August 31, 2003
THE PAC 750XL HAS BEEN CERTIFIED BY THE NZ CAA.
FAA CERTIFICATION NEXT.
Greetings,
The first plane off the production line has been purchased by Great Lake Skydive Center, Taupo, New Zealand. Photos of it are on our web site. www.utilityaircraft.com/photos.html
Great Lakes Skydive Center has been operating Crescos for years and was anxious to get the first PAC 750XL off the line.
The next PAC 750XL will be flown to California for the FAA noise tests. It is anticipated that the noise tests will be completed in early November, and the FAA Type
Certificate will be in hand shortly thereafter.
For those of you who are aligning your aircraft needs for the next season (2004), now is the time to seriously think about securing a production slot.
This is a real aircraft. The production will not meet the current demand. SECURE YOUR PRODUCTION SLOT NOW.
UAC's Ray Ferrell and I attended the Pacific Aerospace Corporation unveiling party last week. It was a great party, with all the staff on hand, plus the movers and shakers
in NZ aviation.
Ray and I were checked out in the XL. The ceiling lifted on Sunday, the day of my check out, and I was anxious to do a simulated jump run. First I checked out the
handling, turns, flap/no flap stalls, slow flight etc. The stall is very mild. It simply nods the nose up and down, even if the controls are fully deflected momentarily. No
drama.
We weighed about 4615 lbs, which for the XL in skydiving mode with 200 pounds of fuel on board, means we were carrying about six 180 lb jumpers. We were 2885 lbs
below the maximum take-off weight of 7500 lbs.
As a reference, I flew the usual profile I would fly in a 208: take off and fly a box pattern turning at three thousand foot intervals. This is usually adjusted throughout the
climb, with the anticipated start of the jump run, in the climb, from 12,000 ft, with the jumpers exiting at 13,000 ft.
With an OAT of 13C (55F), from 186 MSL we climbed at max climb speed, 95 KIAS, and max torque. Needed a lot of right rudder, and should have trimmed for it prior. The
visibility is very good. The instrument panel is low, enabling good forward visibility and the side view was splendid. We rapidly climbed to 3,000 feet and initiated a 90
degree left turn. The next 3,000 feet blew past at an astonishing rate, I was keeping the torque up, looking outside at the rapidly changing climb profile, and found myself at
the 6,000 ft turn. Wings level again after the turn, downwind leg and climbing hard. VSI was indicating 2700 ft per minute, the power level was full forward, I bled the speed
back to about 87KIAS, and it was obvious that I'm was in the wrong part of the sky, I was abeam the departure end numbers, 9,000 ft had come and gone. I cut the corner
to the start of the jump run. Realized I wouldn't get there in time, at 12,000 ft I introduced 20 degrees of flap for the jump run and executed a 315 degree, left climbing turn
to 13,000 ft and glanced at the clock.
Just under seven minutes!
The plane is very stable in all three axes. The electric trim on the stick controls the ailerons and elevator, and an overhead trim controls the rudder. Not a lot of trim was
needed, and I actually found myself out of trim and flying along quite happily. But it has a good, stable feeling in the jump run.
I flew the jump run for a minute at about 80-85KIAS, parallel to the runway but displaced to the left, with minimal torque. At the eight minute mark I reduced the power to
flight idle, rolled out of the jump run, retracted the flaps and established 140 KIAS for the decent. The roll out produced the quick loss of about 2,000 feet I was looking for,
and the 140 KIAS was chosen because that was the speed a Cresco operator used. I should have driven the airspeed to 170 KIAS, but PAC General Manager, John
McWilliam, was working with Center on the radio (thank you John), and the extra time helped me catch up.
While descending, the first notch of flap, 20 degrees, really puts some drag into the aircraft, steepening up the decent. The last position, 40 degrees, is also powerful, and
pulls the speed back to the point where the prop flattens out for some good airbreaking. I had to add power to get up to the runway.
We were back on the runway in three and a half minutes anyway, for a round trip time of 11.5 minutes.
This was 2.5 minutes faster than my fastest light load in a 208. To be fair, it was cool, which makes a big difference to the PT6.
The plane was configured with the jump/camera step, and the floater rail.
This was my first flight in the PAC 750XL, and with a few loads behind me I could shorten the turn around.
So as a rough guide, out of the box, it was 20% better, and with practice you should get another 10+%.
This is a GREAT plane.
PAC is to be commended on the great job they have done.
We will have the first plane here in California in about two months, and it is sold.
Chris Butchers from XLaviation, the PAC European Distributor, was present at the factory party. Chris was also checked out in the plane. For the European operators,
Chris is very knowledgeable, and a great person. He can get you an XL, and you can operate on the NZ register. We will be working out the details on technical training, he
will know the details. chrisb@xlaviation.com
The best quote I heard was, "Don't just look at the price, pay close attention to the profit it will create for you".
Please contact us.
Regards
Philip Esdaile
Utility Aircraft Corporation
PO Box 1235
Woodland, CA 95776
USA
(530) 750-3226
www.utilityaircraft.com
