IAI Arava

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAI_Arava

The Israeli Aircraft Industries Arava (Hebrew: ???????, "Willow" or "Steppe" of
"Desert", named after the Aravah of the Jordan Rift Valley) is a light STOL
utility transport aircraft developed and produced by Israeli aerospace company
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). It holds the distinction of being IAI's first
indigenously-developed aircraft design to enter production.

The Arava had been developed during the 1960s, during which time it was intended
to be adopted in large numbers by international customers in both the military
and civil markets. Its design draws some influence from the French Nord Noratlas
transport plane. Both the Israeli government and IAI's management were
enthusiastic to develop the Arava, seeing it as a means of advancing the
country's industrial capabilities as well as a source of revenue. On 27 November
1969, the first prototype performed its maiden flight; it would be destroyed on
19 November 1970 after a wing strut failed mid-flight due to excessive flutter.
This accident has been attributed as being a major setback to both the Arava's
development and its sales opportunities.

Despite an otherwise unremarkable development process, the Arava would
ultimately only be built in relatively small numbers; many would-be operators,
including the Israeli Air Force (IAF), determined that the aircraft lacked
appeal over several existing market entrants. By 1973, the Arava programme and
IAI wee being heavily criticised for overoptimistic forecasting against its
actual sales performance. Following an aggressive marketing campaign and new
pricing strategies, multiple customers for the type were found, mainly amongst
the developing countries, especially in Central and South America, as well as
outliers in Swaziland and Thailand. The IAF was largely unimpressed by the
Arava, exercising a short-term lease of three aircraft during the Yom Kippur War
of 1973; during the 1980s, the service opted to procure a small fleet of
SIGINT-configured Aravas using American aid. During 2004, the IAF opted to
retire its Arava fleet. As of 2019, a handful of aircraft remain operational
around the world.

Origins

According to aviation journalist and ex-IAI engineer Danny Shalom, substantial
work on the development of what would become the Arava commenced right after the
Six-Day War between Israel and several neighbouring nations. Prior to this
point, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) had largely confined its aircraft
manufacturing efforts to producing copies of existing French and American
designs, such as the IAI Nesher. However, many of the company's engineers were
keen to develop beyond imitation and reverse engineering effort, for IAI and
Israel to produce its own unique and indigenously-produced aircraft. Around this
time, the company had foresaw a requirement for a new generation of transport
aircraft that would suit operations from runways only 400 meters in length. IAI
had forecasted the international market demand for such an aircraft to be
massive and that, by obtaining only a 20% market share, the company would sell
between 400 and 600 aircraft throughout the life of the programme.

As the design took shape, key performance objectives included Short-Takeoff and
Landing (STOL) capability, the ability to operate the type from unprepared/rough
airstrips, as well as the carriage of up to 20 passengers or bulky payloads. The
Arava featured a barrel-like fuselage, being relatively short but wide, while
the rear of the fuselage was hinged and could swing open for easy and rapid
loading and unloading. Its wingspan was long and the twin tails were mounted on
booms that ran from the engine nacelles. It was fitted with a fixed nosewheel
undercarriage to save weight, while the chosen powerplant was a pair of 715 eshp
(533 kW) Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-27 turboprop engines. The design
configuration bore considerable similarity to the French Nord Noratlas transport
plane, which was already being used at that time by the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

During June 1968, the Israeli government, headed by Labor leader Levi Eshkol,
issued its approval of the initiative, authorising IAI to proceed with
full-scale development. The Arava was viewed not only as a sellable product in
its own right, but also as a means of enhancing IAI's ability to develop
aircraft and thus would heavily influence its work on future projects.


Role
Transport

Manufacturer
Israeli Aircraft Industries

First flight
27 November 1969

Status
Out of production, limited use

Primary users
Israeli Air Force (IAF)
14 other militaries

Produced
1972–1988

Number built
103

Unit cost

$450,000 (U.S.) in 1971

While IAI had anticipated considerable demand for the Arava from the civilian
market, customers quickly proved to be elusive. In comparison to the older Nord,
IAI's new aircraft was not only slower but possessed barely more than half the
endurance. Due to its inferior performance to existing transport aircraft, IAI
soon concluded that the Arava possessed little appeal to any civil operators,
and turned its efforts towards the military market instead. The IAF failed to
take any meaningful interest in the type; in one exchange, Motti Hod, commander
of the IAF, revealed that he had never even heard of the Arava. IAI, realising
that a sale to the IAF was of substantial value in the eyes of prospective
export customers, attempted to market the type for various needs, including air
ambulance, search and rescue operations, troop-transport and utility missions.

By 1973, the lack of orders for the Arava, which was viewed by some as IAI's
flagship programme, had become a subject of national criticism. Journalists
noted that IAI's sales projections had been considerably more optimistic than
those of several independent economists. Yitzhak Ernst Nebenzahl, Israel's state
comptroller at the time, made several critical observations of the programme,
attributing its failure to IAI's senior management, particularly in the failure
to critique its own forecasts. IAI, being keen to validate both itself and the
Arava, dispatched a team of test pilots and marketing staff on a flying tour of
the Americas using the Arava, visiting various nations, including Mexico,
Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Paraguay, to
demonstrate the type directly to potential customers. These demonstrations were
not without risk, as test pilots would occasionally fly the plane outside of its
safe flying envelop in order to impress customers; this led to an Arava being
destroyed in Malawi during one such flight in 1980.

Specifications (IAI 201)

General characteristics
Crew: 2
Capacity: ** 24 fully equipped troops or 16 paratroopers or
2,351 kg (5,183 lb) payload

Length: 13.03 m (42 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 20.96 m (68 ft 9 in)
Height: 5.21 m (17 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 43.68 m2 (470.2 sq ft)
Aspect ratio: 10:1
Airfoil: NACA 63(215)A 417
Empty weight: 3,999 kg (8,816 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 6,804 kg (15,000 lb)
Fuel capacity: 1,663 L (439 US gal; 366 imp gal) (normal)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-34 turboprops, 560 kW (750 shp) each
Propellers: 3-bladed Hartzell HC-B3TN fully-feathering reversible pitch
propellers

Performance
Maximum speed: 326 km/h (203 mph; 176 kn) at 3,050 m (10,000 ft)
Cruise speed: 311 km/h (193 mph; 168 kn) at 3,050 m (10,000 ft) (econ. cruise)
Stall speed: 115 km/h (71 mph; 62 kn) (54% flaps)
Never exceed speed: 397 km/h (247 mph; 214 kn)
Range: 1,056 km (656 mi; 570 nmi) with maximum fuel
Service ceiling: 7,620 m (25,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 6.6 m/s (1,290 ft/min)
Takeoff distance to 15 m (50 ft): 463 m (1,519.0 ft)
Landing run from 15 m (15 ft): 469 m (1,538.7 ft)

*