Jaffe/Swearingen SA-32T Turbo Trainer

The Jaffe/Swearingen SA-32T is a prototype American turboprop- powered training aircraft with side-by-side seating. A single example was built in the late 1980s, but no production followed.

SA-32T Turbo Trainer
Role Training aircraft
National origin USA
Manufacturer Jaffe Aircraft Corporation/Swearingen Aircraft Corporation
Designer Ed Swearingen
First flight 31 May 1989
Status Prototype only
Number built 1
Developed from Swearingen SX300

Design and development

The SA-32T was developed by Ed Swearingen from his Swearingen SX-300 piston-engined homebuilt aircraft on behalf of the Jaffe Aircraft Corporation, who hoped to sell it as a relatively low-cost military trainer.[1][2] The resulting design was a low-wing cantilever monoplane, with a mainly metal structure, but with composite engine cowlings and tips of wings and tails. Skin thicknesses were increased by 50% compared with the SX300 to make the airframe stronger. A laminar flow wing was used, which was claimed to give jet-like handling capabilities,[3] while hardpoints could be fitted to allow weapons to be carried.[2] The pilot and instructor sat side by side under a bubble canopy, with provision for ejector seats to be fitted. It had a retractable nosewheel undercarriage. The prototype was powered by a single Allison 250-B17D turboprop engine driving a three-bladed propeller.[3]

A single prototype was built by Swearingen Aircraft Corporation, making its first flight on 31 May 1989,[3] which was displayed at the Paris Air Show in June that year.[4] The design was offered to the United States Air Force as a replacement for its aging Cessna T-37 Tweet trainers, and to West Germany and Turkey.[2] In 1990, a version with tandem seating rather than the side-by-side seating of the prototype was proposed.[5] Development of the SA-32T had been abandoned by 1992,[6] although as of January 2016, the prototype is still registered as airworthy by the Federal Aviation Administration.[7]

Specifications (Performance estimated)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1990–91[3]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
  • Wingspan: 24 ft 4+1⁄2 in (7.430 m)
  • Height: 7 ft 9+1⁄4 in (2.369 m)
  • Wing area: 71.5 sq ft (6.64 m2)
  • Aspect ratio: 8.3:1
  • Airfoil: NASA NLF 0416
  • Empty weight: 1,560 lb (708 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 2,600 lb (1,179 kg)
  • Fuel capacity: 87 US gal (72 imp gal; 330 L)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Allison 250-B17D turboprop, 420 shp (310 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 332 mph (534 km/h, 289 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 315 mph (507 km/h, 274 kn) (75% power)
  • Stall speed: 76 mph (122 km/h, 66 kn) (undercarriage and flaps down)
  • Never exceed speed: 400 mph (640 km/h, 350 kn)
  • Range: 1,105 mi (1,778 km, 960 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
  • g limits: ± 6g
  • Rate of climb: 3,700 ft/min (19 m/s)

References
  1. "SA-32T enters the Fray". Flight International. Vol. 133, no. 4101. 20 February 1988. p. 11.
  2. "SA-32 offered to West Germany and Turkey". Flight International. Vol. 133, no. 4108. 9 April 1988. p. 14.
  3. Lambert 1990, pp. 519–520
  4. "Jaffetech shows SA-32T prototype". Flight International. Vol. 135, no. 4170. 24 June 1989. p. 17.
  5. "Swearingen-Jaffe advances SA.30". Flight International. Vol. 138, no. 4233. 12–18 September 1990. p. 32.
  6. Lambert 1992, p. 389
  7. "FAA Registry – Aircraft – N-Number Inquiry: N6Y". Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  • Lambert, Mark, ed. (1990). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1990–91. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Defence Data. ISBN 0-7106-0908-6.
  • Lambert, Mark, ed. (1992). Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1992–93. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Defence Data. ISBN 0-7106-0987-6.
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