Thrush Aircraft, Inc. acquired the production rights for the Ayres product line in June 2003. The headquarters and production facility are located in Albany, Georgia, with a 227,000 square foot office/manufacturing complex. The factory is equipped with a full complement of machinery including water jet, laser cutter, CNC brake, CNC machining centers, turning centers, roll form, hydro form, punch presses, heat treat, age, chemical treat processing, and much more.
Thrush Aircraft operate under the FAA-approved Production Certificate 5S0 and meet Mil-I-45208 inspection system requirements, Mil-Q-9858A quality system requirements and Mil-Standard-45662 calibration system requirements.
A number of aircraft projects have been produced under contract at the Albany facility, including the Myers 200, Lark Darter, CalAir A9 and A9B, Rockwell 112, and all Thrush aircraft since 1970. Subcontracts have been for several aerospace companies including the FedEx cargo conversion kit for Boeing 727, Lockheed aft quarter panels for the P3 Orion program, helicopter fuselages for the MD500, MD520, and MD600, British Aerospace 146 cargo door details, Aeronautical Engineers cargo door tooling and details for the 727 and 737, Pats, Inc. fuel tank inspection covers for Boeing, formed parts for Aeronca and Commander, and the design, tool development, and manufacture of kits for the OV10 for Dyncorp. The prior operations have also produced detail parts and tooling for Boeing to support the 727, 737, 747, 757, and 767 production lines.
The Albany Repair Station/Service Center was also responsible for the engineering, tooling development, parts manufacture, and installation of Stage 3 hush kits for the DC9, 727 and 737 aircraft. This program was performed for Airborne, US Air, TWA, Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Canadian Air, Scandinavian, Value Jet/Air Tran, Federal Express, and Air France.
Thrush Aircraft has exclusively teamed with General Electric to produce the Thrush 510G powered by the GE H80 turbine engine. The H80 provides increased temperature margins to enhance hot-day takeoff performance and high-altitude cruise speeds. GE chose Thrush to launch this new engine.
Thrush Aircraft announced on October 10, 2012, that the Federal AviationAdministration had issued Type Certification for the new Thrush 510G. The 510G features the new GE H80 turboprop engine – a first for general aviation.
Certification marks the culmination of more than two years work by both Thrush and GE Aviation in concert with the FAA’s regional office in Atlanta. Final certification work for the dual cockpit version of the 510G was to get underway shortly after.
