Airtest – Piper Aerostar

One of the most significant assets in Smith’s Aerostar was simplicity. No matter what the specific assets are, the whole aircraft adds up to a machine piloted and owned by people who are almost fanatical in their dedication, rather like the traditional V-tail Bonanza tribe who never seem to want to change their pride and joy.

In Aerostar’s case, a record of 650 sold in 11 years tends to speak for itself. Most North American aviation writers tip quite openly that Piper’s Aerostar will become one of the most popular twins on the market, in its class, by sheer virtue of its excellence. And yet it has the best price-to-performance ratio of any comparable type.

Selling well in most parts of the flying world today, the Piper Aerostar 600A- the little brother of the pressurised and turbo-charged bigger marks-has still to market more than selectively in Australia. Why, is the $64,000 question? Those who search for answers always conclude with an unanswered- able academic argument that proves nothing. . .

The AADR team had the littlest Aerostar, the 600A, on its evaluation list for some time before Ansett General Aviation had a copy to spare.

The resultant test was well worth waiting for, and adds considerable mystery to the question of why the 600A is selling sparingly.

In our team’s book, the 600A, with its range, performance and capacity. should be a natural for everyone from well-heeled private owners, charter operators, small corporate missions and advanced schools, to even third-level work in the faster role.

Built with space capsule tolerances. finished to Rolls Royce standards and appointed internally with thought, taste and undeniable comfort, the 600A can carry five passengers and its pilot up to 1201nm stage lengths in relative quietness.

The aircraft evaluated at Bankstown airfield was the last left at the old price of $230,000, which included a full panel plus a Century IV auto-pilot. The next batch of 600As will, according to Ansett General Aviation’s Keith Robey, be priced considerably above this figure.

Perched on a set of mains that looked both adequate and unobtrusive, the test aircraft serially 60-0649-7961206, for the purists – proved to be a living advertisement for the Piper brochure extolling its virtues in glowing phraseology.

Using the oldest yardstick of them all if an aircraft looks right it more than likely flies right the 600A under scrutiny passed this and later checks with flying colours.

It was obvious that those essential details like butted skin panels and almost faultless flush rivetting had paid off in the factory. Skin Drag was a non-starter. Heavy gauge skinning completed the lack of distortion at rest and in flight along the thin laminar flow wings (the outboard leading edge housing wing tanks in each case) and semi-monocoque fuselage.

A mid-wing type, the Aerostar’s design team overcame the obvious problem of where the main spar would run by putting two all-through main spars into the wings, set back far enough to avoid intrusion into the passenger cabin.

There are no cables in the primary control run – it’s all push-pull rods. Efficient Fowler flaps take care of small airstrip operations.

A long-range fuel system (one tank in each wing, one in the fuselage aft of the main cabin and forward of the baggage compartment) is standard on the 600A, giving 165. 5 US gallons usable.

The Aerostar team didn’t waste an inch when they played midwife to this startlingly attractive design; they even put the 24-volt battery and the APU receptacle in the tail cone, – a good idea for the latter, out of the way of spinning props.

Among the many touches of brilliance is the housing for each Lycoming 290 hp engine; the cowlings are smoothly blended into the wings, with no cowl flaps embodied in the assembly.

Two tri-bladed 78in Hartzells complete the overall “I Want To Fly” look of Piper’s Aerostar 600A, at rest. In the air, the feeling and appearance are the same – one of speedy grace and a desire to fly, and fly – and fly.

Our 600A had but one door – excluding the wide baggage door; entering and leaving the test aircraft proved trouble-free. The drill is to slide the pilot’s seat well forward, leaving a wide entry corridor into the passenger cabin and across to the right-hand seat.

Getting into the 600A via a big Dutchbarn type door, the lower half housing a small airstair step, it was apparent that there is an aircraft built for long-distance comfort . . .

Full reclining passenger seats, individual cabin vents, plenty of window space (three picture windows each side in the main cabin area) plus the usual wall-to-wall carpet and masses of soundproofing.

The front office has as much visibility as any the AADR team has seen in any twin.

A wrap-round windscreen, two tinted overhead windows (perfect in tight turns during our evaluation) and a brace of large side panels.

Passenger seat appointments were faultless in the test aircraft.

The panel looked almost Spartan until we remembered that this aircraft is really a mid-range model in terms of size, in the GA inventory, with a max AUW of 5500Ib. This same figure stands for take-off and landing limitations.

Flight and nav dials occupy the left side, nav/coms in the centre and engine instruments plus a few repeaters from the left side sit in front of the co-pilot.

A handy annunciator panel sits on the deep coaming’s top lip.

During the walk round before the engines started, we found the triple-drain housing midway along the fuselage’s port side to be a handy spot indeed, centralising the three tanks’ output.

Back in the office for engine start; starts are usually made on the right engine first, as it houses the hydraulic pump. The drill is simple, normal fuel injection stuff:

Prop full forward, mixture to Idle Cutoff, ½in of throttle cracked, Master ON, switch both fuel tank selectors and listen for valve actuation and check the warning light (those valves make an unmistakable “whoo” noise which lasts for about half a second); boost pump ON, right mixture full rich, check for fuel flow indication and return mixture to Idle Cut-Off.

And away one goes….

With both big Lycoming I0-540-K 1J5s rumbling away outside, we eased out of the Piper hard-standing with ease, thanks to a power steering assist on the main power console. This control is a split-switch arrangement, fingering to either right or left and giving an amazingly tight turning circle when needed. If only half the split rocker is thumbed and the steering actuates, you know you’ve got a Gremlin in the works somewhere.

Taxiing with the power nose-wheel steering takes a few minutes to master; the main thing Is to ant1c1pate the direction. Altimeters set to 1025, digesting Information Delta (wind light and variable, 11 Centre for departures, temp +22C and cloud three oktas at 4000) and fiddling with the power steering we arrived at the holding point. Runups are standard, with props cycled at 1500rpm and mags checked at 2100

We selected 15 degrees of Fowlers for take-off, lined up and opened the taps. There was surprisingly little swing, acceleration was very brisk and power built up fast to rated max continuous of 290bhp/2575rpm.

Weight on the take-off roll was about 5200lb – about 300Ib below max AUW. Despite the weight and nil wind assist, we parted company with terra firma in just over 1000ft – far less than the 1400ft booked length

Vmc of 84 knots arrived and went past in a blink and we lifted off with speed building up rapidly through 90 knots indicated. A fairly long-travel back pull was necessary to milk the 600A off the runway, with stick easing to allow a speed buildup.

The initial rate of climb was well over 2000. settling down to between 1500 and 1700fpm as wheels and flaps came in with little pitch change.

The Aerostar 600A at once proved itself to be a slippery aerodynamic customer once in its element, hiking along and up and laughing at the Manual’s recommended speeds. We were still settling down at 1500ft with +18C outside, power and rpm coming back to 23/2300. fuel flow back to 17gph/US/engine, and the ASI was showing better than 140 knots indicated.

The Aerostar’s high wing loading (32. 4lb/sq ft) helped enhance a delicate and fast control response, and overall aerodynamics assisted in cabin quietness and smoothness of ride, despite an intermittent chop.

At 4000ft in a typical cruise, we set up 22/2300 and got an IAS (indicated airspeed) of 180 knots. With temperature correction, it worked out to a true airspeed of 194 knots – 222 miles an hour, which bettered the graphs handsomely.

This sortie was flown to evaluate the handling characteristics of the 600A, rather than the range (if we HAD evaluated range it would have been unfair and unpatriotic as the politicians would have us believe we’re in the middle of a fuel crisis, without telling the real reason why . . . but that’s another story).

Low-speed flying produced no unpleasant surprises, although your average pilot can guess that the high wing loading and power off, flaps down stall speed of 74 indicated at max gross means intelligent handling.

The AADR team found the 600A surprisingly crisp in response to control input, having an excellent rate of roll and light to medium ailerons. Elevator forces are likewise medium to light.

Control coordination is again excellent, with no rudder input being needed in even tight turns. We found a tendency to gain a foot or two in these tight turns, because of the really nosedown flying attitude.

Stalls were performed in the two “live” engine modes. Our first stall entry was made in clean condition, power off. With the throttles-retard undercarriage-up warning sounding off, a marked airframe judder built up at 80 indicated, the test aircraft fell cleanly off onto the left wing at 70 on the clock. Recovery was made in less than 300ft.

Within power, 15 degrees flap, the readings were almost identical, accompanied by that shuddering buffet. This time the 600A fell off sharply on its left wing.

Full flap, with a trickle of power, produced the same judder but a clean fall-through of the nose at 58 indicated. the airframe complaints began at around the 65 mark. Gear was down in the last two stalls.

Asymmetric flying produced an initial yaw, controlled in this case while coming back to zero thrust on the port engine. Single-engine climb was initiated during a turn after this the manoeuvre, with the 600A doing its stuff to the tune of the booked 500+fpm.

It was easy to let this streamlined beast crank up to the yellow line en route to Bankstown. It needed a little more time to apply oneself to the procedure of diminishing speed well before circuit entry.

Even so, we entered at 120 knots on the clock….

Undercart was lowered at 130kts IAS – well below Vie of 156kts – producing not so much pitch change as very noticeable drag effect. Settings came back to about 19/2300 in the circuit with 10 degrees of flap lowered on downwind – not much in the way of pitch changes here.

Any correction was made with the wheel-mounted elevator trim. Rudder trim is controlled from a rocker on the pedestal.

Base meant 15/2300 with airspeed back to 115 indicated; finals were commended at 113 knots with 30 degrees of flap selected; short finals came along shortly after full flap was lowered at 100 indicated.

A slight flare over the fence with power coming back gradually and the 600A sat down at just under 80 indicated.

We made a full stop and another full circuit; the second landing was made slightly faster, but apart from a half-hearted elevator response after the initial touch, there was nothing unusual to report.

Flaring means a firm, moderate-travel back stick manoeuvre in the 600A’s case.

Our flight was at all times undeniably a pleasant experience, in an aircraft designed for tractability, speed and comfort. This 600A can only sell well in this nation once its exposure is heightened. In fact, we’ll go as far as to say it will sell itself. . .

Charter men, private owners and corporate personnel who have already gone Aerostar in Australia can’t all be wrong. . .