Welcome to another Allegro newsletter brought to you by the Australian importers X-Air Australia.

In this issue we have lots of exciting deliveries to talk about as the aircraft are being spread far and wide around Australia. I am also happy to bring to you a flight test report and review done by Brent Christensen from the Tooradin flying school who have recently taken delivery of an amphibious floatplane version of the Allegro.

The Allegro moored in the river at Tooradin Victoria

Allegro Floatplane review by Brent Christensen.

After a lengthy review of new aircraft options available to the Tooradin Flying School we decided to offer our customers something a little different from the Jabiru training we currently offer and decided to opt for an aircraft that was equally at home on the ground as it was on the water.

Ready for test flight on the Gold Coast

After reviewing several aircraft that were supposedly approved for amphibious flight operations the choice was narrowed down to just one, the Allegro 2000 by Fantasy Air which seemed to meet all of our requirements and at the time was the only aircraft approved by the RAA for floatplane training with category 24 registration.

Fitted with Full Lotus floats and a retractable undercarriage it offered our school the choice of being land-based or water-based for our instructional usage. We could even take off from the normal runway, land on the water and return to the runway all in one easy flight with the electrically controlled retractable undercarriage.

Electrically controlled undercarriage

With all the negotiation and paperwork done with the Allegro importer, X-Air Australia, and after a delivery timeframe of only around 4 1/2 months, the phone call finally came saying the aircraft had arrived into Brisbane and was RAA registered and ready to test fly.

Ray Hill, our CFI at Tooradin flying school and myself departed for the Gold Coast where X-Air Australia's principal, Michael Coates, met us at Coolangatta airport. After a brief chat on the way to the airfield Michael introduced us both to our new acquisition. On first inspection the plane is much bigger than we originally expected. On the floats it sits around 600 mm higher than a normal Allegro, which I must add is already a big plane… and the full Lotus floats and retractable undercarriage make this plane stand out from the rest - it literally towers above all the other aircraft in our hanger.

Landing with 2 stages of flap

Ray Hill, who is floatplane endorsed, was first to fly the aircraft. Tentatively he taxied out onto the runway and after applying full power the aircraft was airborne in less than 150 m, even with an 8 knots cross wind; with a climb rate of around 600 feet per minute the aircraft climbed quickly to circuit height where Ray fully evaluated the aircraft’s performance and capabilities and generally just got a feel of how the aircraft performed and handled with the floats attached to the bottom. After a short period, and feeling fully comfortable with the new aircraft, we refuelled and prepared for the flight from the Gold Coast back down to Tooradin in Victoria, a distance of around 1500 km.

The first flight of the floatplane

With two on board the aircraft rotated at around 50 knots and climbed away at more than 500 feet per minute. Our proposed route was via Glen Innes, Narromine, Wangaratta, Mangalore and finally into Tooradin. We tentatively transited our way further south as the conditions were rough and we had no real feel for the performance and endurance of the aircraft when fitted with floats.

Cruise at all times was a very solid 82 to 85 knots and at no stage was less than 80 knots. We found a cruise climb at around 75 knots produced 400 to 500 feet per minute climb rate as we tried to take it easy on the new engine. To promote cooling we stuck to high-speed climbs throughout our transit, surprisingly the highest altitude we achieved on our trip south was 8500 feet and the Allegro would reach this altitude effortlessly.

Take-off performance is very similar to a ground-based Allegro and we found that the best rotation speed of around 45 to 50 knots with a fairly flat climb out offers fantastic visibility both forwards over the cowling and sideways through the doors to the ground.

Landing approach is best at around 50 knots where the aircraft remains extremely stable with two stages of flap which we affectionately referred to as “lowering the barn doors”. Landing distances on terra-firma are greater than take-off given the single nose wheel brake however with such a low stall speed and approach speed we had the aircraft pulling up easily within 200 to 300 m.

A little extra care must be taken with the Full Lotus retractable undercarriage as it’s not as solid as the normal Allegro undercarriage. However, with four main wheels at the rear it is certainly capable of a bumpy arrival and on rough runways the nose wheel is held off until the aircraft absorbs most of the energy on the rear wheels.

Retracting the undercarriage is a pleasure and offers a speed increase of around one knot ! Not a huge increase but certainly beneficial and it even looks better in flight when you tear past the airfield. It's also easy to see that the main gear legs are locked down into place prior to landing and in the event of a nose wheel failure the aircraft would simply slide to a stop on the plastic skids fitted to the underside of the Full Lotus floats.

Now for the info you've been waiting for – how does she handle in waterborne operations ?. Final approach on the water is something that you need to experience to understand. Sitting in a brand-new, fully carpeted, warm and toasty cockpit, not unlike a car, while you are descending onto the water is a whole new concept !. One stage of flap on the final approach and a very slow touchdown, somewhere around 40 knots. Tail first with a slow reduction in RPM to allow the nose to slowly come down and into contact with the water. Stopping distance is around 100 to 200 m - it really depends on how quickly you drop the RPM after touchdown.

Ray and Brent ready for the 1500 km trip south

Given that we were only new to the aircraft we were taking it very easy in the early stages. Taxying around the water happens fairly slowly and with caution especially near any obstacles like boats and moorings. Lowering the water rudder gives extra control to the pilot however any cross winds will affect your performance at low speeds and I guess this is one of the many skills that are developed by floatplane pilots.

Takeoff was fairly classic for this type of aircraft fitted with Full Lotus floats.

Full back stick with careful application of power to the maximum RPM. A bit of extra care must be taken when applying power in wavy conditions as there is no elevator authority at low speed so full back stick may not have any effect until the speed is around 20 knots or so. With full back stick for around 20 seconds whilst the speed is built up and then full forward on the stick to assist the aircraft on getting up onto the plane. Once the aircraft is planing the stick is neutralised to prevent porpoising and the aircraft gracefully lifts of the water.

Brent asking.... What does this do Ray ???

Takeoff in normal conditions on the water can be achieved in as little as 200 m depending on the head wind and wave conditions. A slight chop is recommended as it reduces the surface area contact on the floats for take off and it makes a big difference to your take-off roll (or should I say splash).

Overall takeoff, landing and taxiing is a fairly simple process and most enjoyable! We did some fine tuning on the position of the Full Lotus floats after our first few flights. As the aircraft was not test flown on water in the Czech Republic because it was produced in the middle of winter and everything was frozen we found it necessary to move the floats about 100 mm towards the nose of the aircraft to give us better longitudinal control on the water, in this new position we found the plane perfectly balanced.

We found on one of our first trips to the local inlet for coffee that the tide was out and the foreshore was muddy with about 50 m of exposed mud at low tide. Normally you wouldn't have a chance of walking across the mud flat but on the Allegro it's simply a matter of pointing at the beach, retracting the rudder and applying throttle to simply slide up the mud and step off without even getting your feet wet. Name another aircraft that can do that ! To get back to the water we about-faced the aircraft, climbed in, started the engine and slid straight back down the muddy bank to the water's edge.

Float flying can be tricky for the beginner and we recommend gaining some experience on the water with a qualified float endorsed instructor before attempting it yourself, however we highly recommend float flying for anyone looking to enhance their flying experiences. Most of all, amphibious operations provide exciting new challenges in this remarkable aircraft.

For further information about the Allegro aircraft on floats please contact Michael Coates of X-Air Australia on 0418 168 665 or visit the website http://www.mcp.com.au

Should you wish to sample the delights of float plane flying, and possibly even get a floatplane endorsement on the Allegro, please contact any of the flight instructors at the Tooradin flying school on 03 5998 3711 or visit the website http://www.tooradinflyingschool.com.au

Brent Christensen October 2005

Recent Deliveries

John in Batemans Bay

Peter in Sydney

Allen in the Hunter Valley