Page 9 - Twin and Turbine December 16

but individual valves allow one side to be shut off for parking or balancing. For the floatplane kit, inboard fuel fillers are provided to facilitate more convenient dockside refueling, reducing fuel capacity to 240 gallons.
For a single, the airplane casts a large shadow. The 280 square feet of wing area spans a tad over 52 feet; even the horizontal tail is 20 1⁄2 feet wide. The rudder tip is just over 15 feet above the ground. Without its typical cargo pod under the belly, the Grand Caravan EX has a greyhound look on the ramp. Most operators will want the pod’s four bins of extra space. The demonstrator aircraft had the TKS anti-icing system installed, with a 20-gallon tank of fluid installed in the second pod compartment; the tank is anchored to the fuselage structure, not the pod floor, and two pumps are installed to make sure the fluid is available when needed. About 3.4 hours of dispersal is provided in “normal” mode, with a full tank.
The massive wing has pitot/ static masts on both sides, with two landing/taxi lights per side, and an optional weather radar pod goes on the right leading edge. To keep the stall speed in landing configuration from exceeding the 61-knots of Part 23 certification, extra-wide Fowler- type flaps are installed, with vortex generators molded into a rubber strip on the outboard section, aft of the roll-control spoilers, and an added Gurney strip keeps airflow attached at the trailing edge. The wing’s upper surface has a row of vortex generators behind the leading edge. The ailerons alone are not sufficient for control at low speed, even with servo tabs, so a spoiler actuates with up aileron travel. Trim is provided on the right aileron, the rudder is trimmable and both elevators have trim tabs. To enhance pitch control, vortex generators are on the horizontal stabilizer. An external rudder lock handle, transplanted from the twin
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DECEMBER 2016
TWIN & TURBINE • 7