Antoine Grenier, chairman and CEO of SMA, handed over the SR305-230 engine log book to Jean-Claude Gerin, the president of the French humanitarian association Aviation Sans Frontières (ASF), on June 16. The engine powers one of ASF’s Cessna 182. Jean-Cyrille Spinetta, the president of Air France, graciously accepted to be the patron of the aircraft. His company has been sponsoring for many years ASF, an association created in 1980 by three Air France pilots.

During the official ceremony, Jean-Claude Gerin pointed out the advantages the SMA engine (operating on diesel cycle) will bring to the humanitarian missions led by ASF in Africa, thanks to Jet A, the standard aviation fuel used by the SR305-230. In 2002, for example, “ we had to stop a humanitarian mission in Niger because Avgas (the traditional leaded fuel for light aircraft) was missing for one of our plane. And today, in Congo, we have a Cessna 182 grounded because Avgas is missing.”

The relationship between ASF and SMA is not recent: one Cessna 182 owned by the humanitarian organization is used by SMA for engine integration tests. ASF hopes to develop a long-term humanitarian partnership with the SMA shareholders – EADS, Renault and Snecma. ASF owns today five planes cumulating 1,450 EFH in 2002.

SMA will get the Supplemental Type Certificate of the ASF re-engined Cessna 182, within the coming weeks. In the meantime, spin dives tests will be completed. SMA has already two hundred engines on their order book.