Sky Arrow

I envy the Italians. They have the most beautiful women, the fastest cars, the sleekest suits, the tastiest food. They even have the best aeroplanes.

This is a properly engineered, tested and certified two-seat light aeroplane, just like a Cessna 152 or Piper Tomahawk but better.

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Take their Sky Arrow. It outperforms most other conventional certified two-seaters while costing less to buy and run. It is beautifully finished, handles really nicely and has by far the best visibility you will find in any powered aeroplane – and it has sleek and stylish (if, admittedly, slightly unconventional) looks.

From its unusual appearance, at first glance many folk assume the Sky Arrow is an ultralight, but it is not. This is a properly engineered, tested and certified two-seat light aeroplane, just like a Cessna 152 or Piper Tomahawk but better, and possibly even slightly bigger. More importantly, being a more modern design than those old tin tubs, it is also available in the LSA (Light Sport Aircraft) category or for homebuilders in 10 module kit form.

Furthermore, being the brainchild of that prolific Italian aeronautical engineer, Luigi Pascale (he who designed the Partenavia twin and all those delightful Tecnams among others), not only does the Sky Arrow handle every bit as nicely as you would expect, but it has peerless visibility allied with excellent short field performance.

The Sky Arrow’s brilliance derives from a combination of light weight (just 432kg empty, or just three-quarters of a typical Cessna 152’s or PA-38’s 540-560kg – a remarkable achievement) and clean aerodynamics. Both are thanks to its mostly composite structure. The high, untapered, ‘plank’ wing’s rather archaic and empirical 1906 Göttingen 398 aerofoil (slightly modified to improve its low speed handling) is surprisingly at odds with this modern construction, but the combination works remarkably well.

Its primary structure is predominantly composite (mostly a carbon fibre/epoxy sandwich) and modular, to simplify both assembly and disassembly for maintenance. The manufacturer – alternatively known as 3I, III, or Iniziative Industriali Italiane (Meteor) SpA – says the wings, tailplane, electrical system, instrument panel and engine can all be removed quite quickly as individual units.

The flying surfaces and controls are also made from carbon fibre. Each wing has dual C-section spars and is attached to the fuselage with three bolts (two on the root rib and one at the strut), each secured by castle nuts and safety pins, making them comparatively easy to remove. The big, differential Frise ailerons are operated via aluminium rods and bellcranks, to minimise circuit friction and backlash, while the plain flaps are actuated electrically with deflections of 0, 10, 20 and 30 degrees.

The fuselage mostly utilises a carbon fibre sandwich in an epoxy resin matrix, but incorporates Kevlar in some areas for additional crashworthiness. The two fuselage sides are bonded together along the vertical plane, and its shape is formed by eight bulkheads, one of which supports both the main landing gear and the steel tube engine mounts. The motor is a fully certified, 100hp (75kW) four stroke Rotax 912S, these days an increasingly familiar powerplant, driving a two-blade, fixed-pitch, wooden Hoffmann pusher propeller through its standard reduction gear box.

A single fuel tank is located in the very rear of the fuselage, with its Gascolator concealed behind a flap in the pylon. Both engine and fuel tank attachments have been statically tested for impact loads up to 18g. Since the example I investigated was a certified Sky Arrow approved for day and night VFR, it had twin alternators. The primary 20 amp-hour one

In other words, despite its unusual configuration, this is a viceless aeroplane.

is a standard, directly engine-driven Rotax example, while a second, similar, but belt driven unit is the 20 amp-hour standby.

The fixed undercarriage has a freecastoring, trailing-link nose gear made of steel and carbon fibre with doughnut rubber shock absorbers and the usual shimmy damper. The main gear legs are simple leaf springs of fibreglass roving with the brake lines running down inside their fairings. There is no direct steering, but the main wheels have hand-operated differential hydraulic disc brakes.

A neat trick is the ability to tilt the entire airframe backwards to stand on its tail, making the coolant and oil level check easy and facilitating inspection of the engine, propeller and the whole tail. Below the rear of the tail boom is a spring bumper and stand for picketing.

The conventional tailplane and pushrodactuated elevator set-up includes an electric trim actuator embedded in the elevator, while the rudder is mostly cable operated. Rudder and ailerons sport fixed, ground-adjustable tabs.

Having swung open the canopy, entry to either seat is surprisingly easy. As the pilot you just sit on the left sill, grip the fuselage sides, lower your backside down into the seat and then swing in your legs.

The rear-seater boards similarly, but since the rear sill is higher, the fuselage incorporates a kick-in step. Indeed, the boarding simplicity makes this aeroplane ideal for disabled people, and a handcontrolled paraplegic version is among many available alternative models, including an ultralight and one with floats for water operations.

Either occupant can fly the aeroplane, for the rear seater has all the primary controls, including brakes, although only the front rudder pedals are adjustable, glider-style, by pulling a toggle and pushing forward against the sprung cable tension. Thanks to his 20cm higher seat, the rear occupant has surprisingly good forward visibility. Indeed, that single-piece, glider-style canopy has near optically perfect transparency, and provides exceptional vision for both pilots. Hinging up and to the right, it is heavy enough to stay open safely in all but the very strongest winds. The rear cockpit’s side windows can be completely removed, either for fresh-air fiends or for inflight photography.

This little aeroplane has a surprising number of useful stowages. Behind the rear seat is a baggage compartment, and small bags or clothes can be stuffed beneath either seat, while there are other under-floor stowages with proper latched covers ahead of each pilot. The baggage box under the rear seat holds 30kg, and can be removed. Charts can be slipped into a vertical slot along the right of the instrument coaming, and a 15cm square glove compartment is standard in the panel’s centre, although this example had an ILS/OBS indicator in its place. I make that six handy stowages altogether.

Both seats are comfortable, slightly reclined, and sparsely but adequately padded, with volumes of headroom, thanks to the Italian requirement for ultralighters to wear crash helmets. Fixed (ie, not inertia- reel) five-point harnesses add security, and there’s a fire extinguisher immediately ahead of the front seat squab.

The Sky Arrow’s front cockpit is particularly well thought out, with most secondary controls grouped along the sidewalls. Progressing forwards from your left elbow are the canopy latch and ELT button, carburettor heat slider and a red, soft-wire locked engine shut off lever (actually the emergency fuel shut-off – since there is only one tank, there is no conventional fuel selector).

Inboard of this is the throttle and choke quadrant, exactly where it comes neatly to hand with an adjustable friction knob.

Immediately ahead again is the key-operated starter, and at the very front is a generous fresh air vent.

Working backwards along the right side console are the twin manual brake levers with the parking brake knob (which is lifted and rotated 90 degrees anti-clockwise to lock them). Inboard of this is the sidestick, ideally positioned for your right hand, with your forearm resting on the flat sidewall. There are four trim buttons on the handgrip, but only the fore and aft ones actually do any trimming.

Behind the stick are the cabin heater and defroster slides, the engine baffle control and the canopy jettison lever.

The panel itself is divided into four easily assimilated areas. Most flight instruments, light and flap switches are on the left, with the compass, a handful of warning lights, the master switch,turn and slip and avionics stacked in the centre. Dual lock-toggle ignition and fuel pump switches are over on the top right hand side, with the engine gauges and controls and but a single fuel gauge below them. Finally, the intercom controls and a neat cluster of electrical circuit breakers are grouped at the very bottom of the centre column. The panel is fitted with quick-detach couplings, making its removal for maintenance fast and easy.

This version’s 432kg empty weight allowed my demo pilot, the genial Geoff Hill, and myself to carry full fuel with eight kilos to spare for bags or other equipment within its 650kg maximum takeoff weight.

Engine starting is standard Rotax (standard Bing carburettor, actually) and requires the throttle to be closed when the choke is pulled for a cold start. For us, the engine was warm, so it instantly wound up to its 2000rpm idle. Checking the generators and lights and turning on the avionics was the work of moments, and we were soon ready to taxi.

Although there is no conventional nosewheel steering, being directly in the pusher prop’s slipstream and not far behind it, the rudder has some turning effect even when taxying downwind, and a dab of differential brake soon executes a tighter turn. Despite a hearty 15kt breeze, with a little power (around 2500rpm is usually enough) and some assertiveness we were easily able to describe figure eights on the small apron. Apart from the routine instrument checks, there is only one taxi check – once the coolant temperature has climbed to 100°C, the cooling fans are selected on.

After we had finished our simple run up and brief pre-takeoff checks, Geoff talked me through the normal lift-off procedure. This involves setting 10 degrees of flap and opening the throttle with the sidestick held forward (with aileron to taste) until 40kt. Then you allow it to drift backwards about one-third of its travel under aerodynamic pressure. At 50kt you ease it another inch rearwards to the mid position to raise the nosewheel, after which the aeroplane should lift off cleanly to stabilise in the climb at 60kt. And so it transpired.

Just a tiny constant right rudder pressure was needed to centre the slip ball in the full-throttle climb. At 200ft, we retracted the flaps and switched off the landing light, maintaining the same climb attitude to 500ft, when we were able to turn off the engine’s cooling fans and the fuel boost pump. Those few simple tasks completed, we were on our way.

Climbing from 500 to 900ft on a warm, 25°C day took us just 30 seconds at 70kt, giving us a good climb rate of 800ft/min, which tallied well with the manufacturer’s quoted 840ft/min in ISA at the best-rate climb speed of 65kt (the best climb angle speed is 57kt).

I made three flights in this delightful aeroplane, sampling both front and rear seats, and while the panorama visible from the front is peerless, even the back-seater gets a great view, thanks to the raised position. For me, as I looked out and over him, the top of Geoff ’s head was well below the horizon, even in the climb, meaning it didn’t get in the way at all when looking forwards. The rear seater’s view all around, below and to the rear is much better than you would think, while the front seater’s is superior in every direction to that from almost any other powered aeroplane.

Levelling at 2000ft and reducing power to 5200rpm gave us a high cruise speed of 93kt IAS (97kt TAS), while a lower power of 5000rpm still gave us a useful 87kt (91kt TAS). This gives plenty of margin from the 132kt Vne. At 3500ft the same rpm gave us 83kt, but our TAS was now a useful 89kt, which accordswell with 3i’s quoted 75 per cent cruise speed of 90kt with the Rotax’s usual frugal fuel consumption of around 18 litres per hour (using cheaper Mogas for preference, of course).

There is little trim variation between speeds, and indeed I barely needed to touch the elevator trim switches throughout any of our flights.

SKY ARROW
650TCNS

Powerplant
One four cylinder, four
stroke, horizontally opposed
Rotax 912 S
producing 100hp (75kW)
at 5800rpm. TBO 1500
hrs. Propeller: two-bladed
wood, fixed-pitch prop.
Performance
(Manufacturer’s quoted)
Vne (SL) 132kt
Max speed (SL) 105kt
75% cruise (6000ft)
101kt
Stall, full flap 40kt
SL takeoff dist 427m
SL takeoff run 177m
SL landing dist 205m
SL landing run 130m
SL climb rate 840ft/min
Service ceiling 13,500ft
Max range (75% power,
45 min reserve) 380nm
Max endurance (75%
power, 45 min reserve)
4hr 15min
Weights
Equipped empty 432kg
Max takeoff 650kg
Max baggage 30kg
Standard fuel 68 lit
Dimensions
Wing span 9.7m
Wing area 13.5m2
Length 7.6m
Height 2.6m
Aust distributor
Shaffrey Pty Ltd/HilAir,
PO Box 666 Joondalup
Business Postal Centre,
WA 6919. Tel: (08)
9301 5848, mob: 0418
854 538.

Making a gentle rate-one turn at this height and speed gives a perfect view of the ground directly beneath – what a superb sightseeing aeroplane this is! Pulling the power right back to 4300rpm drops the speed to a tad below 80kt, but this is a good loiter setting, extending endurance to a whopping four-and-a-half hours. Alternatively, dropping 10 degrees of flap with 4500rpm enables you to circle tightly at 60kt in great safety.

A squeeze of rudder was needed to balance all turns, but this is an ideal attribute in a trainer, and no imposition in any aeroplane.

The Sky Arrow’s roll rate is noticeably better than any Cessna’s or Piper’s, although of course not quite in the RV-6 or Pitts league.

In straight, cruising flight, the aeroplane is of course stable in all axes and will fly hands-off for long periods, although it does have one unusual, but by no means unpleasant characteristic that the ailerons’ initial break-out force is very low, so the stick bounces from side to side very slightly in turbulence.

The 90kt maximum manoeuvring speed gave us plenty of margin for our formation photography at 70kt. At this speed the Sky Arrow is a point-and-shoot aeroplane. Its light and effective controls allied with the superlative visibility made our sortie a total pleasure, which is not something one can always, or even often, say! Without flaps and with idle power, the Sky Arrow decelerates gently. At 50kt the stall warning horn sounds, followed by gentle buffet at 46kt. The true stall break comes at 43 to 44kt, with some slight wing-rocking if you hold the stick aft and keep the aeroplane in the stall. This is easily corrected with rudder, while unloading the stick immediately gets her flying again. Height loss is minimal.

The flap switch is lightly spring detented, and there is a green LED to indicate each of the four positions. With 10 degrees of flap there is little difference in trim, stalling speed or behaviour, but there is a slight nose-down pitch change when extending flaps 20 or 30.

Flap 30 lowers the warning speed to 46kt and the stall proper to just 40kt, with plenty of true warning buffet beforehand. These figures are identical to the company’s published numbers, which was a nice surprise.

There is little variation in yaw with change of power, although the nose does slew slightly to the right if you abruptly snap the throttle shut at 80kt, so you need a little left rudder in the glide. As you would expect with such a high thrust line, reducing power does initially cause the nose to pitch up, but this is gentle, and it soon nods downwards again as speed reduces, settling in trim at around 10kt slower than you started. In other words, despite its unusual configuration, this is a viceless aeroplane. Indeed, it also glides well, although rather more rudder in needed for gliding turns with no slipstream over the tail.

Back in the circuit, the Sky Arrow is easy to position and to fly, while its superlativevisibility makes it very safe among other traffic.

The approach is flown with 30 degrees of flap at 55kt (or 60 if it’s gusty as it was for us, but beware the 67kt flap speed limit), reducing to 55 or 50kt over the fence.

Control in all axes is so good it is easy to position this aeroplane very accurately, and land it gently, and nose-high, right on the numbers every time. That excellent glide angle can catch you out though – unless you make your approaches quite flat, you might easily need to sideslip to get yourself down towards the end (as I did nearly every time!). The makers quote a glider-like 13-to-1 glide angle, and I fully believe it. Luckily, sideslipping doubles the descent angle, so the situation was always redeemable.

There is plenty of residual elevator capability to hold off the nose-wheel for most of the landing run, although I only realised when seeing the resulting photos that I had been fooled by the sloping sills, just as I once was in the military BAe Hawk jet trainer, into believing our nose was lower than it actually was. From that nose-high attitude there is quite a big pitch decrease to get the nosewheel safely back on to the ground without damaging it. Using the brakes, and in a 10kt headwind, we easily stopped in 100m. Even without the brakes we rarely ran more than 200m. The makers claim that both takeoff and landing distances are less than 500m, making this a true STOL aeroplane, among its many other excellent attributes.

As you would expect from its rear-engined, pusher configuration, internal noise levels are very low. Neither is it noisy outside, although spectators will soon come to recognise that pusher propeller’s pleasant, distinguishing thrum.

The Sky Arrow will particularly be embraced by pilots who, like me, originally came to powered flying from gliding and have been similarly appalled by the dreadful in-flight visibility from so many lightplanes. As a trainer, it makes a good, economical alternative to established two-seaters like the Tomahawk and Cessna’s 150/152 family. And of course, it has been tested, evaluated and certified to a higher standard than the Cessna’s new 162 Skydancer will be, since that is only an LSA, whereas the Sky Arrow is a fully certified, normal category aeroplane.

Distinctive in all respects, the Italian Sky Arrow is a pilot’s delight.

Control in all axes is so good it is easy to position this aeroplane very accurately.