Flying the Extra 500

J. Douglas Hinton

May 28, 2004 - Homebuilts aside, it is not often since the days of Walter Beech, Lloyd Stearman, Clyde Cessna and the like that one is able to go flying with the same gentleman who founded the company, then designed, built and test-flew an aircraft to FAR Part 23 certified standards.

But when I arrived at Orlando Executive Airport to fly the new Extra 500, waiting for me were founder Walter Extra, accompanied by Ken Keith, CEO of Extra Aircraft LLC, and Red Berry, aircraft sales.

Walter Extra, several times German aerobatic champion, designed and built the two-place Extra 300 some years ago after evaluating competitive aerobatic aircraft in the U.S. To date, more than 300 units have been sold to some of the biggest names in the competitive aerobatic world. This was followed by the Extra 400, a pressurized, six-place, piston engine-powered touring plane. And finally, the Extra 500, essentially the same configuration as the 400, but with a lot more performance due to its Rolls Royce/Allison turboprop powerplant. European certification of the Extra 500 is expected this month, with Federal Aviation Administration approval expected a few weeks later.

While Extra Aircraft officials like to think the company "has no competition," it would be less than prudent to ignore what else is available among single-engine, turbine-powered, pressurized airframes in the same size category.

Discounting the much larger Pilatus PC-12 and the Ibis Aerospace Spirit (due for certification late this year), there is the Piper Meridian and the EADS SOCATA TBM 700 left to vie for the consumer dollar. The Extra 500 base price is the least expensive at $1.5 million, followed by the Meridian at $1.75 million and the TBM 700 at $2.6 million.

Seating capacities are pilot plus five for the Extra, plus four to five for the Meridian, and plus five to six for the TBM 700. Block times for a 600 nm trip reflect the Extra 500 arriving three minutes after the Meridian and 31 minutes after the TBM 700. But the German product wins hands down on takeoff performance, both at sea level and 5,000 feet, by large margins over the Piper and French products.

Extra's philosophy has been to limit the 500's service ceiling to 25,000 feet, on the premise if you can't top the weather at that altitude, you probably won't at 30,000 (Meridian) or 31,000 feet (TBM 700), either. Additionally, the requirement to carry supplemental oxygen for the pilot and passengers is waived, saving weight and cost.

While the TBM 700 has the longest cabin, the Extra 500 has the widest and is equal to the Meridian in height, connoting more passenger comfort. And with a pressurization ratio of 5.5 psi, one can enjoy a sea level cabin up to 12,300 feet.

American buyers are sometimes chary about purchasing foreign products, largely because of concerns about product support. It is well to remember that as of late last year, Extra Aircraft LLC is a Pennsylvania-based, American-owned entity and highly dedicated to servicing and supporting the product, according to CEO Ken Keith.

So what does the Extra 500 order book look like? "Prior to Sun ‘n Fun, we had five firm orders for the 500," Keith said. "We've been demostrating like mad ever since and there's a lot of activity we're in the process of sorting through, such as answering questions on the contract language and so on.

" We expect to start cutting metal with the 10th order and bring things on line pretty quickly. Except for firewall forward, the Extra 500 is almost identical to the 400, so we have all the tools and jigs ready to go."

The company requires a deposit of $25,000 with an order, another $25,000 when the aircraft is FAA-certified and another $100,000 when the aircraft starts down the production line. Balance is due upon delivery. The price includes ferry to the U.S. and training for one pilot at a yet-to-be-determined facility, Keith said. "I'd like to stress we're not using the customer's money to build the airplane," he added. "All deposits are escrowed and interest-bearing."

Though the Extra 300 is sold through dealers, the EA 400 and 500 will be sold factory-direct for the time being.

READY TO FLY

With Florida's temperature and humidity strutting its stuff, Walter Extra suggested we go fly the bird. Considerately, he already had the air conditioner running off a ground power unit to pre-cool the interior, a feature sure to score points with prospective buyers. (Cabin heat is supplied by bleed air from the engine).

During our walkaround inspection, I had several questions. One was about the peculiar silvery color of the de-icer boots (the airplane will be certified for flight into known ice). "They're Teflon-coated," explained Extra. "We accrete very little ice, even with the boots inactive. The ice lights are directed at the black patches you see on the wing inboard leading edges because it's the only way we can see if we're accreting ice at night, the color of the boots and ice being about the same."

When I asked why the optional weather radar dome was mounted on the left wingtip rather than underslung on the wing itself, Extra explained tests showed it would disturb laminar flow on the wing and thereby decay performance. He maintained the long lever arm of the wingtip weight was negligible.

All fuel (176 gallons) is contained in a wet wing and moved with transfer pumps. A crossfeed system is available should a fuel imbalance result. Gravity feed will keep the engines running even if the pumps fail.

My next surprise was when I learned the engine air intake lip was not de-iced by bleed air, but engine exhaust, internally rerouted as required. Anti-icing for the five-bladed German "MT" propeller (composite-covered wood) is electric. Extra claims ice accretion is far less than with a metal whirly stick.

The unusual high wing design for this class of aircraft allows a larger cabin and better view for both passengers and crew. It also delivers a better ride in turbulence.

Entering the cabin through clamshell doors, one sees a club seating arrangement with baggage compartment (240 lbs. maximum capacity) behind the rear seats, which fold forward to allow in-flight access. A small, stowable writing table adorns the right sidewall and some cabinetry is wedged between the cabin and cockpit. There are also plug-ins and headphones at each seat for intercom and CD players.

When I beseeched Walter Extra about taking the left seat, he mournfully (with a smile) explained it wouldn't be possible because of the German registration, the fact the airplane wasn't yet certified and concomitant insurance restrictions. No matter. I could see quite well what was happening from the right seat.

As I strapped into the four-point harness, two features of the cockpit jumped out immediately: the superb visibility out the front, sides and down, and the ergonomic layout of the switches and instrumentation. Not only are the various switches grouped by function, such as engine, anti-ice, lighting, environmental etc., they are positioned on an easy-to-reference color-coded side panel of blue, yellow and red for emergency.

After deactivating the air conditioning, Extra went through the engine start procedure. Power on, boost pump on, hit the starter switch, monitor turbine temperature for a hot start (790° max.), let gas generator speed (N1) stabilize, introduce fuel and we were in business as the standard Honeywell EFS and Garmin FMS combo came to life. In 2006, the standard avionics will be replaced by the Honeywell Apex FMS system, now undergoing certification. This will comprise two 10-and-a-half inch diagonal screens to include dual nav/comms, an engine indicating and alert system, a mode S transponder, ground proximity warning and a dual channel air data heading reference system. Available as options will be weather radar, DME, ADF, radar altimeter, TCAS and a Flight Information Service.

With nose wheel linkage to the rudder pedals able to handle all but the sharpest turns (when brake assist may be required), we were ready to taxi.

The beefy landing gear offers a stiff ride, although in all fairness there were some bumps in the taxiways. The gear itself is electrically activated and hydraulically actuated. Emergency gear lowering consists of merely pulling a circuit breaker, releasing electric uplocks, which allows the gear to gravity-fall into position.

A perfunctory check of the propeller governor was made at 1,800 rpms, flaps set to 15°, transponder on and we were ready to go.

As we lined up for takeoff, I asked Extra whether ram recovery might exceed torque limits. "It's possible," he answered. "I just set the N1 speed at 103% and forget about it on takeoff. No problems."

Rotating at 85 knots, we established an initial rate of climb of 1,600 fpm at 110 knots, then flattened to a cruise climb of 130 knots and 1,200 fpm. The Rolls Royce/Allison 250-B17F/2 powerplant has 450 horses available for takeoff and, depending on density altitude, can deliver this rated power up to about 12,000 feet. TBO is 3,500 hrs with an HSI (Hot Section Inspection) due at 1,750.

Traffic considerations prevented us from climbing to the desired 17,000 feet in the busy Orlando area, so we contented ourselves with doing the air work at 12,000 feet. Two stalls were done, one clean (75 kts) and one dirty (57 kts). In each case, there was at least a 10 kt warning before the airplane paid off with a slight wing drop, easily picked up with aileron. In fact, Extra rolled the aircraft from side to side while completely stalled.

Next, to demonstrate the Extra 500's inherent stabilty, he trimmed the aircraft for level flight, took hands off the controls and pushed left rudder. It began a turn to the left. Releasing rudder pressure, the aircraft remained in the turn at the same bank angle. Slow flight followed, with docile turns up to 30° of bank angle at speeds just above the stall warning.

Curious about how quickly the aircraft could get down in case of pressurization failure, there being no oxygen available, I asked Extra to demonstrate an emergency descent. As with other turboprops I'd flown, I fully expected him to reduce power to idle, dump the gear and full flaps, then push over. Perhaps because the maximum flap speeds for full and 15° of flap are 109 kts and 120 kts respectively, this procedure wasn't practical. Cutting the power to idle, Extra stuffed the nose down and we were soon descending at a satisfying 200 kts and 4,200 fpm rate of descent, or fast enough to obviate any breathing problems for the passengers and pilot.

Returning to the airport for landing, I wanted to see a maximum performance landing. The pitch angle increased dramatically when full flaps were lowered on final, giving an excellent view of the approach. Crossing the numbers at about 90 kts, I don't remember the touchdown speed, but I do remember stopping within a few hundred feet when the propeller went into full reverse. We had to taxi to the first turnoff.

In summary, I liked the Extra 500. Though not a speed demon, it's a robust, honest airplane with no apparent, unpleasant surprises. And its payload/fuel ratio, combined with access to short runway airports denied to some of its competitors, could make a lot of sense to buyers whose travel profiles usually fall within the 300-600 nm range.

For more information: 717-394-9797 or ExtraAircraft.com.