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Aviation History
1978
1978 - 0794.PDF
1472 FLIGHT International, 13 May 1978 -4 -*• page 1469 I made the movement check. Rearward travel of the con trol wheel was checked much earlier than I expected, and I learned that the stops have deliberately been adjusted to limit upward elevator travel to 14°. But to return outside for a moment. The undercarriage track is wide and made to seem even more so by the relatively small wingspan. Fowler flaps are installed, their runners having been neatly embedded in the wing structure during development. They are limited to 35° extension to allow the airflow access to the tailplane. Full de-icing, including engine-intake heating, is installed. The leading-edge boots are broken by wing fences fitted to prevent stray light from the landing lamps from dazzling the crew. Finally, the main door mechanism is worthy of note. As you push the door home it rises slightly and then drops into retaining lugs to give a plug effect. This is a good and practical touch, bearing in mind that the door and its mechanism have to with stand 61b/in2 cabin pressure. The Brazilian Air Force clearly wants its passengers to share its pride in the new aircraft, and has furnished the cabin in style. There are five large passenger seats and a folding table for the two left-side occupants. The circular fuselage makes for comfort when sitting down, though it inevitably calls for some hunching of the shoulders as you move forward to the sharp end. Headroom along the centre aisle is exactly five feet. Viewed from the outside, the flight deck's Cessna look derives from the large curved screen and the shape of the direct-vision windows. There, is no similar illusion about the inside, which bears a strong family resemblance to the Bandeirante's "office". Two things seem largely to determine the panel layout in this' class of aircraft: the choice of systems to be tucked away on an overhead switch panel, and the distribution of the engine indica tions. Embraer puts anti-icing, air-conditioning, engine-start ing, electrical and fighting controls on a roof panel which is not as busy as it sounds. Switches are either simple mechanical (all identical and not coloured) or illuminated "push on, push off" squares depending on their function. The engine indicators are mounted in pairs in a vertical column biased well towards the left of the main instru ment panel. This leaves just enough space for flight instruments immediately in front of the pilot and frees all of the centre of the panel, from the glareshield down wards, for avionics. While military aircraft rarely seem to rely on one manufacturer for their avionics, the Brazilian Air Force appears to have asked Embraer to mix in something from everyone. Nav and com sets by RCA are surmounted by the Collins transponder and Bendix Weathervision radar. Collins also supplies the adjacent twin-ADF unit, and the HF immediately beneath is by Sunair. The dual flight systems are Sperry SPZ-200s. The layout is planned for two-crew operation, so the fuel-contents and flow gauges, undercarriage selector and warning captions are all to the right of the panel, within easy sight of the co-pilot. The panel is wide and could take a great deal more than it has to at present. Indication of its ample capacity is the fact that at either end there are individual audio selector units and fresh-air ventilators. Loading for the test flight was 10,8001b (4,855kg), including 2,0001b (900kg) of fuel. The e.g., at 31-3 per cent mean chord, was close to the forward limit, though at lighter weights it can advance to 28 per cent. Once the pusher-arm switch on the centre console has been activated, test buttons on the left quarter-panel allow the stick-shaker and pusher to be checked out before starting. Starting itself is simple: a blip of the roof-mounted start switch brings the gas generator to life, and the power turbine can be encouraged to spool up by moving the condition lever to low idle. Cabral led me meticulously through the autofeathering and overspeeding checks while we waited clear of the runway, having already checked the normal feathering as we taxied out. Nosewheel steering is controlled by the large handwheel at the forward end of the left-hand console and is engaged by selecting a button in the centre of the wheel. The book says that we could expect to see no more than f l,4001b-ft of torque during take-off at 30°C, and the tower told us that the day was already up to nearly 32°C. VE was to be lOOkt, and the initial climb was to be made at HOkt until the undercarriage and flaps were out of the way, when the speed could be allowed to settle at 125kt for a steady climb. Thus briefed by Cabral, I opened up and the Xingu was away. If the performance is supposed to be reduced by a hot-and-high take-off (we were 2,000ft above sea level), the Xingu did not know it and got away briskly. I noted the need for a firm pull to rotate, and recorded that there was a fair trim change to be taken out as the speed increased after the flaps came up. At high power and climbing speed the aircraft felt longitudinally stable. But even after the modification to the ailerons they were still remarkably light and the air craft needed little inducement to start—and keep— rolling. Our first task was photography, and as the camera ship was a Bandeirante there was no problem over speed compatibility. We settled down together at about 9,000ft and 160kt IAS, which took 9001b-ft of torque and 80 per cent r.p.m. The view was satisfactory, though the Xingu might benefit from the incorporation of the now- fashionable small eyebrow windows. The engines proved obtrusive, though this is impossible to avoid if the pro pellers are to be placed well forward, as in this installa tion. A smooth en route climb can be started at 120kt, but speed should be reduced beyond 10,000ft. The photo graphic session over, we settled comfortably into a per-
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