Shahbaz hos Teledyne Continental
Idag ska det handla om Shahbaz. Vad är nu det för något? Från det tidigare inlägget MFI Mushahak:
Pakistan har utvecklat egna versioner, först PAC MFI-17 Mushshak och därefter PAC MFI-395 Super Mushshak. I skarven mellan 80- och 90-talet laborerades det även med en variant av Turbo Safari (Supporter) som av pakistanierna kallades Shahbaz. Högst fyra sådana kom dock att tillverkas.
Shahbaz (prototype 86-5147; first flight July 1987) received US FAR Pt 23 certification 1989" och detta med en "...157 kW (210 hp) Teledyne Continental TSIO-360-MB turbocharged engine; four completed by September 1993; no further examples by early 1997.
Av en slump hittade jag en artikel i i maj-numret 1989 av Air Progress med ett intressant reportage skriven av Gene Smith. Det bar rubriken Building a better future. Där berättas bland annat följande:
TCM...is engaged in re-engining 260 Saab MFI-17 "Supporters" for the Pakistani Air Force. The Swedish airplanes, now being built under licence in Pakistan, orginally carried 200 hp Lycomings, but will be converted to the 210 hp Continental TSIO-360-MB...
En bit längre ner - inte helt insatt i typens historik - fortsätter Gene Smith:
The other airplane was what the Pakistanis call the "Mushshak", a sort of all-purpose military trainer derived from the earlier MBB 550 Junior that came orginally with a normally aspirated 200 hp Lycoming IO-360. The Paks liked the airplane - but discovered, too late, that the Lyc ran out of zip too quickly in their 120 F heat and high altitudes of what the Raj used to call the "Northwest Frontier".
They turned for relief to Continental, which was only too happy to yank out all those offending competition engines and install their own 210 hp TSIO-360-MB, the same engine found in that high-altitude hustler, the Mooney 252.
The first of the crop, coded AMF, just happened to be available.
Det är alldelel på tok för mycket att citera! Därför plåtar jag av det berörda avsnittet i artikeln...
The PAF was not too happy about the slow rate of climb of the Mushshak in hot summer temperatures, as students were left with less time aloft to perform their air exercises. This was quite in contrast to the 1973 flight trials, which had been held in the cold November weather, something that had been smartly planned by SAAB, but somehow not seen through by the PAF. Pakistan Army Aviation, used to the STOL capability of the earlier L-19s, was also not impressed with the Mushshak’s take-off performance, especially from unprepared airfields in forward areas. Cruise speed was also a feature that required enhancement.
Före detta AMF, 86-5147, tillverkningsnummer 15.147, kom den 8 april 2010 att gå åt i ett dödligt haveri i en förort till Tagman i närheten av Peshawar.
Man frågar sig lite försynt hur mycket det skilde mellan Shahbaz och Saab Safari TS? Den sistnämnda salufördes av Saab 1978-79, men bara ett exemplar färdigställdes, SE-FIT. Kolla in inlägget Turbo Safari? Turbo Supporter? Eller kort och gott Saab Turbo?.
