Gavilán G358

Gavilán G358
Gavilán G358M Colombian Air Force
Role Light transport aircraft
Manufacturer Gavilán S.A.
First flight 27 April 1990
Status Active
Primary users Colombian Air Force
Colombian National Army
National Police of Colombia
Unit cost
US$400,000 as of 2007

The Gavilán 358 (English: Sparrow Hawk) is a Colombian light utility transport aircraft of the 1990s. A high-winged monoplane powered by a piston engine, small numbers of Gaviláns were produced in the late 1990s/early 2000s, some serving with the Colombian Air Force.

Development and design

In 1952, Aero Mercantil of Bogota, Colombia, became a dealer for Piper Aircraft, later selling a range of Piper aircraft assembled from kits by Aero Industrial Colombiana SA (AICSA), also in Bogota. In 1986, it started development of a single-engined utility aircraft, suitable for production in Colombia.[1][2][3]

The resultant design, the Gavilán, is a simple high-winged monoplane of all-metal construction. It has a boxlike, square-section fuselage that accommodates a pilot and up to seven passengers, with access through two doors on either side of the cockpit and a large cargo door on the left side of the fuselage. The passenger seats can be removed to allow carriage of cargo, including a full-sized coffin. It is fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage designed to withstand continued operations from rough South American airstrips. It is powered by a 350 hp (261 kW) Lycoming O-540 engine, turbocharged to give sufficient power at Colombia's high altitudes.[4][5]

The first prototype Gavilán made its first flight on 27 April 1990, testing resulting in lengthening of the forward fuselage and modifications to the wing.[6] It was badly damaged in a crash landing due to engine failure in 1992, however, delaying certification and production, with the second prototype not flying until 29 May 1996.[5] The Gavilán received its type certificate under US FAR part 23 regulations in May 1998.[7]

In 2012, Cub Crafters bought from John Bryerton of GATS the Prototype and Type Certificate of the Gavilan 358.[8]

Operational history

Deliveries to customers started in 1998, with the first of twelve Gaviláns ordered by the Colombian Air Force being delivered on 25 June that year.[7] El Gavilan SA, of Colombia, was pushing to sell 32 Gavilan 358's to the South African Air Force in April 1998. [9] El Gavilán (as Aero Mercantil was renamed in 1992) had received orders for 19 aircraft by November 1999,[5] but it is unclear whether all of these were built, with Flightglobal estimating in 2008 that only about twelve Gaviláns had been completed.[10] At least four of the Colombian Air Force's Gaviláns were still in use in 2004.[11]

Variants

Operators

Specifications

Data from Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory 1999/2000 [5]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Notes

  1. ↑ Taylor 1988, p.46.
  2. ↑ Wiley Flight International 4–10 March 1992, pp. 44–45.
  3. ↑ Homewood Flight International 6–12 March 1996. pp. 32–33.
  4. ↑ Wiley Flight International 4–10 March 1992, p.45.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Taylor 1999, pp. 406–407.
  6. ↑ Lambert 1993, p.62
  7. 1 2 "US Certification for Gavilan 358". Flight International, 1–7 June 1992. p.28.
  8. ↑ "Gavilan 358 Prototype and Type Certificate bought by Cub Crafters". Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  9. ↑ http://www.saairforce.co.za/news-and-events/15/gavilan-358-for-the-saaf
  10. ↑ Croft, John. "Flying Pickup on the selling block". Flightglobal, 8 December 2008. Retrieved 26 November 2009.
  11. ↑ Flight International 16–22 November 2004, p.52.
  12. 1 2 3 http://www.gavilanaircraft.com/

References

  • Homewood, Brian. "Coming around again". Flight International, 6–12 March 1996. pp. 32–33.
  • Lambert, Mark (ed.). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1993–94. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Data Division, 1993. ISBN 0-7106-1066-1.
  • Taylor, John W.R. Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988–89. Coulsdon, UK:Jane's Information Group, 1988. ISBN 0-7106-0867-5.
  • Taylor, Michael J.H. (ed.). Brassey's World Aircraft & Systems Directory 1999/2000. London:Brassey's, 1999. ISBN 1-85753-245-7.
  • Wiley, John. "Columbia's Worker Tested". Flight International, 4–10 March 1992. pp. 44–47.
  • "World Air Forces 2004". Flight International 16–22 November 2004, pp. 41–100.

Technical information

Manufacturers

Photos

Videos

Magazine articles

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