EVEKTOR-AEROTECHNIK AS
The Evektor aircraft design office (workforce 150 in 1999) was formed in 1991, a major part of its initial work consisting of contribution to the designs of the L159 and Ae270 Ibis under contract to Aero Vodochody. On 2 February 1996 it acquired a 100 per cent shareholding in Aerotechnik CZ, and in 1996-97 the two companies (now a single joint-stock company) developed and delivered preseries and test front fuselage components of the L159 to Aero.
Aerotechnik was formed in 1970, originally as an enterprise of the former Czechoslovak defence organisation Svazarm. Its first aircraft programmes involved single- and two-seat rotorcraft. Two facilities, at Kunovice and Moravska Trebova, have a combined floor space of 7,340 m² (79,000 sq ft). The combined Evektor-Aerotechnik workforce totalled 350 in mid-2000.
In recent years Aerotechnik produced kits for the Pottier P220 S Koala all-metal lightplane, powered by its own Mikron III engine. This design was further developed via the P220 UL into the EV-97 Eurostar with a Rotax 912 UL engine, and became the first aeroplane to bear the Evektor name. A VLA version of the Eurostar, the Harmony, followed in 2001.
Evektor-Aerotechnik assisted in early stages of the Wolfsberg Raven 257 programme, including assembly of the prototype. A separate joint venture was formed in October 1999 with GAIC of China, leading to establishment in June 2000 of Guizhou Evektor Aircraft Corporation for local production, sales and support of Evektor aircraft in that country. The first EV-97 CKD kit for Chinese assembly was delivered in August 2000. This arrangement superseded that previously agreed for Guizhou to become a licensed production centre for the Raven 257.
On 26 July 2000, Evektor-Aerotechnik signed an agreement with Seabird Aviation Australia to manufacture and market the latter's Seeker SB7L-360 light observation aircraft. By 2002, nothing further had been heard of the venture, and it appears to have been discontinued.
Other activities include development and production of parts, jigs and tools for the aircraft industry; spares and components for light and ultralight aircraft; and the overhaul and re-engining of L-13SV Vivat and L-60 Brigadýr aircraft.