The Bandeirantes From Brazil

Like Australia, Brazil had learnt the benefits of a strong aviation sector; vast distances and some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain led her at an early stage to rely upon the obvious benefits of aviation.

It was back in 1965 that the seeds of not only the Bandeirante but, also Embraer were sown in a Brazilian Air Force requirement for a Beech 18 replacement. Both government and Air Force officials failed to see why they should pour out hundreds of millions of dollars of their own currency on a foreign product when they could develop a locally built plane to do the job just as well. It was sound thinking like this that led the Brazilian government to back a new company to specialise in aircraft design and manufacture. Thus in January 1970 Embraer was formed with a diminutive 14 per cent government shareholding with the remainder being owned by no less than 126,000 private shareholders.

Agreements were soon reached with Piper for construction under the licence of several of their light twins and singles – this would provide much-needed cash flow while the design teams worked away on totally new aircraft programs, one of which was the Bandeirante.

Actual design and production of the Bandeirante initially took place at the Aeronautical Technical Centre (CTA) and was designated the C-95, being built primarily for the Brazilian Air Force which had a requirement for upwards of 80 aircraft to fulfil a number of roles. The initial design was aided by Max Holste, better known at the time for. his Super Broussard and Nord 262 efforts. The prototype bore only a superficial resemblance to today’s Bandeirante and was powered by 550shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-20 turbines. The initial prototypes did not fully satisfy the requirements of the Brazilian Air Force and when Embraer was officially formed full-scale development commenced on vastly upgraded models that were to become the success story we know today.

First official flight of the EMB-110 was on October 26 1968. This aircraft, known as an EMB-110C was powered by two PT6A-27s of 680shp and was officially designated the C-95. Riding on the back of a large military order is a great way to commence a commercial transport project (as Boeing well knows!) and it was no exception in this case.

As the C-95s were becoming operational with the air force, civil interest was awakening to the opportunities of commencing a large scale commuter network throughout the back blocks of Brazil. Thus the Bandeirante was an aircraft just waiting to happen. In 1976 the Brazilian government launched a scheme for five regional commuter operators to service the third level requirements of a booming Brazil. The Bandeirante had already commenced operation in 1973 with VASP and Transbrasil and was the logical choice.

During the early 70s, Embraer design teams worked on a stretched variant of the basic C095 in order to increase capacity from 15 to 18/21 passengers. This resulted in a 2ft 9½in plug being inserted forward of the wing and the resultant designation EMB-110K started to supplant C-95 aircraft for the BO-aircraft air force order. In 1977 the EMB- 11OP1 and P2 variants were put into production and these are the two models that have been released worldwide with such success.

Embraer has never looked back. Today, a mere 10 years since its incorporation, it employs over 4500 people in an ultra-modern plant situated on the rural outskirts of Sao Paulo and is ably backed up by another 4500 specialists from the CTA. In 1979 Embraer built aircraft worth $US 143m, which was 24 per cent up on the previous year with exports of $US70m, 122 per cent up on 1978.

In February 1980 Embraer delivered its 2000th aircraft while orders total over 330 Bandeirantes with 280 actually delivered to more than 60 operators worldwide. In 1S79 Embraer delivered 436 aircraft comprising 240 singles. 125 piston twins and 56 Zingu and Bandeirante turboprops. 1980 Bandeirante production is slated at 74 units with 35 destined for the US alone. Mind you, this rapid fire success story is ably assisted by a government policy that actively prohibits the importation of any design which even remotely competes with a locally produced type. In other words, if you want to own a new Cessna or Beech in Brazil, forget it; the import duties and import licences simply make it not viable to support anything but the local product. It is in this vein that our own GAF Nomad misses the Brazillian boat in that It competes in certain aspects with the Bandeirante itself. Brazil could have been a very exciting market for an aircraft such as the Nomad, but for the above reasons that was not to be. Another reason for the Bandeirante being the huge success it has become is the terms of finance available to the purchaser – 7½ per cent interest with payments spread over seven years – now that can really make a marginal commuter operation a money spinner and take many people from Chieftains to turboprops in one fell swoop.

Australia has been a bright horizon for the Bandeirante and rightly so as our third-level operators were crying out for this type of aircraft from 1975 onwards. First Bandeirante into Australia was for dealer/operator Masling, based at Cootamundra in the depths of New South Wales. Jack Masking was quick to seize the Bandeirante opportunity and became the official agent for Australia, New Guinea and South East Asia. Jakair, as the Masling sponsored Embraer marketers are called, has so far sold 20 Bandeirantes while 1980 has seen them put pen to paper on no less than 11 aircraft – quite an achievement by any standard.

Australian operators (at time of writing) fly a total of 13 of the type with Masling leading the way with four P2 models, Talair with two P2s, Advance Airlines with one P1, Davey’s with one P1 and one P2, Bassair has three P1 types and Westwind Jet Investments have one P2 in their fleet. The P1 is a design well suited to cargo operation and features a forward passenger airstair and a large rear freight door. The P2 model features both front and rear airstairs and is currently the only commuter airliner to have this quick-turnaround feature.

All Bandeirante aircraft are ferried to Australia over 20,000km. 60-hour journey that takes four to five days on average. The trek begins at Sao Jose Dos Campos, then onto Brazilia, the capital of Brazil, onto Mauaus (overnight), onto Montego Bay, Jamaica (overnight), and onto Houston, Texas (overnight). onto Monterey, California (overnight) then onto Honolulu which represents the longest hop, some 2100nm. After a well-earned rest at Honolulu it is on to Majuro in the Marshall Islands, another hop of 2000m proportions. More sleep and we head south again to Honiara in the Solomons and finally home base in Sydney. For the ferry flight, the aircraft carries two 100Olt fuselage tanks which almost doubles normal fuel capacity and allows maximum ranges out to 2500nm with oil reserves.

On specifications, the Bandeirante trues out as a simple to operate and maintain, a no-fuss design that is both rugged in construction and economical to operate. Powered by two Pratt & Whitney PT-A-34 engines of 750shp, these very successful turbines feature a simple but effective inertia trap that keeps stones on the ground and ice/birds in the air. The PT6 was a logical choice by Embraer as this powerplant propels the bulk of commuter/corporate aircraft internationally and is a major selling point to any operator. There are more than 13,000 PT6 variants in operation which have to date accumulated something in the order of 30 million flying hours – now that’s performance. Bandeirante units are listed at 2500hr TBOs with this extending out to 3000 and eventually to 3500 hours on the -34 model.

The Bandeirante has been designed as a short-haul commuter airliner with most sectors averaging between 80nm and 250nm so the requirement for pressurisation simply was non-existent. The longer haul, higher altitude, higher cruise speed sectors are best left to the Metro II family as demonstrated by BPA and Northern while at the opposite end of the operations spectrum the Nomad is ideal for the very short-haul runs as exemplified by Sydney to Maitland operator Clubair. Ideally, the Bandeirante fits in between these two but can also perform both missions as required.

At full load under ISA conditions, the aircraft requires 650 metres to clear a 15 metre obstacle while its landing roll over the same height is a mere 710 metres. Maximum cruise speed is listed at 230 knots but most operators would settle for the economy gains achieved at around the 200kt region. One of the main comforts of the Bandeirante is its internal air conditioning system. Maximum cooling capacity is a massive 25,000 BTU/hr which makes for comfortable operation in the hottest climes.

Today, the Bandeirante that we know is simply one of nine different versions. The early model aircraft, previously described, of course, used the 680shp PT6A-27s and served as the basis for the stretched and more powerful versions that are the big sellers today. Variants include the EMB-110K1 military freighter which has a useful load of 5000Ib and can carry up to 19 fully equipped paratroopers, the EMB-110-B1 aerophotogrammetric aircraft for photographic reconnaissance (passive) work, while the EMB-110S1 is used for geophysical survey work and features a tail-mounted MAD stinger much in the same fashion as an Onon or Neptune.

One interesting specialist Bandeirante variant that has found export sales in neighbouring Chile is the EMB-111 maritime surveillance aircraft which of course is the subject of our cutaway drawing. The EMB-111 is employed in the 370km EEZ role purely as a surveillance aircraft though it does have a secondary attack capability using underwing air-to-surface unguided rockets.

The EMB-111 fits into a niche between the often too large EEZ patrollers such as the de Havilland Dash 7 Ranger, the· Fokker F-27M Maritime and the BAe HS-748 Coastguarder, all of which have yet to sell a dozen aircraft between them. On the other hand it is often more suited than smaller types such as our own Nomad Searchmaster and the umpteen variants derived from existing twin-engined commuter/corporate types.

The EMB-111 carries a typical crew of five comprising two pilots, a mission navigator and two observers. Search radar is the Cutler-Hammer AN/APS-128 unit which provides a useful azimuth coverage of 240 degrees with automatic compensation for plus or minus 20 degrees pitch. The aircraft is equipped with the usual portfolio of flares, eight-man life rafts and markers and is aided in night-time operations by a wing-mounted 50 million candlepower searchlight. Mission endurance of the EMB-111 is between seven and eight hours while patrol transits are routinely made at 200kts plus.

Embraer are certainly all smiles with the international acceptance of their indigenous commuter airliner. As their own expertise grows they will no doubt be taking on bigger and better ventures in aircraft design and development. Embraer have already built their own Macchi 326 model called the Xvante, designed and built the twin-turboprop corporate Zingu (which may be seen locally in 1981), the Ipanema agricultural aircraft and licence-assembled Brazilian Air Force F-5E fighters.

The fact that Embraer are forging ahead at full steam on a big brother to the Bandeirante is therefore not surprising.

Launched late in 1979, the 30-seat Brazilia will be a very much up-market version of the concept that sold so many Bandeirantes. A solid design, unparalleled finance provisions, selling to scores of current Embraer customers, all adds up to another brilliant long-term success from the go-ahead Brazilians.

The Brazilia, officially designated EMB-120, will be the launch aircraft to Pratt’s all-new ultra-economical PT7 turboprop. Performance will be in the order of a 260kt cruise speed at economy settings with a max payload range of 400nm. The Brazilia will operate at gross weight out of 4400ft strips and will be a 30 seater featuring the option of pressurisation, first flight is slated for late 1982 with customer deliveries commencing in 1984.

Certainly the commuter market is becoming top heavy with both current and proposed designs all vying for the operators’ dollar, pound or pesata. Many of the contenders for this thriving market will ultimately fall by the wayside but I would put my bottom dollar on the Brazilia not being amongst them.

In 1970 Embraer was a corporate newborn, in 1980 it stands as a major aviation manufacturer by international standards, in 1990 it could be producing a thousand aircraft annually and behind it all lies one aircraft – the Bandeirante – a success story not only for operators but for Brazil as well.