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Aviation History
1992
1992 - 0552.PDF
Gavilan 358 simple, low-cost aeroplane. At our current prices, you can buy five Gavilans for the price of one [Cessna] Caravan," says Wilson, referring to the larger turbine utility machine. The first flight for the Gavilan 358 was on 28 April, 1990, in Bogota and the prototype has accumulated 200 flight-test hours. Wilson describes the first take-off as being "quite exciting", not because of the aeroplane itself but because the density altitude was almost 12,000ft (3,660m). The flight-test programme is intended to lead to Colombian certification — a task which presented initial problems as no Colombian airworthiness regulations existed. GATS overcame this hurdle by extracting those sections of US of Colombian certification rules. Bryerton expects the aeroplane to be certificated with "less than 300h" of flight test (see P 47). Leaver says foreign certifica tion is a goal "...but such a process has to filter through the bureacracy". POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS Leaver has formed a new company, El Gavilan, in Bogota to build the Gavilan 358, but is not taking orders until after certifica tion, although potential customers have been briefed on the aircraft. The Colombian military has shown interest, as have other parties in Argentina and the Common wealth of Independent States (CIS) — the former Soviet Union. Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR) Part 23 certification pertaining to a sin gle-engine, fixed- gear, unpressurised aeroplane with a constant-speed pro peller. Bryerton says: "We elimi nated everything that did not pertain to our aeroplane." The resulting docu ment was approved by the Colombian authorities. If a tur boprop version is developed, he says, GATS will extract those FAR Part 23 sections that apply and "...that will be come Appendix A" The Textron Lycoming 10-720 engine is offered, hut the TIO-540 will be required in high-field elevations According to Bryerton, Yakovlev showed interest but nothing followed. He is not sure how former Sukhoi engineers from the CIS entered the picture but a group has been reported to have completed some windtun- nel testing on a Gavilan model. In spite of sparse publicity about the Gavilan, individuals and companies are requesting information on using the aero plane in the Canadian bush and for charter and light cargo operations. A Canadian operator requested information about flying the Gavilan with the doors off for parachute jumping. The aircraft has not been flown in this configuration, but Bryerton is sure it would present no major problems. For my two flights in the Gavilan 358, Wilson first flew into the small Wil- liamsport, Pennsylvania, airport. The 3,000ft ceiling prohibited our flight from operating at normal cruise altitudes. Wilson briefed me during the pre-flight inspection and short walk-round. Construction of the Gavilan prototype is straightforward, with an angular fuselage consisting of flat panels on the sides, aft fuselage and windows. The aeroplane ap pears quite boxy, but sturdy and functional. The fixed, external foot-bar is available to climb into the cockpit, which was equipped for visual flight rules (VFR) operation and included various pieces of flight-test equip ment. The seat is adjustable longitudinally and vertically, but rudder pedals are fixed. To see over the nose, I raised my seat quite high which gave my legs an almost vertical drop from the knee to the rudder pedals. This might prove uncomfortable on long flights. The seat belts consisted of a mili tary-style five-point harness. The engine was still warm from the flight in and turned over quickly. Nosewheel steering has already been deleted from the prototype and only a slight tap of the brakes is necessary for turn ing. Wilson says the large rudder is suffi cient to maintain course when taxiing in low winds. The switches and instruments in the prototype are well within reach and sight. The few circuit breakers are installed on the right-hand panel. These would be better placed closer to the pilot. There are no instru ments or switches overhead. The initial reach for the manual flap lever is a little too long for the first 15° notch of flaps, but the second and third 46 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 4 - 10 March, 1992
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