Transavia PL-12 Airtruk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transavia_PL-12_Airtruk

The Transavia PL-12 Airtruk is a single-engine agricultural aircraft designed
and built by the Transavia Corporation in Australia. The Airtruk is a
shoulder-wing strut braced sesquiplane of all-metal construction, with the
cockpit mounted above a tractor-location opposed-cylinder air-cooled engine and
short pod fuselage with rear door. The engine cowling, rear fuselage and top
decking are of fibreglass. It has a tricycle undercarriage, the main units of
which are carried on the lower sesquiplane wings. It has twin tail booms with
two unconnected tails. Its first flight was on 22 April 1965, and was certified
on 10 February 1966.

It was developed from the Bennett Airtruck designed in New Zealand by Luigi
Pellarini. It has a 1 metric ton capacity hopper and is able to ferry two
passengers as a topdresser. Other versions can be used as cargo, ambulance or
aerial survey aircraft, and carry one passenger in the top deck and four in the
lower deck.

The Airtruk is also sometimes known as the Airtruck. Because the name "Airtruck"
was registered by the New Zealand companies Bennett Aviation Ltd and Waitomo
Aircraft Ltd, for their PL-11, Transavia found another name for their PL-12
("Airtruk").

July 1978 saw the first flight of an improved model, the T-300 Skyfarmer, which
was powered by a Textron Lycoming IO-540-engine. This was followed in 1981 by
the T-300A with improved aerodynamics. Transavia ceased production of the T-300
in 1985.

In 1982 certification was undertaken to enable sales in the North American
market. Assistance was provided by the Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL)
of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and extensive tests
carried out on the ground and in subsequent flight flutter clearance trials.
ref. DSTO Structures Tech. Memo. 341

In 1985 an extended version was produced and released as the T-400. The engine
was changed from a 6-cylinder to an 8-cylinder and the tail booms extended by
750 millimetres. Other minor changes were made to the aerodynamics. Flutter
clearance tests were again carried out by ARL and manufacture proceeded.


Role
Agricultural aircraft

National origin
Australia

Manufacturer
Transavia Corporation

Designer
Luigi Pellarini

First flight
22 April 1965

Produced
1966-1993

Number built
118

Developed from
Bennett Airtruck

As of 2008, there are at least three examples in museums in New Zealand, with an
additional one being restored to airworthy status. The second prototype is
preserved in the Powerhouse Museum collection, Sydney, Australia.

There is one Transavia PL-12 Airtruk on display and under restoration at the
Danish Air Museum at the airport called "Stauning" in western Denmark.

There is one airworthy Airtruk in Ecka airfield near Zrenjanin, Serbia, two
airworthy T300A models in Albury( Hazair PL)Australia and one airworthy PL12
model in Tooma, Australia.

In the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, a modified Airtruk is flown by
Jedidiah the Pilot (Bruce Spence).

Specifications (PL-12 / PL-12U)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 2 pax / 2,000 lb (910 kg) dry chemicals or 818 l (216 US gal; 180 imp
gal) liquids
Length: 21 ft 0 in (6.4 m)
Wingspan: 39 ft 4 in (11.98 m)
Height: 9 ft 0 in (2.74 m)
Wing area: 256 sq ft (23.8 m2)
Airfoil: NACA 23012
Empty weight: 1,709 lb (775 kg)
PL-12U 1,830 lb (830 kg)Max takeoff weight: 4,090 lb (1,855 kg) (agricultural
mission)
Fuel capacity: 181.5 l (47.9 US gal; 39.9 imp gal) in two upper wing fuel tanks
with optional second tank in each wing for a total of 373 l (99 US gal; 82 imp
gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce/Continental IO-520-D 6-cyl. air-cooled horizontally
opposed piston engine, 300 hp (220 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed McCauley D2A34C58/90AT-2 constant speed metal propeller, 7
ft 4 in (2.23 m) diameter

Performance
Maximum speed: 103 kn (119 mph; 191 km/h)
PL-12U 112 kn (129 mph; 207 km/h)Cruise speed: 95 kn (109 mph; 176 km/h) at 75%
power at Sea level ISA
PL-12U 102 kn (117 mph; 189 km/h)Stall speed: 52 kn (60 mph; 96 km/h) flaps down
PL-12U 50 kn (58 mph; 93 km/h)Never exceed speed: 180 kn (207 mph; 333 km/h)
PL-12U 150 kn (170 mph; 280 km/h)Rate of climb: 600 ft/min (3.05 m/s)
PL-12U 4.066 m/s (800.4 ft/min)Wing loading: 16 lb/sq ft (79 kg/m2)
PL-12U 73 kg/m2 (15 lb/sq.ft.)Power/mass: 0.12 kW/kg (0.073 hp/lb)
PL-12U 0.129 kW/kg (0.078 hp/lb)



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Nice pictures, very rare airplane.
Lucky enough I havve seen some examples in Tasmania and New Zealand