NZ'S P-750 XSTOL SHOWS LIGHT LIFT PACES IN US
26 May 10

Graham Warwick

"What's that airplane?" is the most common reaction when L-3 Communications and Pacific Aerospace bring the P-750 XSTOL to a US airfield. The New Zealand-built aircraft is an unusual sight, although there are 12 used as skydiving platforms in the US.

It is also a pretty unusual aircraft with its big, thick wing turning upwards at the tips; the powerful PT6A turboprop that looks grafted on; and the surprisingly sporty cockpit with its center-stick controls and gull-wing doors.

Team-mates L-3 and PAC have brought the P-750 to the US to introduce potential customers to the little-known, but highly capable utility aircraft. Potential customers include the US Air Force, which has released a draft RFP for "basic trainer/light lift" aircraft to be supplied to the Afghan National Army Air Corps.

The New Zealand-registered P-750 was at Tipton Airport, near Ft Meade, Md., yesterday (May 24) between visiting Air Mobility Command at Scott AFB, Ill., and Naval Air Systems Command at NAS Patuxent River, Md. XSTOL means "extreme short take-off and landing" and was clearly demonstrated in flights at Tipton.

I did not fly (my excuse - recovering from back surgery), but watched as the aircraft took off within a couple of hundred feet, climbed like an elevator, circled round to make a steep approach to an equally short landing, backed up the runway on reverse propeller pitch and did it all again.

The P-750 competes with the much better known Cessna Caravan, but is lighter, faster, has a more powerful engine, and carries a heavier payload from a shorter runway, PAC says. The aircraft is designed to take off and land within 800ft with a 4,000lb payload.

Acting as US prime, L-3 says it is working to promote the P-750 "by word of mouth" through showing the aircraft to potential customers. Beyond the USAF, the company believes several US agencies could have niche requirements for small numbers of aircraft.

The P-750 design has it roots in an agricultural aircraft that makes hundreds of take-offs and landings a day, spreading fertilizer on New Zealand hillsides. If the US wants a robust utility machine for Afghanistan and other partner nations - it's well worth looking at.

Source: Graham Warwick