Polish aircraft manufacturer PZL-Mielec has unveiled two new stretched variants of its 18-seat M-28 Skytruck development of the Antonov An-28 twin-turboprop.
The M28-03 and M28-04 are being marketed as the Skytruck Plus. The fuselage has been stretched by 1.84m, and the cabin ceiling raised by 0.25m, allowing passengers to stand upright.
Three prototypes, including a completed ground-test aircraft, are planned, with the first flight scheduled for mid-1998, to enable deliveries to begin in early 1999.
The stretch allows the aircraft to carry up to 30 passengers or three LD-3 cargo containers, while retaining a high level of commonality with the basic M-28, including similar short take-off and landing and hot-and-high performance, and rough-field capability.
The M28-03 has rear clamshell doors as fitted on the current M28, while the M28-04 has a side cargo door, large enough to take a standard LD-3 container or a cargo pallet. Both variants will be powered by two uprated 880kW (1,200hp) Pratt &Whitney Canada PT6A-65B turboprops driving Hartzell propellers.
The cockpit will have either AlliedSignal Bendix/King Gold Crown Series or Rockwell-Collins avionics, including electronic flight-instrument system (EFIS) displays linked to a flight-management computer allowing day-and-night instrument-flight-rules operations. A global-positioning system and weather radar are standard. Optional interior configurations allowing cargo transport on two pallets, military and medical-evacuation variants are also offered.
Source: Flight International
