New Turboprops

NewNew Turboprops Turboprops in rough water and buoyancy has been Cessna Grand Caravan EX added to the aft region of the float for Cessna received certification of its operations at high weights. souped-up $2.149 million Grand Car- avan EX (208B) last December and has posted brisk sales so far this year. The Epic E1000 EX replaces the 675-shp PT6-114A with Epic’s campaign to certify a $2.75 the more powerful 867-shp PT6A-140, million production version of its all- a more aerodynamic Hartzell propeller composite LT kitplane continues. The with rounder edges, the Garmin G1000 company hopes to have a prototype air- Manufacturers offer plenty of options New Singles Caiga Primus 150 glass-panel avionics system, plusher inte- craft flying before year-end and to receive China’s state-run general aviation riors, new air induction intakes (nosegear certification by 2015. Over the sum- Cessna Grand Caravan EX for the growing international market company made two big moves into GA: cooling fairing), different flap settings, mer Epic unveiled a new automotive- Beechcraft PD434 buying the design rights to the old Epic engine torque limiter and new ease-of- style instrument panel for the E1000 by Mark Huber Newly emerged from the chains of Aircraft designs and acquiring compos- maintenance features, including an easily that was designed in-house and features bankruptcy and its money-losing jet divi- ite lightplane maker Cirrus in 2011. It accessible borescope port. Previously, the Garmin G1000 glass-panel avionics. Epic There were two major developments in the be on track for never and late, respectively. sion, Beechcraft announced plans late apparently went to school fast, unveiling nosegear cooling fairing on the 208B was CEO Doug King said approximately 75 business turboprop sector this year and nei- NAL’s failure to finish the Saras presents last year for a new line of turboprops. a mockup for a five-seat fast single late available only with the 300-amp electrical employees are working on the program ther involved new aircraft. However, they did India’s indigenous aerospace sector with an Work appears to be proceeding on at last year. The all-composite Primus 150, option. It is now standard on the EX. and that more than 35 E1000s are already show where potentially the next growth area embarrassment and could be seen as cast- least one of these designs, code-named with styling more than just a little simi- Pilots used to have the choice of three on order. After certification, King expects is for the turboprop market: downstream. Tur- ing doubt on the government’s plan to develop PD434. Beechcraft did not return inqui- lar to the old Epic Escape, is aiming for flap settings on the 208B: 10, 20 and 30 to build 24 to 30 aircraft annually. boprops historically have been a useful vehi- the country’s own 90-seat commuter turbo- ries seeking comment on the new proj- a maximum cruise speed of 352 knots degrees. Now there are only two: take- The E1000 is powered by a P&WC cle for introducing new customers into the prop. China and Russia are also contemplat- ect, but it is believed to be a single-engine (identical to the Escape), a range of 1,410 off (about 20 degrees) and landing (30 PT6-67A and has a maximum speed of corporate aircraft market, provided operators ing new entries in this sector. Late last year design that may incorporate the all-com- nm and a ceiling of 28,000 feet. Power degrees). The torque limiter is a new 325 knots, a range of 1,625 nm, pay- can maintain price discipline. China’s government-controlled Caiga unveiled posite, wound fuselage of the discontin- will come from the 850-shp GE H85. addition for the EX. It limits torque to load with full fuel of 1,170 pounds and Turboprops are not jets, but when oper- a mockup for its proposed Primus 150 all- ued Premier IA twinjet with new wings, Deliveries could begin as early as 2015. 2,500 foot-pounds and varies the level a 28,000-foot ceiling. The cabin seats six ated within their proper parameters–includ- composite turboprop single. empennage and a single turboprop of torque with ambient conditions such and measures 15 feet long, 4.6 feet wide, ing within customer expectations–they can Established U.S. OEMs have been relatively engine mounted in the nose. Target price as temperature and pressure. It is not a and 4.9 feet high. Mtow is 7,500 pounds. provide transportation that is every bit as quiet about their future plans. Cessna had been is reported to be in the $2- to $4 million Cessna Concept Single Fadec or an EEC system and the pilot Takeoff distance is 1,600 feet; landing safe and reliable. Witness the performance flight-testing a PT6 mounted in the nose of a range. The aircraft is thought to be aimed In July last year Cessna unveiled is still responsible for making the proper distance is 1,840 feet. and steady growth of Pilatus PC-12 operator Citation Mustang fuselage, but claimed it was at buyers of the Pilatus PC-12NG. a research cabin mockup for a design power settings. The new engine delivers a Kestrel 329 PlaneSense, which flies 30 of the big turbo- just a test bed. Then, 15 months ago, it revealed The preliminary concept includes seat- slightly larger than the Piper Meridian, 40-percent increase in climb rate, about prop singles, or the thoughtful launch of King a rough interior cabin mockup for a new low- ing configurations for 9 to 11 (including but has said little about it since. As this 10 knots more cruise speed and a some- GippsAero GA10 with a reduced fuel load for “short tour- progress on major structures such as the Air 350i membership operator Wheels Up, wing single aimed straight at the Piper Meridian the pilot). Cabin dimensions: 5.5 feet sector becomes increasingly crowded, what better specific fuel consumption Certification of this utility single- ism flights.” Gipps reports strong mar- cowling, fuselage loft, cabin interior, wing which could take as many as 105 new air- and collected marketing and design data with it wide, 5.4 feet high and 20.4 feet long. The and Cessna CEO Scott Ernest contin- from a more efficient compressor. While engine turboprop has been pushed back ket interest in the GA10, especially from and empennage. A few proof-of-concept craft from Beechcraft between now and 2018. at EAA AirVenture 2012. NBAA IFR range with four passengers ues his campaign for each member of the the new engine has a standard TBO of to next year while the company seeks IFR skydiving clubs and governments that parts have been fabricated and the engine Dichter is chasing customers who will fly as Likewise, last year Beechcraft hinted at would be 1,750 nm and high-speed cruise company product line to defend itself on 3,600 hours, that can be increased to approval for it. The GA10, a stretched are interested in the aircraft for tactical has undergone test-stand runs mated to few as 20 to 30 hours per year. plans to develop a new line of turboprops 302 knots at FL250. The airplane would profitability, Cessna’s entry into this sec- 6,000 hours or 12 years for specific con- turboprop version of the company’s pis- applications such as observation, surveil- the redesigned cowl and propeller. Legacy platforms make sense for these including a single aimed at the Pilatus PC-12, have a max payload of 2,800 pounds and tor seems questionable at best. The air- ditions with FAR Part 121/135 operators. ton-powered GA8 Airvan, entered flight- lance, re-supply and personnel drops. To Some major suppliers for the air- types of operation because maintenance but has been short on detail about how it plans a full-fuel payload of 1,650 pounds. craft design proposed last year included Thanks to the extra engine power, the test last year. The 10-passenger GA10, accommodate diverse missions, Gipps craft have already been selected. They costs are well known and support networks to finance development of these new aircraft. How exactly this project will be able all-composite construction with retract- EX can now be equipped with amphibi- powered by a 450-shp Rolls-Royce 250- is developing various interior configu- include Garmin for its G3000 touch- long established. Two completely new fast single designs to proceed when Beechcraft finds a able landing gear, a wingspan of 42 feet, ous floats. Wipaire certified the $430,000 B17F/2, will have an empty weight of rations for skydiving, aerial survey, aer- screen avionics system and Honeywell The market seems to be more receptive from Kestrel and Epic remain in various stages buyer for its former Hawker jet division sidestick controls and seating for seven Wipline 8750 for the EX in July. The new approximately 2,400 pounds and a mtow ial surveillance, freight and passengers, for the TPE331-14GR engine, flat-rated to legacy utility/combi offerings in this sector of development, and two established designs remains unclear, as the composite wind- in a cabin measuring 53 inches tall, 54 float has an improved main gear retrac- of 4,750 pounds. With a full 150-gal- including an executive option. The air- to 1,000 shp and providing a 5,000-hour provided they are kept up-to-date, such as the from Dornier and Extra remain in search of ing machines that would be used for the inches wide and 17 feet, 8 inches long. tion mechanism, a new oleo design and lon fuel load it will be able to carry six craft will be built at GippsAero’s Latrobe TBO. The aircraft features a four- to five- TBM 850 Elite, Cessna’s new Grand Caravan manufacturing capital partners. PD434 fuselage are integral to the mar- Target price is $2.1- to $2.4 million. Bag- visible mechanical gear-position indi- 200-pound people (including the pilot), factory in Victoria, Australia. seat executive interior on par with those EX, Quest Kodiak, reborn Twin Otter (Viking As aviation continues to grow throughout ket value of that property. Beechcraft is gage compartment space is 26 cu ft. Tar- cators. The hull design has been modi- and a seventh person weighing no more of modern corporate jets, including high- 400), or the new GippsAero GA10 Airvan and the BRIC countries and the rest of the devel- currently recruiting engineers for PD434. get maximum cruise speed is 260 knots. fied to improve handling characteristics than 145 pounds; or up to 10 people gloss wood veneers, upscale leathers, a the resurrection and remake of the larger oping world with imperfect infrastructure, Kestrel K-350 wide aisle and oversize oval cabin win- Gipps GA18 twin (née Nomad). turboprops will have a growing share of the While production of a flying proto- dows reminiscent of a Gulfstream. It is Two largely government-funded new twin- marketplace. How large that share becomes type of this redesigned all-composite sin- just one of nine interiors Kestrel is devel- engine programs, India’s NAL Saras and the remains to be seen. One thing is certain: there gle awaits additional financing, Kestrel oping, with passenger seating from five Czech Republic’s Evektor EV-55, appear to will be no shortage of product. continues to make what it calls significant Continues on next page u

Caiga Primus 150 Cessna Concept Single Epic LT GippsAero GA10 © 2013 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com © 2013 AIN Publications. All Rights Reserved. For Reprints go to www.ainonline.com

36 Aviation International News • November 2013 • www.ainonline.com www.ainonline.com • November 2013 • Aviation International News 37 NewNew Turboprops Turboprops

twins and Antonov An-2 single-radial The aircraft likely will be powered by biplanes. Earlier this year it announced a a pair of upgraded Rolls-Royce C250- deal for the sale of nine aircraft to Siberia series 450-shp engines and receive new with an option for 20 more. The Outback propellers and a modern glass cockpit, features a quick-change cabin that can be while retaining its historic Stol capabil- reconfigured in 20 minutes. ities, easily using runways shorter than Power comes from a pair of P&WC 2,000 feet. Maximum cruise speed is 170 PT6A-21s rated at 536 shp each. Maxi- knots and range is 1,080 nm with 2,190 mum speed at 10,000 feet is 220 knots and pounds of payload. Maximum useful maximum payload is 4,021 pounds. Ser- load is 4,405 pounds. The GA18 will be vice ceiling is 29,000 feet. The volume of manufactured at Gipps’s main complex the combined cargo/passenger area is 447 in Victoria, Australia. cu ft and the maximum cargo payload is 3,021 pounds. Evektor claims the Out- back can take off from, and land on, run- NAL Saras ways of less than 1,700 feet at 6,500-foot After more than three decades of devel-

MATT THURBER MATT elevation. Evektor has selected Esterline’s opment, it now appears that India’s indig- Dornier Seastar CD-2 CMC SmartDeck integrated digital avi- enous twin pusher turboprop program onics system as standard equipment. will not subject itself to the civil certification process and that the airplane’s lone uContinued from preceding page Quebec appear to have sunk, and the lone customer, the Indian Air Force (IAF), to nine people. The others will accom- flying prototype has been returned to the GippsAero GA18 currently with an order for 15 aircraft, modate missions as diverse as medevac, Dornier family in Germany, who under- The schedule for this aircraft remains may even opt to reject the final product. cargo and a high-density configuration wrote its $150 million design/certifica- uncertain as GippsAero has tied it to Indian officials have stopped commenting for eight passengers. The cockpit fea- tion costs in the 1980s and 1990s. A family finishing the GA10 single, itself now on the project altogether and the antic- tures sidestick controls, a low, contoured spokesman said earlier this year that pro- behind on its timetable. Gipps is work- ipated time for the first flight of a third instrument panel with large flat-panel duction would not begin without full fund- ing on an updated version of the clas- prototype has come and gone. displays and a wraparound windshield ing in place and that Dornier continued sic Government Aircraft Factories N24 The Saras made its first flight in 2004 allowing views of both wingtips. to seek manufacturing and/or investment Nomad twin and rebadging it the GA18. and a second prototype crashed in 2009, Kestrel has not released a price for the partners for the program. The 180-knot, Gipps’s plan for the aircraft includes an killing the crew. A subsequent investi- aircraft but it is expected to be in the neigh- 10,000-pound Seastar is powered by a pair 18-passenger layout with quick-change gation revealed flaws in the flight-test borhood of $3 million. Preliminary speci- of 650-shp P&WC PT6A-135s. Interiors options among passenger, cargo and program. Since 2009 the aircraft has fications include a maximum cruise speed for the unpressurized cabin range from combi. Gipps had intended to fly the air- undergone a significant redesign, but of at least 320 ktas; 1,300 nm range (pilot, six-seat executive layout to a 12-seat high- plane last year, but it now appears that what commercial market there might five passengers, maximum cruise speed at density configuration. the first flight is unlikely until next year, have been for the aircraft apparently has 31,000 feet and NBAA IFR reserves with with certification in either 2015 or 2016. evaporated. o 100-nm alternate); 1,200 pounds of payload with full fuel (319 U.S. gallons usable) Evektor EV-55 Outback and 8,500 pounds mtow. This $2.1 million light twin from the Czech Republic is closing in on a decade of development and could be certified as Twins early as 2015. However, the order book to date appears anemic and the flight- test program appears to be adhering to Beechcraft Twins a leisurely schedule, perhaps a reflection Last year the company now known that it is a largely public-sector project. as Beechcraft announced plans for a new Evektor claims an international order single as well as possibly one or two new book for its military/utility/cargo/combi/ twins to sit between the Baron G58 piston passenger aircraft, which seats between twin and King Air C90 as well as between nine and 14 people. the C90 and King Air 250. Just what forms The project is being underwritten by the these aircraft take–modifications to exist- Czech ministry of industry and is receiv- Evektor EV-55 Outback ing ones or all-new–remains to be seen. ing technical assistance from the Czech army. The aircraft is designed for high- altitude operations at unpaved airstrips. Dornier Seastar CD-2 Evektor claims interest from several air Plans to build this $6 million, certified, forces and is marketing the aircraft to enti- push-pull, all-composite amphibian in ties currently flying Cessna 402/404 piston

38 Aviation International News • November 2013 • www.ainonline.com