AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2019 - T-14

CONTROL SURFACES including the rudder

(above) are mass balanced for high-speed
flight.

service, then leased them to the U.S. military
and private contractors.
Slaney comes from a working class family and speaks with an undiluted English
accent. Despite the fast-paced, high-stakes
nature of his business, he projects a calm and
unhurried manner as well as a wry, understated sense of humor.
"I've always considered 'plan' a fourletter word," he said. "I've never had any
overarching vision for my business or career.
I just try to spot opportunities when they
come along. And when I commit to a course
of action, I see it through to completion."
Slaney twice won Britain's Strongest Man
competitions, in 1980 and 1982, and discus
records he set in college still stand decades
later. He regards those feats as ancient and
obscure trivia, however, and a recent injury
makes such exploits feel especially distant.
T-14 | AOPA PILOT January 2019

Slaney's right foot and ankle are in an
orthopedic boot, the result of a broken foot.
Yet he flies despite the painful injury.
"I may ask you to kindly apply right rudder on climbout if my foot fails me," he told
a passenger. "Or perhaps I'll just whimper."
Slaney started his business with a
$20,000 bank loan, and his success is built
on steadfastness and consistency-not
marketing. There are no signs or external
markings on his hangar, and few of those
who do business with him are aware of
his former athletic glory. There's an iconic
photo from the 1984 Olympics of Slaney carrying his injured fiancée off the track after
she became entangled with another runner and fell during a race she was widely
expected to win-and a pained expression
contorts his face at the mention of it.
"The worst day of Mary's life," he said.
"Mine too."
Slaney started flying turboprops when
he bought a NDN Firecracker, the losing
airplane in a U.K. trainer competition in
the 1980s. He bought his first Tucano sight
unseen when the RAF began retiring them
a decade ago, and it won him over. He won't
say how many Tucanos and spare parts
he's acquired since then, but his company
has sold about 10 of the high-performance
trainers. Retail prices are typically about $1
million each.
Slaney scours the planet for aviation
opportunities, yet he admits there's a glaring flaw in his business strategy: his aversion
to selling just about anything. Most entrepreneurs celebrate profitable sales. Slaney
laments them.
"I've been told more than once to seek
therapy for this mental condition," he said.
"Yet I just can't help myself. I've regretted
everything I've ever sold. I get emotionally
invested in rally cars, airplanes, you name
it. I'm the world's worst salesman because I
sincerely don't want to part with anything."
NOVEL EXPERIENCE

My introduction to the Tucano takes place
under ideal conditions at Eugene on a sunny,
calm, 70-degree day with light winds. The
gray and white airplane stands tall on
straight, familiar-looking landing gear that
happens to be identical to those on Piper
Navajos. A retractable step and handhold
assist in climbing onto the left wing, and
stepping over the canopy rail leads to the
tandem cockpit.
The Martin-Baker ejection seats are
deactivated, and Tucano owner Behel and
I strap into five-point aerobatic harnesses.

Once the swing-over canopy comes
down, it's time to start the 750-horsepower
PT6A-25 engine. Startup is normal, and as
soon as the engine is running, the airconditioning kicks in with a steady breeze from
four adjustable vents.
The rear cockpit is particularly roomy,
and adjustable rudder pedals and firm,
contoured seats make the Spartan surroundings comfortable.
A single lever controls both engine
power and propeller rpm. From idle position (there's no flight or ground idle), the
power lever moves forward all the way to
100 percent. Moving the lever aft to flat
pitch or reverse requires lifting it over a
gate. Three-axis trim is all electric via a hat
switch on the stick and a rocker switch on
the power lever.
Aligned with Runway 16R, I lower the
flaps to 15 degrees and push the power
lever all the way forward. Acceleration
is moderate and the airplane reaches its
85-knot rotation speed after a ground roll
of 1,500 feet.
Left-turn-inducing P-factor is easily
counteracted with right rudder, and I
raise the landing gear, then flaps, and set a
12-degree pitch attitude for the climb while
the Tucano quickly accelerates to its bestclimb speed of 140 KIAS. With full tanks
(182 gallons/1,220 pounds) and two aboard,
the airplane ascends at 2,200 fpm.
We climb to 8,000 feet and go through
a series of familiarization maneuvers,
slow flight, stalls, and aerobatics-and
the Tucano shows itself to be graceful,
energetic, powerful, and obedient.
Behel demonstrates a series of stalls that
show the airplane's benign departure
characteristics, and positive-G aerobatic
maneuvers reveal its grace and agility.
Control forces are moderate and well
balanced throughout the airplane's normal
speed range. Full-deflection aileron rolls at
200 KIAS produce a roll rate of 120 degrees
per second, and over-the-top maneuvers
(loops and half-Cuban eights) entered
at 220 KIAS and 90 percent power gain
nearly 3,000 feet in the climb.
Point rolls are crisp and precise,
but stopping the roll requires opposite
aileron-not just neutral.
Visibility is outstanding from either
seat, but the back-seat pilot doesn't have a
good view of the front-seater. The back seat
is so elevated that only the top of the frontseat pilot's head is visible from behind. The
two cockpits are identical, but only the
front-seater has access to the manual fuel

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - January 2019