Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner

Suite naturelle du Swearingen Merlin : le Metroliner SA 227 sur Wikipedia de langue anglaise

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The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], twin [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] first produced by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and later by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] at a plant in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Design and development


The Metroliner was an evolution of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turboprop-powered business aircraft.

Ed Swearingen, a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (FBO), started the developments that led to the Metro through gradual modifications to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] business aircraft, aircraft he dubbed Excalibur.

Then a new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (but with a similar nose) and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] were developed, married to salvaged and rebuilt [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Queen Air wings and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and Twin Bonanza [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]; this became the SA26 Merlin, more-or-less a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Excalibur.

Through successive models (the SA26-T Merlin IIA and SA26-AT Merlin IIB) the engines were changed to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and then [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turboprops. These were marketed as business aircraft seating eight to ten passengers.

An all-new aircraft was built and called the SA226-T Merlin III with new nose, wings, landing gear, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} and inverted inlet Garrett engines.

Ultimately a stretch of the Merlin III was designed, sized to seat 22 passengers and called the SA226-TC Metro.

Because [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] regulations limited an airliner to no more than 19 seats if no [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was to be carried, the aircraft was optimized for that number of passengers.

The standard engines offered were two TPE331-3UW turboprops driving three-bladed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

A corporate version called the SA226-AT Merlin IVA was also marketed and initially sales of this version were roughly double that of the Metro.


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Prototype construction of the Metro began in 1968 and first flight was on August 26, 1969. Swearingen Aircraft encountered financial difficulties at this stage, and late in 1971 Fairchild (which was marketing the Metro and building its wings and engine nacelles), bought 90% of Swearingen and the company was renamed Swearingen Aviation Corporation.

It was at this point that the previously cash-strapped company was able to put the Metro into production.
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In 1974, the original Metro models were replaced by the SA226-TC Metro II after about 20 Metros and about 30 Merlin IVAs had been built.^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

Among the changes made were larger, squared-oval windows and optional provision for a small [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]
(RATO) rocket in the tail cone, this being offered to improve takeoff performance out of "hot & high" airfields in the event of an engine failure.

SA226-TC Metro II

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The Metro and Metro II were limited to a maximum weight of 12,500 pounds (5,670 kg) in the USA and countries using [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], and 5,700 kgs in countries using [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

When this restriction was lifted the Metro II was re-certified as the Metro IIA in 1980 with a maximum weight of 13,100 pounds (5,941 kg) and the Metro II's TPE331-3 engines replaced by -10 engines of increased power.

The SA227-AC Metro III was next, also initially certified in 1980 at up to 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg) this increasing to 14,500 pounds (6,577 kg) as engines and structures were upgraded.

An option to go as high as 16,000 pounds (7,257 kg) was offered.

Externally, improvements incorporated into the Metro III were a 10 ft (3.05 m) increase in wing span, four-bladed props, redesigned "quick-access" engine [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and numerous drag-reducing airframe modifications, including landing gear doors that close after the gear is extended.

SA227-AC Metro III[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

Once again a corporate version was offered as the Merlin IVC (the model name was chosen to align with the contemporaneous short-fuselage Merlin IIIC).

A version with strengthened floors and the high gross weight option was offered as a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] known as the Expediter. Both the Expediter and the Merlin IVC were designated the SA227-AT. Finally, due to reliability problems with Garrett engines in the second half of the 1980s, the Metro IIIA was offered with two [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]A-45R turboprops in place of the Garrett units; however none were actually delivered.

^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} A special model was the SA227-BC Metro III built for Mexican airline [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], which took delivery of 15 of the 18 of this model that were produced.

SA227-BC Metro III

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Improvements beyond the Metro III provided better systems, more power and a further increase in takeoff weight.

This design effort resulted in the SA227 CC (for Commuter Category) and SA227-DC models, initially called the Metro IV then renamed Metro 23, so named as they were designed for certification under [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (Amendment 34) standards.

A Metro 23 EF with an external pod under the lower fuselage for greater baggage capacity was also offered as well as an Expediter 23 and Merlin 23.

The SA227-CC was an interim model with TPE331-11U engines and only a handful were built.

SA227 CC

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SA 227 DC

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Expediter [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]

Further development


In the 1960s Swearingen Aircraft developed a prototype SA-28T eight-seat jet aircraft with a flapless [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]}

It shared the tail and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with the Merlin/Metro.

The two engines were to be [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] then in development; they were originally to be mounted on the aft fuselage, however during the course of design work their location was moved to under the high-mounted wing.

Early flights were to be undertaken with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines fitted. Development continued after Fairchild acquired the company, but the project was shut down nine weeks from first flight.

It was later cut up as scrap and the fuselage used as a Metro display at trade shows.

At the 1987 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Fairchild released details of proposed developments of the Metro designated the Metro V and Metro VI.

These versions would have featured a longer fuselage with a taller "stand-up" cabin providing 69 in (180 cm) of interior height for passengers; a redesigned, longer wing; engines moved further out on the wing from the fuselage; a "T-tail" and various system improvements.

A Merlin V corporate version of the Metro V was also planned.

The Metro V was to be fitted with the same engines as the Metro 23 and the Metro VI was to be fitted with more powerful TPE331-14 engines.

The Metro VI was shelved within months of being announced due to a lack of customer interest,but Fairchild did not proceed with the Metro V either.

One version that did see the light of day was the Metro 25, which featured an increased passenger capacity of 25 at the expense of the baggage space found in earlier models; the deletion of the left rear cargo door and the addition of a passenger door on the right-hand rear fuselage; and a belly pod for baggage.

A Metro III was converted as a Metro 25 demonstrator, it flew in this configuration in October 1989.

Also mooted but not built was the Metro 25J, which would have been another jet-powered aircraft with TFE731s in over-wing pods.
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The type certificates for Metro and Merlin aircraft are currently held by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Operational history

Two of the original Metro model were delivered in 1972 to Societe Miniere de Bakwanga (MIBA) in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the first customer to put the Metro into service.

The first airline to put them into service was [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in January 1973, followed shortly after by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
At least one Metro IIA flies in Canada with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Two SA227-CCs are today registered with Canadian operator [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], while another two are operating in New Zealand.

A fifth also flew with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] but was destroyed in a mid-air collision in 1995.
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In service with Perimeter Aviation in Canada, this long-term operator of the Metro II made a number of modifications to suit its use in northern and remote Canadian sites where rudimentary gravel "strips" were common.

Some of the many innovative changes to the design of the Metro allowed the aircraft to fly more efficiently as well as cutting down on the "noise factor" that was attributed to the early models.

The airline installed [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines with quieter and more efficient four-bladed Hartzell propellers.

Their Metros are also all equipped with modern avionics suites including certified [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] KLN 90B [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Many of the improvements resulting in the Metro 23 came about during work to produce the military [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] model for the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

Perimeter Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner propeller

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