Massachusetts (Boston)
M26 AIRWOLF, AEROBATIC
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| Description | M26 AIRWOLF, AEROBATIC, standard airworthiness. 300hp Lycoming. 1996, 690-TTAE, annual 08/2009. Garmin 430, fuel totalizer and egt/cht, Piper gear, factory support. PZL's handsome entry in the military trainer market. $185,000. More photos at: http://www.flightlab.net I go across country leaned for about 15 gallons per hour, indicating 140 – 145 kts at around 3,000 feet. That's at about 22 inches of manifold pressure and 2450 rpm. The aircraft holds 90 gallons. It burns about 25 gal per hour in aerobatic flight. Max aerobatic gross is 2900 pounds, which allows 400 pounds of pilots and gear and over 30 gallons of fuel for aerobatics. The engine is a 300 hp fuel injected Lycoming. Inverted fuel and Christian oil systems. Three-bladed metal prop (Hartzel) with no AD’s. There is an outfit in Michigan that has contact with PZL for parts. They did the last annual and completed a one-time fuselage AD.†A control system AD was just completed. Parachutes stay with me. The aircraft uses seatback-type chutes. The aircraft has a luggage area behind the back seat, and on a tray in the fuselage behind the cockpit. Luggage space is adequate if you pack carefully I have all manuals. My mechanic would be happy to talk to interested parties about maintenance and mechanical systems. Here’s part of a review written by Walter Atkinson, who flew N2601M during AirVenture 1998: The M-26 Air Wolf is built by PZL Mielec in Poland and joins a short list of FAA Certified airplanes in the Aerobatic and Standard categories. Mielec built MIGs as a government entity during the Cold War and is now functioning as a private company in the newly capitalistic regime. The M-26 is a new design which shares some minor similarities to some Piper products, since the two companies have a corporate information sharing agreement. The Air Wolf has a Lycoming AEIO-540 (aerobatic, inverted, injected opposed) which is fully capable of sustained inverted flight. The airframe is tough. It is rated for +6/-3 Gs in the aerobatic category but is capable of more (+9/-6 should test your mettle). The cross-country capabilities are acceptable with a cruise of 165 ktas and with a fuel burn of 16 gph, the 96 gallons on board will take you further than most bladders. The 3100 gross wt. is enough to take two and light luggage. Now comes the fun. The control forces are excellent; light for a GA airplane (sort of medium for an F-15 driver) and are very well balanced. The control linkage is of push/pull tube construction and is solid. The roll rate is much quicker than the T-34 at 200 degrees per second! It really goes around. All aerobatic maneuvers are accomplished without unusual inputs and the hammerhead and aileron rolls seem better than most airplanes in the category. Stalls are gentle. You get the "elephants toe dancing on the wings" thumping but everything remained straight and it noticeably did not have the wing drop of the T-34. Inverted flight, which is limited to 5 seconds in the T-34 (except those equipped with inverted oil) can be accomplished in the M-26 for as long as you can take it. The only question is, "Just how tough are you?” Upon returning to OSH, we set up for the approach. The landing gear can be lowered at 108 knots. The big Lycoming blocks your vision in the nose-up attitude of a no flaps landing, but with 20 degrees of flaps, everything looks and feels just right. With a 54 knot stall speed, there is plenty of room at the 70 knot landing speed, which felt very comfortable. |
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| Phone | (617) 680-8581 |