Were there an NBAA prize for the aircraft which traveled farthest to the show, it would undoubtedly be won by an angular-looking machine currently parked at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport. Hailing from Australia, (from whence it actually came in a box) the Explorer Aircraft Corp Explorer 350R is a rugged airtruck powered by a 350 hp Teledyne Continental TSIO-550 flat-six.

The prototype (and only airplane currently flying) first took to the air in January 1998. Carrying up to eight persons, including the pilot(s), in a 250 cubic-foot cabin, the Explorer is aiming for dual Australian/FAA certification and first deliveries in 2002. Stated design aims included a price tag half that of comparable aircraft.

Initial production version will be the 10-passenger (plus one pilot) Explorer 500T, powered by a P&WC PT6-135B, but a 500R with the new Orenda liquid-cooled V-8 piston engine will soon follow. Both are 500 hp powerplants, giving their versions a 2,400 pounds payload and 175 knots cruising speed.

Later still, the fuselage will be stretched to take advantage of a PT6-60A, so that the resultant Explorer 750T will lift 4,000 pounds and travel at 190 knots with 16 passengers.

Sized between the Cessna Stationair and Caravan I, the Explorer has a generously-proportioned freight door. It clearly intends to introduce a touch of "Down Under" brashness to the U.S. market, to accelerate which, Explorer Aircraft Inc has been established in Denver.

"We are in discussion with various companies to arrange for production in North America," the airplane's designer, Graham Swannell, told Show News.

By Paul Jackson