Transavia PL-12 Airtruk

Transavia PL-12 Airtruk
Land	Australië
Role	Landbouwvliegtuigen
Eerste vlucht	2 april 1965
Gebouwd	138

De Transavia PL-12 Airtruk is een eenmotorig landbouwvliegtuig ontworpen en gebouwd door de Transavia Corporation in Australië. De Airtruk is een schoudervleugel strut geschoord sesquiplane van een volledig metalen constructie, met de cockpit gemonteerd boven een tractor-locatie tegengestelde cilinder luchtgekoelde motor en korte pod romp met achterdeur. De motorkap, de achterste romp en het bovendek zijn van glasvezel. Het heeft een driewielig onderstel, waarvan de hoofdeenheden op de onderste sesquiplane-vleugels worden gedragen. Het heeft dubbele staartbomen met twee niet-verbonden staarten. De eerste vlucht was op 22 april 1965 en werd gecertificeerd op 10 februari 1966.

Bron: Transavia PL-12 Airtruk op Wikipedia

Transavia PL12 Airtruck Walk Around
Photographer	Vladimir Yakubov
Localisation	Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
Photos	94

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Unique Design and Characteristics

The Transavia PL-12 Airtruk, often cited as one of the world’s most bizarre-looking aircraft, is a rugged Australian-built agricultural plane designed by Luigi Pellarini. Its unconventional layout is a direct result of its specialized mission requirements for crop dusting and topdressing.

Unconventional Fuselage: Features a short, stubby pod fuselage centered around the chemical hopper/tank. The pilot’s cockpit is high-mounted above the engine, providing exceptional forward and downward visibility and enhancing pilot safety by placing them above the heavy engine and hopper in the event of a crash.
Twin Tail Booms: The most distinguishing feature is the twin tail booms supporting unconnected tails (fins and rudders). This design allows a loading truck to back up between the booms to quickly fill the hopper, even with the engine running, which significantly reduces turnaround time. It also keeps corrosive chemicals away from the tail structure.
Sesquiplane Wing: The aircraft is technically a sesquiplane, meaning it has one main wing (shoulder-mounted) and a much smaller lower wing (stub wings) which primarily serve to mount the main landing gear.
Multi-Role Capability: Although primarily an agricultural aircraft, a utility variant (PL-12U) was developed for cargo, air ambulance, aerial survey, and even to ferry up to five passengers (one in the upper cockpit, four in the lower cabin behind the hopper).

Specifications and Performance (PL-12/T-300 Variant)

Property	Waarde
Role	Agricultural/Utility Aircraft
Fabrikant	Transavia Corporation (Australia)
Bemanning	1 pilot
Capacity (Ag)	910 kg (2,000 lb) dry chemicals / 818 L (216 US gal) liquids
Krachtbron	1 Rolls-Royce/Continental IO-520-D (or Lycoming IO-540) flat-six piston engine, 300 hp
Max Takeoff Weight (Agricultural)	1,855 kg (4,090 lb)
Max Cruise Speed	176 km/h (95 knots) at 75% power
Stall Speed (Flaps Down)	96 km/h (52 knots)
Rate of Climb	3.05 m/s (600 ft/min)
Bereik	Approximately 1,296 km (700 NM)