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An article printed in the Popular Flying Association Magazine Jul/Aug 2004 edition. Reproduced here with kind permission of Brian Hope, PFA Magazine editor.The Alpi Pioneer 300
For all the world a mini Falco, this Italian beauty is a mean performer on 100hp, and it is now PFA approved The Alpi Aviation Pioneer 300 first came to the attention of PFAers when a balbo of six arrived at the 2002 PFA Rally from Italy. A kit built, retractable, 912 powered aircraft with undeniably classic Italian lines, the neat line of Pioneer 300’s was the sensation of the show. Would we ever be fortunate enough to get such a beauty on the PFA approved list? Going back several years, Keren Watkins had become one of that elite band of female RAF fast jet pilots. This spurred her father, Frank Cavaciuti, into learning to fly in the mid 1990’s and going on to buy an old Rallye. When Keren’s fellow RAF fast-jet flying husband was on an exchange with the French Air Force flying Mirage 2000s, Frank would use the Rallye to visit them. It was on one such visit to the south of France that he dropped in to Carpentras and first saw an Alpi Pioneer 300. He chatted with the French pilots and decided there and then that he just had to have one. That too was in the summer of 2002, and on his return to the UK he followed up his encounter in France with some initial discussions with the Italian factory. A company in the West Country had already been appointed UK agents for the fixed gear Pioneer 200, so Frank settled for an agency for the 300 and he and Keren established Pioneer Aviation UK Ltd. As it turned out the other company disappeared from the scene and Frank became the sole agent for both models. Having decided to go ahead he contacted Francis Donaldson, who then visited the factory in January 2003 to make an initial assessment of both the 300 and the 200. Francis’ report on that visit was subsequently published in Popular Flying. In the UK the 300 is be a Group A aircraft with a maximum allowable all up weight of 530kg. The 200, which Pioneer UK will also be importing, is a fixed gear, fabric covered, and thus lighter version of the 300 and will probably be proposed for both the 450kg microlight category and Group A. The first example is expected in the UK early next year. Though he has an engineering background Frank is not an aeronautical engineer, so he enlisted the help of David Simpson to present the Compliance Checklist Response (CCR) for PFA design approval. Having received the nod from PFA Engineering to commence the build, Frank spent several weeks at the Italian and Croatian Alpi factories learning about the aircraft’s construction and building the UK demonstrator you see here. It first flew in early and completed it’s test schedule with no problems. It was flown by CAA Test pilot Paul Mulcahy for its official PFA Flight Test and the figures used in this article are based on that official report. The aircraft received its full Permit to Fly in time to attend the Scottish PFA Rally. The Pioneer 300 has sold in fourteen countries with around 200 flying. Most of these aircraft were supplied either as very advanced kits or as ready to fly machines. In the UK there has to be a minimum 500 hours of work for completion of a kit, so a new, not quite so far advanced kit had to be developed. The aircraft has a traditional wooden airframe, which comes completely finished. The woodwork is carried out in Croatia, using Norwegian Spruce and Birch ply. The owners of Alpi are actually timber merchants with a history going back generations, so the timber used in the airframes is of the highest quality. Whilst still at the Croatian factory the completed wooden fuselage is then encapsulated in a carbon fibre shell, endowing it with its sleek, rounded appearance. On the original kits the shells terminated at the bottom of the fuselage sides and the belly was Dacron covered. Francis felt that this precluded adequate inspection of the wooden structure and suggested the belly fabric be replaced with a removable continuation of the carbon fibre. This has been incorporated in the UK kits and a panel from the trailing edge of the wing almost to the sternpost can be dropped down to reveal the internal structure once 70 captive screws have been removed. The fin is part of the composite structure, albeit with an internal wooden spar, and the wooden elevator, ailerons and flaps are, like the wing, fabric covered. The fixed tailplane is the only airframe structural component made exclusively from composite materials. The tricycle undercarriage uses a spring on the nose-leg and hydraulic/pneumatic dampers on the mains and is fully retractable via an electrically operated system. A manual override ensures the gear can be lowered in the event of an electrical failure, and a second removable belly panel provides access to the retract mechanism. The undercarriage comes assembled and ready to bolt into the airframe. The factory aircraft are fitted with a red light and audio warning if the flap is selected without the undercarriage down. This has been modified to preclude the audio warning whilst in take-off mode (full power/first stage of flap), so the undercarriage can be raised before the flap, as is normal practice, without the distraction of the audio warning. Entry to the cockpit is easy as the aircraft has quite a squat stance. However, care needs to be taken not to step onto the wide flaps, which are best lowered before stepping up on to the wing. The cockpit has a fixed windscreen and rear-sliding canopy which allows easy access. Arm and leg reach is adjusted via variable backrest cushions. At 1.05m (41.5”) wide the cockpit is cosy but comfortable and the controls fall readily to hand. Engine management is conventional Rotax except for the variable pitch propeller, which is controlled via a small up/down spring-loaded return to centre toggle switch. To set fully fine the switch is held down until a blue LED light flashes. Up on the switch coarsens up the pitch but there is no indication of when fully coarse is reached. Members may recall Francis Donaldson’s comments about the quirky brake lever which operates in the ‘wrong’ sense, i.e. you push it forwards to apply brake. Pioneer UK have taken the not unreasonable view, that owners will quickly become accustomed to its operation so there is no need to re-engineer it. Taxiing is straightforward with an excellent view forward, the nose-wheel being linked to the rudder pedals. 55kts is used as the rotate speed and the aircraft leaves the ground after about a 200 metre ground roll and climbs at around 1200 fpm at close to max all up weight. In a go-around situation the aircraft has been climbed with landing flap and gear down and still managed over 700 fpm. Maximum speed attained in the official test flights was 133kts indicated at 4500ft, with 4800rpm and 25.5 inches of manifold pressure. The 150kt VNE was achieved with just a shallow dive; this is a slippery aeroplane and care will need to be taken not to exceed VNE. Paul Mulcahy undertook stability tests in all three axes and reported the rudder and ailerons to be satisfactory, but whilst he describes the aircraft as a delight to fly, the test aircraft did exhibit some stiffness in the elevator circuit which affected the longitudinal stability. This was eventually traced to friction in the conduit carrying the elevator operating cable and has now been rectified and will not be an issue in subsequent aircraft. Longitudinal stability tests have now been re-flown with satisfactory results. The stall is described as extremely benign with no tendency for significant wing drop in a variety of configurations. In the approach configuration of full flap and idle power, the minimal buffet was felt at 36kts indicated and the stall occurred at 31kts indicated (28kts solo). As there is inadequate pre-stall buffet an artificial stall warner, such as the surface mount ACI unit, will be a mandatory requirement. The approach is flown at 65kts, reducing to 55kts at the threshold and control response remains satisfactory throughout. Trim changes are conventional, nose down with application of flap, up and left with power added, down and right with power off. Flaps (10, 20, and 30 degrees), and elevator and rudder trimmers are electrically operated. The flare and hold off are conventional and the landing roll is around 250m In his test summary Paul writes: “An outstanding performer with safe, benign handling it was a pleasure to fly and test, and will in due course doubtless become a formidable player in the UK VLA homebuilt market.” You can’t say fairer than that! Pioneer Aviation’s demonstrator has been fitted with most of the factory options, including a 100hp Rotax 912S and an Italian Idrovario hydraulically operated variable pitch propeller. A full factory trim kit is an option but Frank has sourced a local company who can provide higher quality leather kits at a similar cost. A typical ‘light’ aeroplane will turn the scales at about 290kg, giving a useful load of about 240kg (530lbs). Subtract full fuel of 80Lts (in two wing tanks) and the useful cockpit load becomes a very satisfactory 395lbs. The ‘loaded’ subject aircraft weighs in almost 80lbs heavier, so it is likely that fuel content will have to be traded for cockpit load when two up with baggage. This is by no means unusual in this class of aircraft but it does highlight the fact that builders do need to consider which ‘extras’ are really worth their additional weight penalty. And what of cost? Well a basic, fixed pitch aircraft can be built for about £32K + vat + delivery. The aircraft, as shown, works out at around £36K + vat. Delivery is currently running at around 6-8 weeks. As supplied by Pioneer Aviation UK Ltd the 300 should take the average builder 500 – 700 hours to complete. It basically entails fabric covering the wings and control surfaces, painting, and general assembly. The Pioneer 300 will undoubtedly establish itself in the UK market. It is competitively priced, performs very well and looks simply fantastic.
For More Information Contact: Website: www.pioneeraviation.co.uk
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