and Wave to share selected components and systems. This approach is intended to reduce development costs and support an efficient build programme while drawing on the company's existing manufacturing facility and experienced design and development team.

The Fast4 is also being designed with ownership and maintenance in mind, including a BRS parachute system intended to be serviceable through authorised BRS agents.

Vickers is also turning its attention to a comprehensive support ecosystem encompassing pilot training, sales and service. The company considers this ecosystem as important as the aircraft itself, ensuring customers have the support they need from initial training through ownership and ongoing maintenance.

"We fully understand the cohesion between the aircraft and customer support," said Paul Vickers.

Alongside the Wave, the Fast4 will be manufactured in the USA, with several states actively engaged in discussions and eager to be selected as the home of Vickers' US manufacturing operations.

Vickers sees the FAA MOSAIC / Part22 regulatory environment as an opportunity to help shape the next generation of general aviation, with a drastic reduction in the development costs and time associated with bringing a new aircraft to market.

"With the Wave in its certification phase, we can begin to focus resources on this exciting new aircraft," said Vickers. "Our ambition is to create a safe, fast and capable aircraft that gives pilots more freedom and makes ownership more affordable."

The FAST4 represents the next step for Vickers Aircraft USA, a US company with US investors and pilots at the heart of its vision for the future of aviation.