The Transavia PL-12 Airtruk is a single-engine
agricultural aircraft
An agricultural aircraft is an aircraft that has been built or converted for agricultural use – usually aerial application of pesticides (crop dusting) or fertilizer (aerial topdressing); in these roles they are referred to as "crop duster ...
designed and built by the
Transavia Corporation
Transavia Corporation was an Australian aircraft manufacturer active between 1965 and 1985.
Formation
Transavia Corporation was formed in 1965, as a subsidiary of Transfield to produce agricultural aircraft.
The initial design of the Airtruc ...
in
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The Airtruk is a shoulder-wing strut braced
sesquiplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...
of all-metal construction, with the cockpit mounted above a
tractor-location opposed-cylinder air-cooled engine and short pod fuselage with rear door. The engine cowling, rear fuselage and top decking are of fibreglass. It has a tricycle undercarriage, the main units of which are carried on the lower sesquiplane wings. It has twin tail booms with two unconnected tails. Its first flight was on 22 April 1965, and was
certified
Certification is the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestation or confirmation of certain characteristics of a ...
on 10 February 1966.
A Transavia PL-12 featured in the 1985 movie Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome
Design and development
![PL12 Airtruk ZK-CVD Barr Bros ARD 15](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/PL12_Airtruk_ZK-CVD_Barr_Bros_ARD_15.10.73_edited-3.jpg)
It was developed from the
Bennett Airtruck
The PL-11 Airtruck is a New Zealand agricultural aircraft.
A strikingly unusual aircraft, the PL-11 Airtruck was developed from the Kingsford Smith PL.7 as a replacement for the de Havilland Tiger Moth in the New Zealand aerial topdressing m ...
designed in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
by Luigi Pellarini. It has a 1 tonne capacity hopper and is able to ferry two passengers as a
topdresser. Other versions can be used as cargo, ambulance or aerial survey aircraft, and carry one passenger in the top deck and four in the lower deck.
The Airtruk is also sometimes known as the Airtruck. Because the name "Airtruck" was registered by the New Zealand companies Bennett Aviation Ltd and Waitomo Aircraft Ltd, for their
PL-11
PL-11 is a high-level machine-oriented programming language for the PDP-11, developed by R.D. Russell of CERN in 1971. Written in Fortran IV, it is similar to PL360
PL360 (or PL/360) is a system programming language designed by Niklaus Wirth a ...
, Transavia found another name for their PL-12 ("Airtruk").
July 1978 saw the first flight of an improved model, the T-300 Skyfarmer, which was powered by a
Textron Lycoming IO-540-engine. This was followed in 1981 by the T-300A with improved aerodynamics.
Transavia ceased production of the T-300 in 1985.
In 1982 certification was undertaken to enable sales in the North American market. Assistance was provided by the
Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL) of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and extensive tests carried out on the ground and in subsequent flight flutter clearance trials. ref. DSTO Structures Tech. Memo. 341
In 1985 an extended version was produced and released as the T-400. The engine was changed from a 6-cylinder to an 8-cylinder and the tail booms extended by . Other minor changes were made to the aerodynamics. Flutter clearance tests were again carried out by ARL and manufacture proceeded.
An isolated flutter incident was reported in 1986 involving violent oscillations of the rudder and tail boom on the T-400 during a delivery flight. Investigations were carried out by ARL and a split mass balance arm was fitted to each rudder. Prior to this the aircraft had relied on frictional damping provided by the lengthy control cables. The modified aircraft was tested both on the ground, and in flight trials in March 1988 over Port Philip near Melbourne, Australia. All attempts to induce the oscillations showed that there was no indication of a mode of vibration becoming unstable. The maximum speed achieved was in a steep dive. Oscillations were induced with an air operated tool fitted with an out-of-balance rotating mass. This device had a rotational speed from 18 Hz down to zero for each charge of the compressed air cylinder.
At least 120 had been built by 1988.
Operations and survivors
As of 2008, there are at least three examples in museums in New Zealand, with an additional one being restored to airworthy status. The second prototype is preserved in the Powerhouse Museum collection,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia.
There is one Transavia PL-12 Airtruk on display and under restoration at the Danish Air Museum at
Stauning Vestjylland Airport in western Denmark.
There is one airworthy Airtruk in Ecka airfield near Zrenjanin, Serbia, two airworthy T300A models in Albury( Hazair PL)Australia and one airworthy PL12 model in Tooma, Australia.
![AirTruk at Temora Airport October 2018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/AirTruk_at_Temora_Airport_October_2018.jpg)
There is one airworthy and flying frequently (most weeks) at
Temora Airport
Temora Airport is a small airport located northwest of Temora, New South Wales, Australia. Currently no regularly scheduled passenger fights serve the airport. The current owner, the Temora Shire Council, do not charge landing fees for aircr ...
, New South Wales Australia
There is one located in the Bathurst Aerodrome, New South Wales Australia.
There is one located at the Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra, Queensland Australia.
There is one located at the Museum of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Cuatro Vientos (Madrid) Spain.
Variants
![Transavia PL-12 Airtruck 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Transavia_PL-12_Airtruck_2.jpg)
; PL-12 Airtruk
: Single-engined agricultural aircraft. Powered by 300 hp (224 kW)
Rolls-Royce Continental IO-520-D
; PL-12U
: Multi-purpose utility transport, air ambulance, aerial survey aircraft.
; T-320 Airtruk
: Powered by a 320-hp
Continental/Rolls-Royce Tiara 6-320-2B piston engine.
[Taylor 1977, p.8.]
; Skyfarmer T-300
: Powered by Lycoming O-540 engine.
; Skyfarmer T-300A
: Improved version of the T-300.
; Skyfarmer T-400
: Enlarged, more powerful (400 hp (298 kW)
Lycoming O-720
The Lycoming IO-720 engine is a large displacement, horizontally opposed, eight-cylinder aircraft engine featuring four cylinders per side, manufactured by Lycoming Engines.
There is no carburated version of the engine, which would have been d ...
engine.
; PL-12 MIL
: Proposed multi-role utility transport, air ambulance, forward air control, light attack, counter-insurgency aircraft. Also known as the M-300.
[Donald 1997, p.877.]
; PL-12 550T
: Proposed variant powered by a 550-hp
Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6
The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964 and has been continuously upda ...
A turboprop engine.
Specifications (PL-12 / PL-12U)
References
Notes
Bibliography
*Donald, David (editor). ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Leicester, UK: Blitz, 1997. .
*Taylor, John W R. (editor). ''Jane's All the Worlds Aircraft 1976-77''. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. .
*Taylor, John W R. (editor). ''Jane's All the Worlds Aircraft 1988-89''. Coulsdon, Surrey, UK: Jane's Information Group, 1988. .
External links
{{commons category, Transavia PL-12 Airtruk
Transavia PL-12 Airtruk kiwiaircraftimages.com
Airtruk Capability Transfeild Promotional Video
The First Airtruks Transfeild Promotional Video
1960s Australian agricultural aircraft
Twin-boom aircraft
Sesquiplanes
Shoulder-wing aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1965