Textron Aviation has completed initial wind tunnel testing of its new Cessna SkyCourier turboprop twin, the company reported yesterday. Notably, the wind-tunnel model was fitted with electric motors and scaled propellers calibrated to represent the thrust produced by the real aircraft, said Textron Aviation senior vice president of engineering Brad Thress.
“We’re making progress in the development of this clean-sheet aircraft and are eager to continue defining the details that will allow us to start creating tools and parts,” he said. First flight of the SkyCourier is slated for next year, with service entry planned in 2020.
Since the Wichita-based aircraft manufacturer announced the large utility twin in November, it has seen interest from operators beyond launch customer FedEx Express. The company is also gaining feedback from its customer advisory board (CAB) to affirm what customers need in this segment.
“The flexibility and mission potential for the SkyCourier is attractive to a wide variety of operators,” said Thress. “The feedback we’re gathering from the CAB is extremely important as we develop an aircraft that is reliable, efficient, and meets the diverse requirements of an array of mission profiles.”
Comments
Marvel52
March 14, 2018 - 4:14pm
The head-on view harks back to several very similar designs, like An-28, GAF Nomad etc., that, besides not having the economic/political clout of Cessna's owner, usually lacked the voluminous fuselage fully tailored and sized for carrying the typical US/Canadian/international cargo loads.
Nevertheless, what I have heard about virtues vs. vices of the T-tail arrangement, I strongly doubt wisdom of its choice: Poor accessibility for checks/maintenance, especially in primitive conditions, negligible gain in lower drag of the T-arrangement much negated by the heavier structure of the vertical stabilizer, blanking of the horizontal tail in high-alpha/stall situations and missing increase in the elevator/horizontal tail authority from the prop slipstream in the initial phase of the T/O run, to name a few. In gliders the T-tail brings its few p.c. in lower drag and may save the tail in case of an outlanding into high weeds, but otherwise its disadvantages prevail. Ask the guys in charge of the L-M C-5 Galaxy maintenance...