Found FBA-2

FBA-2
Found Aircraft FBA-2C1 BushHawk
Role Cabin monoplane
National origin Canada
Manufacturer Found Aircraft
Designer S.R. Found
First flight 1960
Status Production completed
Number built 68
Developed from Found FBA-1
Variants Found Centennial

The Found FBA-2 is a 1960s Canadian four/five-seat cabin monoplane that was produced by Found Aircraft.

Design and development

The Found FBA-2 is an all-metal development of the company's first design, the Found FBA-1. The prototype first flew on 11 August 1960. It is a high-wing monoplane with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. The production version was to be the Found FBA-2B but the aircraft was produced with a conventional tail-wheel landing gear as the Found FBA-2C. The first production FBA-2C first flew on 9 May 1962. It is powered by an Avco Lycoming O-540-A1D engine and had a slightly longer cabin and enlarged cabin doors than the prototype. Originally, float or ski landing gear was available through third parties, and later became a factory option. Production ended in 1965 to concentrate on building the newer and larger Centennial 100. Thirty-four had been built.[1]

In 1996 the design was acquired by Found Aircraft Development who developed an improved model the FBA-2C2 Bush Hawk-XP. This model was certified by Transport Canada in March, 1999 and by the Federal Aviation Administration in March, 2000. This version was manufactured between 2000-2007, after which it was replaced by a new version of the same basic airframe designated the Expedition E350 and the Expedition E350XC.[1]

Expedition E350

Expedition E350

The E350 is an evolutionary development of the basic FBA-2 aimed at the personal use market. The Expedition E350 was FAA type certified in December 2008. The aircraft can be equipped with four or five seats and has a full fuel payload in excess of 900 pounds. It has a range of 700 nmi (1,296 km) at a cruise speed of 156 kn (289 km/h) and is powered by a Lycoming IO-580 powerplant producing 315 hp (235 kW). The E350 has been designed with rugged landing gear for operating from unprepared surfaces and has STOL performance.[2][3]

Pacific Aerospace acquired the E-350 program in early 2016 from Found Aircraft. In September 2016, the E-350 Expedition tooling was shipped to its Hamilton, New Zealand plant. Pacific Aerospace plans to relaunch production of the five-seat type in the first half of 2017. It is also planned to produce the E-350 in its joint venture plant in China with Beijing General Aviation Company. The joint venture will be known as Beijing Pan-Pacific Aerospace Technology.[4][5]

Variants

FBA-2
Prototype, one built.
FBA-2C
Initial production variant, 26 built.
FBA-2C1 Bush Hawk 300
Improved variant with a 300hp Lycoming IO-540L, one built.
FBA-2C1 Bush Hawk XP
Production variant of the Bush Hawk 300, 31 built.
FBA-2C2 Bush Hawk 300XP
Minior changes, 6 built.
FBA-2C3 Expedition E350
Tricycle landing gear first flown in 2006, 3 built.
FBA-2C4 Expedition E350XC
Tail-wheel, one built.
FBA-2D
Proposed variant powered by a 290hp Lycoming engine, not built.

Specifications (FBA-2C)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965-66 [6]

General characteristics

Performance


References

  1. 1 2 Found Aircraft Development (n.d.). "Found Aircraft - A Brief History". Retrieved 2008-02-20.
  2. ↑ Expedition Aircraft (n.d.). "Expedition Aircraft". Retrieved 2009-01-01.
  3. ↑ Grady, Mary (December 2008). "Canada's Expedition E350 Gets FAA OK". Retrieved 2008-12-31.
  4. ↑ Sarsfield, Kate. "Pacific Aerospace's Chinese venture ready for 21 October inauguration". Flight Global. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  5. ↑ Niles, Russ (13 November 2016). "Found Expedition To Resume Production". AVweb. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Taylor 1965, pp. 23–24.
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