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Aviation History
1990
1990 - 0568.PDF
UTILITY AIRCRAFT DIRECTORY DESIGNED TO BE USED Utility: usefulness, profitableness; useful thing — trust the Oxford English Dictionary to get to the heart of the matter, linking use with profit. For the aircraft in this directory, the ability to generate profit is connected directly to their capability for useful work, not just carrying passengers but also in other roles such as freighter and air ambulance. Aircraft listed in this directory range in maximum take-off weight from around 2,000kg to almost 20,000kg. These are some what arbitrary limits, perhaps, except that aircraft below 2,000kg are more than ade quately covered by Flight's Light Aircraft Buyers' Guide (March 21-27 issue), while those above 20,000kg fall fairly clearly into the categories of airliner or transporter— each of which is covered by other Flight directories (Military Aircraft of the World, August 15-21, and Commercial Aircraft of the World, October 3-9). To be included, aircraft must have the demonstrated ability to carry a range of payloads, the extremes of which are defined by all-passenger and all-cargo operations. This is usually indicated by the installation of a cargo door, either as standard or as a factory option. There are exceptions, however. The aircraft are listed in three broad weight FLIGHT DATA categories: those below the 5,670kg limit for US Federal Aviation Administration FAR Part 23 certification; those above 13,600kg, where there is a fairly marked change in aircraft capability; and those in between these two weight classes. UP TO 5,670kg This weight class is bracketed by the Parten- avia P.68 at the bottom and the Beech King Air at the top: the six-seat P.68C piston twin weighs in at just under 2,000kg, while the 14- seat King Air B200 turbine twin tips the scales at the maximum 5,670kg allowable for FAR Part 23 certification. Now part of Aeritalia, Partenavia produces the high-wing P.68 in fixed-gear landplane, floatplane and amphibian versions. Deriva tives include the "glass-nose" Observer sur veillance aircraft and the AP.68TP Viator ten- seat turbine twin, which weighs in at 2,850kg including retractable gear. Canadair's CL-215T amphibian heads for mid- 1990 certifications Perhaps the archetypical utility aircraft, the Pilatus PC-6 continues in production more than 30 years after the piston-powered prototype first flew. Powered now by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop, the PC-6 Turbo-Porter has an almost unique capability for short take-off and landing (STOL) operations from unprepared strips, carrying ten passengers or a tonne of cargo. A firm believer in turbine singles, Pilatus hedged its bets with the acquisition of Brit ten-Norman and its Islander line. More than 1,100 Islanders have been sold since the piston-powered BN-2 flew in June 1965, including military Defenders and the Allison 250-powered Turbine Islander/Defender. Pilatus Britten-Norman continues to build around 20 aircraft a year and sees no early replacement emerging for the Lycoming- powered BN-2B or twin-turbine BN-2T. The company is working on improvements to the basic aircraft to meet customer demand for increasing sophistication, however. Competition for the Islander is likely to come from the SF.600TP Canguro, to be built in South Korea by Sammi Agusta Aerospace, a joint venture formed in May 1989 between Agusta of Italy and Korea's Sammi. Designed by General Avia, the piston- powered high-wing F.600 flew in December 1978. Agusta subsidiary SIAI-Marchetti took 32 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 28 February-6 March 1990
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