Shapely new VLA trainer/tourer

A brisk, crisp, fun-to-fly, farmstrip-friendly tourer and glider-tug which may also interest flying schools. Ernie Hoblin flies the prototype

in: Pilot, august 2001

I KNEW LITTLE or nothing about this aircraft before being offered a flight-if I had seen anything it had probably been filed under 'Another plastic tadpole'- so the one thing I can say for sure is that I approached the A210 in an unbiased frame of mind! As we parked alongside it at Staverton, the first thing I noticed was that the cowling was open. As an engineer I'm a sucker for an open cowling-it can tell me a lot about the way the aircraft is constructed-so I went and introduced myself to Siegfried Doerfler (PR man) and Gregor Bremer (sales manager) of Aquila and started to delve inside.

The first thing that struck me was the cat's cradle of tubes which formed the engine mount and nosewheel support; this was obviously the result of some pretty detailed design work. The installation of the 912S Rotax was clean and neat. They had packed a great deal of equipment into a very aerodynamic shape but everything still looked reasonably accessible for maintenance. The carb air intake was an improbably small slot designed to allow air in without disrupting the airflow. The opening under the nose, reminiscent of a Wallace and Grommit style mouth, is the cooling air inlet. On the front of the engine was an MT hydraulicallyoperated constant-speed prop. I was starting to like this aeroplane.

The airframe is mainly fibreglass, with carbon fibre wing spars and reinforcements where necessary. Siegfried told me that, as part of the certification process, they had built and then broken a wing to see if it was as strong as had been hoped. It snapped at 12g, which is very reassuring (and suggests a design limit of approximately 5g, given the usual composite safety factor of 2.3-Ed.). The wing uses a modified sailplane profile and the plan form is similar to that of a Discus glider. The trailingedge is straight, while the leading-edge has two changes of angle, tapering from the parallel to a narrow triangle with winglets at the tip. The shape is unusual but certainly not unpleasing.

Below the wing is the fixed, spring-steel undercarriage system, with neatly spatted wheels and hydraulic brakes. Two-thirds of the trailing-edge is taken up with the electrically-operated Fowler flaps, the rest being aileron which promised good control. Each wing contains a sixty-Iitre fuel tank and I was told that, the Rotax 912S is certificated for the use of unleaded mogas.

At the rear of the wings each side is a hefty footrest leading to an ample walkway and, on the left-hand side, the hatch gives access to the large baggage area behind the seats. The fuselage is the aforementioned tadpole shape much beloved of modern designers, tapering to an impossibly slim section ahead of the tail. The fin and rudder, tailplane and elevators are well proportioned and again promise good control. All control surfaces are nicely faired into their parent aerofoils to allow for smooth airflow and the controls themselves are light to move. The finish overall is smooth, almost like glass, as one would expect from composites.

Beneath the fin is a protrusion with a cable showing through it. This is the hardpoint for fitting a glider towing hook and was used to mount a parachute during spin tests. I must admit the thought of hanging a glider off that slim fuselage would give me pause for thought, but that is one of the uses for which the aircraft was designed and stressed.

Impressive climb

Entry to the cockpit is about as easy as it can be. The canopy opens using a central handle with pushbutton operation (production models will have a different system with two catches, one each side) and hinges forward to the vertical for ease of access. I can step straight from the wing walkway onto the cockpit floor, supporting myself with a hand on the rear canopy support arch, and lower myself into the seat. The seat is comfortably contoured and I'm told it's adjustable fore and aft to allow for pilots up to two metres tall. Certainly this six-footer had plenty of room. The canopy is within easy reach of the seat and can be pulled down and locked without straining. The locking system in this prototype is similar to a car door lock, with one central handle to pull down, and closes with two easily audible clicks to ensure correct locking.

The instrument panel is well laid out with the gauges, switches and circuit breakers easily visible from both seats. I chose to fly from the right seat and was pleased to find that I actually had brakes on that side, toe-brakes being fitted to both sets of pedals.

One item of note is the rev counter which reads prop revs, not those of the engine. The red line is thus at 2,400 rpm which, given the 2.43:1 reduction gearbox, equates to the expected 5,800 rpm for the Rotax 912S. The King KX125 nav/com with integrated CDI, King transponder with encoding altimeter and the PS Engineering intercom are the standard fit for this machine. This prototype also has a Skyforce colour moving map Skymap IIIC, one of the many options, which would not be fitted as standard. The options available are very impressive, ranging right up to autopilot and mode S transponder.

Below the main panel, in the centre, is a sub-panel with three control knobs for the choke, carb heat and cabin air. Below and behind them are the throttle and the prop control lever and behind that again is the rocker switch for the trimmer, and the parking- brake knob. The trimmer position-indicator is in the centre of the main panel at the top where it is hidden from sunlight and thus easy to see (it relies on a fairly weak light and on some aircraft I have flown is totally invisible). Both the stick and throttle come comfortably to hand, a very important point in my mind. All in all, a well laid out and comfortable cockpit.

The starting procedure is common to all Rotax 912 i. e. master on, fuel pump on, choke if the engine is cold, prop full fine (forward), throttle cracked open then turn the key to start. The engine bursts into life and idles smoothly at 800 revs. I release the park brake and away we go. On flat tarmac there is no need for more than idle power to taxi, in fact my problem was keeping it slow enough. I want to ease back on the throttle to avoid overuse of the brakes but that would put the engine below 800 revs, an area which produces unpleasant vibrations. Directional control however is simple using the nosewheel steering and brakes. The engine checks are done at 1,800 revs, first the mags and carb heat, then exercise the prop control three times. I note that the prop control moves over half the total travel before there is an appreciable change in revs. A final check of the controls and I line up on Staverton's R09, push the throttle fully forward and away we go.

The acceleration is brisk. At fifty knots I rotate and we are off the ground and climbing. Best climb speed is 65 knots and that gives a rate of climb of 750 fpm at a very impressive angle of climb. At 1,000 feet I pull the prop revs back to 2,200 with little deterioration in the rate of climb, then keep on going up. We had agreed to meet the camera ship at 2,000 feet, but the thermal activity is such that I continue to 4,000 where the air is smoother. Until now I have been concentrating on flying smoothly and keeping straight, but once clear of Staverton's airspace, I try a few steep turns to get a feel of the aircraft.

Crisp handling

Aileron response is good but not dramatic- you don't get dramatic response with nearly 34 feet of wingbut it is good and very precise. The handling, overall, is crisp and the description 'riding on rails' comes to mind. All controls are light and harmonised with just the right match between response and stability. There is an interconnection between the ailerons and rudder, flexible enough to allow for side-slips, which presumably helps harmonise the turns, although I can't say I noticed. Low-speed handing is impeccable even when hitting an unexpected thermal. Without flap at low speed the handling becomes a bit mushy and requires fairly large control deflections, but the first, 15° stage of flap soon puts that right.

The visibility is excellent with virtually allround glazing continuing down to almost waist level giving the impression of sitting in a bubble. The cockpit is by far the biggest part of the airframe and there is only a fairly narrow chord wing, an ultra-slim rear fuselage and the tightly-cowled engine to detract from the all-round view.

I try a few stalls and find nothing there to frighten even the most nervous pilot although I am pleased to find that there is a definite break. So many modern designers seem to try to design out any vestige of stall, preferring to allow nothing more than a mush-fine until you encounter a real stall for the first time in another aircraft. The break, which comes at an indicated 43 knots with full flap, is benign and entirely controllable with no wing drop. The slightest easing of the angle of attack encourages the wing to start flying again, with or without power. The full-power stall comes at an airspeed which is pretty well off the clock, and at such a ridiculous angle it is tempting to make it into a stall-turn. When I mention this, Siegfried reminds me that the JAR VLA category in which the A210 is certified prohibits intentional spins and aerobatics. Never mind

By now it is time for some air-to-airs and flying formation in such a controllable aircraft is predictably easy, the main problem is keeping this slippery airframe from nosing ahead of the camera ship. As I become more confident I close right up until eventually Siegfried asks me to back off. As this is the prototype, I suppose he has good reason to be cautious.

With the pictures taken, I head back towards Staverton, assisted by the Skyforce moving map display which points the way (it's easy to get lost when you've spent the last thirty minutes going round in ever-decreasing circles over unfamiliar terrain), and set up for a left base approach. Neither flap position (the second stage is 38°) produces an appreciable pitch change and I fly the final approach through the thermals generated by Gloucester town with no trouble at all. The landing is one of my better ones (the aircraft is still usable!) and I quickly depart the ru way to allow the photographic aircraft to land behind me.

With the A210 safely parked back on the apron I can relax and assess my feelings about the aircraft. The shape is certainly pleasing, but they all are these days. In the same way that all cars look alike now, if ten designers feed the same parameters into a computer it is no surprise if you get ten almost identical aircraft. The cockpit layout is good, my only gripe being the position of the trimmer switch which I always had to search for. Maintenance should be easy to do, but finding someone to do it could be a problem. Katana operators have found that there are few engineers who were licensed to repair and service them and the Aquila is likely to be in the same position, so your annual inspection could be preceded by a long cross-country. From a pilot's point of view I thought it was superb. This is an aircraft which should be able to operate from many farmstrips and will carry two, good-sized people plus luggage, the length of Britain or anywhere in Northern Europe at a very respectable cruise speed, and all at a very reasonable fuel consumption. It copes admirably with turbulence and, for me the most important factor of all, it's fun to fly. Aquila, like everyone else, is hoping to get a slice of the instructional market dominated by Cessna 152s. Many flying schools have tried composite two-seaters as training/hiring aircraft but it's interesting to learn that several have given up on them, mainly citing maintenance difficulties. The A210's designers appear to have got better performance, more room and more baggage capacity from a Katana-sized aircraft using exactly the same engine and prop. The Aquila also offers the advantage of a definite but benign stall. If they could find a way to overcome the main- tenance problem maybe there would indeed be an opening for their machine in the train- ing/hiring market. Being something of a Luddite, I have to admit I wonder how that nice GRP airframe would stand up to the kind of hammering and misuse it would get in this market, but I wish them the best. They have a lovely aeroplane.

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