eXtreme STOL - Flying the P750

As a PC-12 pilot, I couldn't keep myself from taking a look at the Pacific Aerospace P750 XSTOL...it sat up higher than my plane, it's pilot windows opened, it had a centerline cargo pod and the demo video playing in their tent was simply awesome! I didn't know it at first, but I was in for a great Oshkosh adventure.

PA Vice President Ray Ferrell impressed me my explaining that the P750 can takeoff in less than 300m of grass or dirt while carrying 1.8 tonnes. I love my PC-12, but I can only dream of that kind of short/soft field performance. Better yet, with a price tag of $1.5 to $1.8 Million dollars and lower maintenance costs than many other turboprops, an operator could get 2 or 3 P750s for every PC-12 he or she buys.

Once he realized he had me hooked, Ray offered me a demo flight. How could I say no? I showed up the next day and he mentioned that we'd have to drive to Fond du Lac to get the plane because they didn't have any parking at Wittman Field yet. Another pilot suggested that he just stop by the FBO and see if they had room for him. He did so, but mentioned that he hadn't studied up on the procedure for flying to KOSH. I ever so humbly and innocently mentioned that I'd flown in earlier and that I could potentially be of assistance if he so desired.

The next thing I knew, I was climbing in through the large aft cargo door and looking at the spacious interior of the P750 XSTOL. First, I watched Chris (PA's South African demo pilot - the guy who is flying in the video above) do a landing for currency. The P750 pushed me back in my seat on takeoff - a fun part of flying that I'd been missing since I stopped flying jets with afterburners. Lightly loaded, the plane climbed at 30 degrees nose up without even trying hard. His landing was truly amazing too. He touched down just after the threshold and had the plane stopped before the first taxiway. I don't have a measurement for it, but it can't have been more than a couple hundred feet. XSTOL is right!

While we were taxiing around, we got a private air show from a P-51. This picture shows how the P750 has great visibility. It has an IFR panel, but not the kind that dominates the cockpit like most turboprops. It feels good to a pilot who likes to look outside while he's flying. It also doesn't hurt that the pilots can open large hatches on each side of the cockpit for fresh air while taxiing.

After the first landing, Ray booted Chris out and gave me the right seat. We blasted out of Fond du Lac and found some quiet airspace where I made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to stall the plane with and without power. About the best I could do was get the nose to mush toward the horizon until I relaxed back pressure to effect immediate recovery.

After some flying around and a couple patterns, we decided to head back to Oshkosh. Since all aviation is tradeoffs, the P750 is not a speed machine. It does just fine though...I had to pull the power way, way back to keep the speed down to 135 kt on the Fisk arrival. All of the controllers on the way in were interested in our plane and I think we impressed them by exiting on the first taxiway North of 27. We worked our way up to Basler and ended up parking next to Sir Richard Branson's jet.

Ray is a parachuting enthusiast and first came up with the idea for the P750 in hopes of finally producing a great jump plane. He was pleased that after shopping his idea around, people became interested in using it for agricultural flying, missionary and humanitarian work, cargo hauling, military operations and more. It is definitely a great platform for any of those missions.

The aircraft I flew is equipped with a jump door (left side, aft) that can be closed from the pilot seat. A two-piece cargo door is standard. The aircraft is unpressurized, a trade-off that has the benefits of lower cost and less maintenance. It can be configured with practically any interior you could imagine and is truly a utility flying machine.

This was probably my favorite adventure from Oshkosh this year. If you're involved in back country or utility flying and get the chance to fly a P750, take it! I promise, you won't be disappointed.