by Ernesto Franzen

FOZ DO IGUAÇU, BRAZIL: "Flight impressions" is an adequate title for this

article. Just as you can't tell a book by its cover, you can't tell the

GA200 by its looks. One flight is enough, however, to impress any pilot.

Small (39.4 feet wingspan, 91.7 feet length) and looking a lot like the

Piper Pawnee, this ag plane carries a 800-liter load with a Lycoming 250 HP

engine and a fixed-pitch McCauley propeller. The secret is the use of

proven structural engineering techniques, strut-braced wings, and

aerodynamics which include airfoil-shaped elevators and a fuselage that

acts as a lifting body.

It was during the Congresso Mercosul de Aviação Agrícola that I had the

opportunity to fly this Australian-built aircraft by Gippsland Aeronautics

and brought to Brazil by an association between Pontual Aeroagrícola and

J&C Enterprises (the U.S. Gippsland representative).

Simplicity is this plane's keyword. There's not a casting or extrusion in

the fuselage structure, which is completely formed by soldered steel tubes.

This ensures its likely repairability after an incident. Jerry Buster, of

J&C Enterprises, told me that a GA200 collided with a tree, having a wing

torn off. Besides that, its pilot escaped unscathed and the plane was

repaired and flew again. Aluminum skin covers the fuselage from the engine

to the cockpit; from there to the tail it's covered with Dacron. The wings

are also aluminum skinned.

Wire cutters on the windshield, gear and a deflector cable offer protection

against power line collisions. Wing leading edges are made of the same

components, which can be installed on either wing; The same is true for the

ailerons and flaps. This makes maintenance easier and cheaper.

Wing struts make for a light structure (empty weight is 1698 lb.) but

strong enough to reach an agricultural take off weight of 3750 lb. The

landing gear uses heavy duty rubber shock chords and very efficient disc

brakes. Cockpit doors hinge up, being held by automotive "gas spring"

tubes. According to Buster, this makes door jamming less likely in the

event of a crash.

Its fuel system is another safety factor. It consists of two wing tanks

totalling a 53-gallon capacity which feed a fuselage header tank by a

mechanical fuel pump with an electrical back-up unit. The header tank then

gravity feeds the carburetor. In the event of no fuel transfer, either by

mechanical pump failure (when the electrical can be turned on) or by pilot

"distraction", the header tank will allow about 15 minutes flight after the

time a warning lamp comes on, enough in a typical operation to return to

the landing strip. For even increased safety, the header tank has a buoy

with a "no take off" indicator that can be seen through a glass atop the

engine cowling - to back up the warning lamp. There's no selector valve,

just a small "T" shaped fuel shut off valve for emergencies. Fuel quantity

in the wing tanks can be seen by small glass windows on the wings, simple

and fail-proof.

The GA200 211 gallon hopper has two lids; one is for solids work and the

other is for liquids. The latter incorporates the hopper baffle, has a

rubber gasket and a pressure lock. It doesn't need to be opened when

loading chemicals, since the pilot is afforded full vision of the hopper

contents. When spreading solids, this lid and its baffle are removed, and

the hopper is closed by the clear acrylic lid that normally closes on top

of the liquids lid. The solids lid can be opened by the pilot from inside

the cockpit, Once loading is over, all the pilot has to do is to open the

throttle and the prop blast will close the hopper lid.

Unfortunately, no loading facilities were available the day I flew the

GA200, so I could not evaluate its full-load flight characteristics. It

wasn't ,t all empty, however, as several filled fuel cans were stashed in

the hopper. AAU Editor Bill Lavender flew the GA200 in Australia with a

full load, however, and reported it behaved well.

During the conference's demo flights, Pontual's owner Gianluca Possamai,

took off with full fuel and a full hopper in less than half the 3,300 ft

runway. I timed his loaded turns at 25 seconds. The demo aircraft was

outfitted with a lowered boom and CP Nozzles. Its swath was very even and

deposited immediately on the ground without any noticeable vortices. This

was helped by the special wingtips, which Gippsland developed after years

of field testing. As a part of the efforts to keep it aerodynamically

clean, a Weath-Aero fan was fitted to the plane evaluated.

Gianluca's pre-flight briefing to me consisted of showing the elevator trim

take off position and recommendations to keep engine rpm around 2420 and to

fly the final approach at some 70 knots. Seating position is quite upright

and the low stick keeps the arm in a comfortable position. By the time the

engine was warmed up I was feeling at home. The flight instrument panel is

very compact and simple, grouping to the left side includes an airspeed

indicator, altimeter, turn-and -bank, tach, oil temp and pressure gauges

and an amperimeter; a CHT indicator is optional. The engine cowling

includes three venturi air outlets, that besides improving cooling, also

blow air to the wing roots increasing lift. All electrical switches

(master, magnetos, electric fuel pump and lights) are on the extreme left,

except for the starter button, which sits at the right of the flight panel.

The plane was equipped with a Satloc DGPS system and a VHF radio, which

took more panel space than the flight instruments. Seat belts have no

inertia reel, cockpit ergonomy is very good and there's no need for the

pilot to get his back off the seat to reach for anything. Cabin ventilation

is good, with air intakes on the top of the cabin and on the wings

underside. Visibility is what anyone expects from an ag plane.

The electrical system is 14-volt, with several automotive components. For

those flying at night, there's an optional additional 28-volt system with

its own alternator installed at the Lycoming's accessory case that feeds

only the work lights. During night ops, should the 28 volt alternator fail,

the 14-volt electrical system landing lights still allow a safe landing.

Engine start is standard Lycoming carburetor engine drill once the fuel

system has been pressurized by the electric pump, this being indicated by

the change in its noise. Mixture is kept lean on the ground to avoid plug

fouling, but full rich is recommended in flight.

The GA200 tailwheel is full-swiveling, with an optional steerable Scott.

The efficient brakes make taxiing easy, however. Runup is standard

Lycoming. Half-flaps are used for take-off, which was short and showed no

vices.

Flying level at 2,000 feet above the Itaipu dam at 100 knots, I could feel

how light and responsive were the GA200 elevators and ailerons, which are

very well harmonized; only the rudder is a bit stiff, possibly due to its

short throw.

Down for a few passes, I realized Gippsland had achieved a combination of

light and responsive controls with a stable aircraft. The GA200 stays

steady on the passes, and turns are easy and pleasant, very little trim

being required. I wasn't used to working the throttle to keep the engine at

its best rpm due to the fixed pitch prop, but that becomes a matter of

habit. Buster says this isn't really necessary, the prop is calibrated for

well less than engine redline - the take off was at 2500 rpm - so while

working the GA200 you can stop the throttle at the desired position and let

the engine's rpm vary; it won't easily hit the 2700 rpm redline.

Gippsland's philosophy for simplicity dictates that at this power range,

the cost and complexity of a constant speed prop won't be offset by

increased performance. For those who can't live without this "luxury",

there's the GA200C model, with a 300 hp engine, constant speed prop and an

even bigger hopper of 280 gallons.

Finishing my evaluation flight, I turned to final and applied full flaps.

Being my first landing in the GA200, I intended to keep airspeed at

Gianluca's recommended 70 knots, but it fell to 65 when I lowered the flaps

the aircraft handled SO well that I kept the airspeed at 65. Flaps are

interconnected to the elevator trim, so there's no change in pitch when

using them. Landing was very easy, much like a Super Cub.

The GA200 is an example of an easy-to-fly airplane that pilots can worry

less about flying and concentrate more on the job to be done. Gippsland has

achieved this with sound engineering. Its simplicity, economy and good

flight characteristics as well as a passenger seat that will allow you to

carry a loader to those far away satellite strips, makes the GA200 a far

more attractive ag plane than its looks indicate.