Firing up the engine is as easy as starting an automobile. Touch the starter button and the 100-hp Bombardier-Rotax engine springs to life. (A choke is used during cold starts.)
Lower the Swiss-made canopy and secure it with a lever-lock on each side rail. The canopy is claimed to be optically perfect, and I could detect no distortion to disprove that claim.
The Ximango has a steerable tailwheel, but some differential toe braking is needed to make moderately tight turns. Such long wings require that you use caution when taxiing in tight quarters. Yes, you may taxi with the wings folded, but trying to take off that way is a no-no. Over-the-nose visibility is excellent; there is no need to S-turn this taildragger.
There is nothing unusual about the preflight runup except for checking the Hoffman 3-position propeller. It is changed from minimum pitch for takeoff to climb/cruise pitch to feather by pulling a spring-loaded lever from under the instrument panel and then allowing it to return to the stowed position after implementing the desired pitch change. Also, be certain that the Schempp-Hirth spoilers are stowed.
The takeoff roll is routine for a taildragger, but keep the tailwheel on the ground during the early part of the takeoff roll to facilitate directional control and prevent those long wings from developing a yawing mind of their own.
Do not be alarmed by the 5,800-rpm indication on the tachometer. This is engine rpm, not propeller rpm. With a gear ratio of 2.43:1, the 67-inch propeller is spinning at less than 2,400 rpm, which results in a relatively low noise signature.
After liftoff and when climbing comfortably at VX (52 KIAS) or VY (59 KIAS), reach for the handle in the center console between the seats, lift it from its stowed position, and push forward to raise the main landing gear. Pulling aft lowers and locks the wheels into position. The Ximango does not have flaps.
Climb at 5,500 rpm, cruise at 5,000, and do not be surprised when overtaking Cessna 152s and 172s.
When the mood strikes and conditions are conducive for soaring, you can shut down the engine and dramatically increase specific range (miles per gallon). I had the feeling that a summertime flight from Los Angeles across the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas can be made using little more than the few cupfuls of avgas required to takeoff and climb to altitude.
The Ximango’s engine does not have a mixture control (or carburetor heat or alternate air source). Shutting down involves retarding the throttle and turning off the dual electronic ignition systems. Then turn off the alternator, turn off the fuel-selector valve, feather the propeller, and tap the starter button, if necessary, to move the propeller to a horizontal position (to minimize drag).
Do not forget to move the 3-position master switch to the Soaring position. This turns off all unnecessary electrical loads, such as engine gauges, electric gyros, and so forth. Forgetting this can result in a low battery and a difficult engine restart. If the transponder and transceiver are not required, turn the master switch completely off.
Finally, close the cowl flap to further minimize drag and reduce airspeed to a best glide speed of 58 KIAS or a minimum-sink (189 fpm) speed of 52 KIAS.
Then just settle back, enjoy hearing only a whisper of air passing by the canopy, and employ your soaring skills to maintain or gain altitude.
The Ximango has a glide (lift-to-drag) ratio of 31:1, which is outstanding for a motorglider and is due to the laminar-flow wing, clean design, retractable landing gear, and full-feathering propeller. (Optional winglets provide increased glide performance.)
Aircraft with long wings typically exhibit low roll rates (because of roll damping). This seems largely overcome in the Ximango, which rolls into and out of turns crisply. Nor is top aileron pressure required to prevent overbanking during steep turns. The flight controls are effective, well balanced, and nicely harmonized. There is an abundance of adverse yaw effect, however, which is typical of sailplanes.
When operating in the silent world of soaring flight, it is easy to become a victim of complacency and allow the sailplane to descend unobtrusively below some minimum safe altitude. Always have a restart altitude in mind and abide by it.
Relighting the fire and making the metamorphosis from sailplane to “airplane” is quick and easy: select one of two wing tanks with the fuel selector; pull out the choke if the engine is cold; close the throttle; turn on the master switch; turn on the fuel pump; and position the propeller to minimum pitch (takeoff position). You then can either tap the starter button or enter a gentle dive to get the propeller windmilling. In either case, the engine abruptly returns to life. All that remains is to turn on the alternator and turn off the fuel pump.
Need to go down in a hurry? The spoilers are deployed by pulling back on the blue handle in the center console. Pull back a little or a lot, but be careful with a lot. The spoilers are powerful, add substantial drag, and necessitate a significant nose-down attitude to maintain a given airspeed.
When in the traffic pattern, use some spoiler deployment for descent to the runway. Otherwise, a substantially extended traffic pattern will be required, something that those flying in trail will not appreciate. (With a glide ratio of 31:1, losing 1,000 feet requires more than 5 nm.)
A typical approach is made with the engine throttled (or shut down!) and the spoilers deployed partially to approximate the glide ratio of a typical single-engine airplane (about 9:1). If at any time the Ximango seems high, add a bit more spoiler; if low, retract the spoilers somewhat. Modulating the spoilers and glide path in this manner is like using an engine to make glide path adjustments. Spoilers can be used to vary the glide path anywhere between 31:1 and 5:1. With a little practice, you will find it easier to make a spot landing in a glider than in an airplane. It is nice to know, however, that this is one sailplane in which you have the option of executing a missed approach.
A horn and a flashing red light are not-so-subtle reminders to lower the landing gear. These warnings are tied to spoiler activation and not throttle position because landings can be made safely with the engine shut down.
Wheel landings are not difficult in the Ximango and high-speed directional control after touchdown is enhanced by the very effective rudder and wide-stance landing gear (the mains are 9 feet apart).
The Super Ximango has been certified under the European JAR-22 standards and by the FAA in the Utility category, but intentional spins are not allowed.
Don’t have a medical certificate? No problem. Pilots exercising the privileges of a glider rating are not required to have one (even when carrying a passenger) even though a motorglider can be operated like an airplane. The Ximango, however, is certified only for day, VFR operations, and spins are not permitted.
Because it is a glider and not an airplane, the minimum age for soloing a Ximango is only 14 (compared to 16 for airplanes) even when flown with power. A teenager can obtain a private pilot certificate with a glider rating at 16 (compared to 17 for an airplane rating).
This is a fun machine for the sportsman-pilot in search of a recreational aircraft that can be flown as high and as far as conditions allow. The sky is the limit, literally.
The French SIPA S-200 Minijet was the world’s first civilian turbojet airplane to enter production. With its twin booms, the diminutive aircraft bears a striking resemblance to the DeHavilland DH.115 Vampire built in England after World War II.
SIPA (Société Industrielle Pour L’Aéronautique) introduced the Minijet at the Paris Air Show in 1951, but the maiden flight did not occur until January 14, 1952.
The S-200 was designed by Yves Gardan, a respected designer of several European-built general aviation airplanes such as the Socata GY-80 Horizon.
Unfortunately, the petite jet made its debut as general aviation was experiencing a significant economic recession that did not show signs of ending until the late 1950s. Anticipated interest in the Minijet never materialized, and only 7 were built.
In 1993, Asher Ward, an aircraft broker in Van Nuys, California who specializes in unique aircraft, discovered the Minijet in Florida in 1993. N917WJ was owned by Don Whittington, a vintage aircraft collector. (Whittington had found the airplane in Argentina during the mid-1980s where it was painted solid black and reportedly used for clandestine operations.) Ward purchased the aircraft from Whittington and had it trucked to Van Nuys. The aircraft was equipped with its original engine, a Turboméca Palas turbojet that delivered only 330 pounds of thrust. This resulted in a low thrust-to-weight ratio and relatively anemic performance (as reflected in the specifications accompanying this chapter).
Unsatisfied, Ward modified the Minijet by replacing the French engine with a General Electric T58, the same engine used in the Bell UH-1 Huey. The T58 develops 1,350 shaft horsepower in the legendary helicopter, but produces 800 pounds of thrust when used as a turbojet instead of a turboprop. This 142-percent increase in thrust produces impressive performance.
The more powerful engine also is heavier and keeps the empty center of gravity relatively far aft. Ballast must be placed in the cabin to prevent the airplane from resting on its tailskid instead of its nosewheel. Ward uses a pair of heavy automotive batteries that are removed as soon as one person climbs aboard.
An air intake in each wing root leads to the engine, which is aft of the firewall behind the pilots.
Installation of the more powerful engine created an endurance problem, too. Fuel capacity is 55 gallons. This was acceptable for the smaller engine, but the G.E. powerplant is much thirstier. Endurance is now only 30-45 minutes, which means that a flight should not be planned for much more than 15 or 20 minutes. This explains why the air-to-air photography on these pages had to begin almost immediately after liftoff, and we were forced to accept whatever background happened to slip beneath our wings.
Ward, however, has a pair of original 15-gallon tip tanks that he plans to install. Thankfully, the plumbing needed for this is already in the wings. This will increase safe endurance to almost two hours.
The refueling receptacle is in the rear of the pod-shaped fuselage. This feeds 2 small fuel tanks in each wing that in turn feed a central sump tank so that fuel management requires nothing more than an on-off selector valve.
The preflight inspection is typical of a small, general aviation airplane. One does notice, however, that the rudders seem unusually small, probably because they are seldom required when flying a Minijet except during crosswind takeoffs and landings.
Entering the cabin is made through a large gull-wing door on each side of the cabin.
There are very few engine instruments on the panel because very few are needed. In addition to the oil temperature and pressure gauges, there is only an exhaust temperature gauge and a tachometer that indicates percentage of maximum-allowable rpm.
There also are two red warning lights. One warns of metal chips in the oil (land as soon as possible) and another warns of an engine fire. The only thing you can do about the latter is to shut down the engine; the aircraft is not equipped with bottles of extinguishing agent.
The large General Electric engine requires more electrical power to start than was required by the original, smaller engine, so the electrical system in the Minijet is not quite as substantial as it should be. Consequently, a pilot should be careful not to attempt a start unless the 28-volt battery is fully charged. Otherwise, he runs the risk of slow engine acceleration during the start sequence and the possibility of a hot start, which, of course, requires an immediate shutdown. My check pilot on this flight, Matt Jackson, told me that a fully charged battery is good for three start attempts, although he has found that the T58 in this Minijet almost always starts the first time (especially if the aircraft is headed into the wind during engine start).
Add fuel and ignition at 20-percent rpm by moving the start lever forward while maintaining an ever-vigilant eye on exhaust temperature.
Considering that the big T58 engine produces substantial idle thrust, it is not surprising that the Minijet wants to accelerate and takeoff while taxiing with the thrust lever fully retarded. After all, the airplane has a maximum-allowable gross weight of 1,874 pounds, only 204 pounds more than a Cessna 152.
Ground steering is accomplished with differential braking and toe brakes are conventional.
Extending the double-slotted Fowler flaps to 12 degrees for takeoff provides a new Minijet pilot his first opportunity to experience the unique H-style selector lever on the console between the pilots.
This lever resembles the 4-speed stick shift (“four on the floor”) found on many automobiles with manually operated transmissions and is colloquially referred to as the gear-shift lever.
With the electric hydraulic pump turned on, you move the lever to the lower right position (where fourth gear would normally be found in a car) until the flaps reach the desired position. The lever is then moved to neutral and left there.
During flight, the lever is moved to “first gear” to raise the landing gear, “third gear” to raise the flaps, “fourth gear” to extend the flaps, and finally “second gear” to lower the landing gear.
This might seem a bit complicated at first, but becomes intuitive and easy to use after a little practice.
The thrust and elevator-trim levers are immediately aft of the “gear-shift” lever. A second throttle on the left sidewall allows each pilot to operate his control stick with his right hand and a throttle with his left in the tradition of military trainers and fighters. (SIPA had hoped to sell the Minijet as a military trainer and liaison aircraft as well as to the civilian market.)
Takeoff is simple enough. Accelerate the engine to 100-percent rpm and hang on. The modified Minijet rockets to rotation speed in less time than it takes to shift your attention to the airspeed indicator. After liftoff, pull the nose up sharply so as not to exceed the landing gear limit speed of 120 knots and continue holding it high so that you do not violate the red-line airspeed of 250 knots.
Unless power is reduced, the S-200 with a Huey engine climbs at approximately 8,000 fpm. (With the original French engine, it had a maximum climb rate of only 1,140 fpm.)
One cannot, of course, climb this way very long because of limited fuel. In reality, you should begin to think about landing as soon as the landing gear is retracted. Consequently, my investigation of handling qualities, performance, and stall characteristics was necessarily and severely curtailed.
The good news is that the controls are delightful. The Minijet is an easy to maneuver airplane with a brisk roll rate and fingertip control forces. It also has a 9-G limit load factor and is approved for aerobatics (except snap maneuvers). Inverted flight is limited to 20 seconds. Sadly, I did not have the fuel needed to explore this corner of the envelope either.
After posing the aircraft briefly for the camera, it was time to land. (It is time to land almost as soon as you leave the ground, and you always keep the airport in sight and within glide range.)
I flicked on the electric hydraulic pump, shifted to “second gear” to extend the landing gear and then shifted into “fourth gear” a second or so at a time to ramp the flaps down to a maximum of 35 degrees. The lever is then placed in neutral.
There is not much to landing the Minijet except that you should not begin flaring until you feel as though the seat of your trousers is about to scrape the runway. You are seated that low. (The tailskid below the tailpipe of the engine ensures that a tail strike does not damage the engine.)
N917WJ is truly fun to fly as long as you do not try to fly it for very long. It is perfect for someone who does not need to go far. (Range with the tip tanks, however, would not be quite so bad as long as power is reduced immediately after takeoff and low-power settings are used thereafter.)
This is more than an account of an airplane.
It is also a love story.
It begins when Rut
h Richter Holden was a child. Her father, Paul Richter, Jr., was executive vice-president of Trans World Airlines and one of its three founders. She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, TWA’s hometown, as an “airline brat” surrounded by TWA people and their airplanes.
Holden was enthralled by flight and became a TWA “hostess” in 1955 working the round-engine airliners of that era. She married in 1958. At that time, though, management did not permit flight attendants to be married. She was forced to resign but eventually returned to the sky as a pilot and now has 1,500 hours, an instrument rating, and a Piper Warrior.
Wanting to honor her legendary father, who died at 53 when she was a teenager, Holden created a web site, www.PaulRichterTWALegend.com, detailing his involvement with TWA.
This web site caught the attention of Ed and Connie Bowlin who wanted to sell their Lockheed 12A Electra Junior. The airplane had once been owned by TWA, and the couple had hoped that Holden could provide historical information that would help them to sell the airplane.
NC18137 was built in 1937 at Lockheed Aircraft’s Burbank, California factory and delivered new to Continental Airlines for use on its short, lean routes. Continental sold the airplane to Transcontinental and Western Air (later called Trans World Airlines) in 1940. The Electra Junior was operated by TWA from 1940-1945 as an executive transport and as an airborne research laboratory. It was used, for example, to develop static discharge wicks. At the end of the war, TWA sold the Electra to the Texas Oil Company (Texaco).
Holden knew that TWA had owned only one Model 12A (TWA aircraft #240), and the Bolins’ email sent her scurrying to her father’s stack of logbooks. There she verified that her father had taken her at the age of 10 on a flight from Kansas City to Washington, DC in that same airplane. That was on July 16, 1944. She also recalls having been flown in it two years earlier by TWA President, Jack Frye.
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