Sikorsky And PZL Mielec Prepare M28 Plane For Transatlantic Flight

Sikorsky and its Poland-based affiliate PZL Mielec are finalizing an M28 short takeoff and landing (STOL) airplane for a transatlantic flight from Europe to Latin America, the company said Thursday.

The M28 is a Polish-designed twin-engine airplane designed for easy configuration between mission types. It is certified by Brazil’s ANAC (National Civil Aviation Agency), the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to perform in minus 50°C to 50°C temperatures. The airframe’s ice protection system is certified for flight into known icing conditions, Sikorsky said.

Sikorsky is part of Lockheed Martin [LMT].

The aircraft has two Pratt & Whitney Canada  PT6-65B turboprop engines and Sikorsky said its thrust-reversing propellers “give the airplane unique short takeoff and landing capabilities.” It has a maximum payload of 5,000-pounds and can take off and land of rough airstrips 1,800-feet long.

Pratt & Whitney is a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX].

The M28 is planned to fly from southeast Poland to Latin America and the Caribbean. Once in the American region, the producers intend the aircraft to demonstrate its ability to move people and cargo in short, unpaved, or underdeveloped airstrips to interested militaries and commercial transport customers.

The tour is set to begin at the Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago on March 17. It will then visit 12 other cities through mid-May across Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and Mexico.

Sikorsky said PZL Mielec engineers gave the plane a final coat of paint and necessary equipment to showcase its quick conversion to passenger configuration, paratroop, cargo transport, and casualty evacuation.

“The westward transatlantic crossing in mid-winter is just one example of extreme weather flying for this rugged and reliable M28 airplane. By the end of the demonstration tour in Latin America this spring, the aircraft will have flown 14,500 km over mountain ranges and oceans, taken off and landed on jungle and island airstrips, and shown its ability to perform under hot and icing conditions,” M28 chief designer Mariusz Kubryn said in a statement.

The PZL pilots and crew will fly the plane from Mielec, Poland to Denmark on February 24 before starting its maritime leg to Scotland and Iceland. It is set to arrive in Kulusuk, Greenland on February 28 after 2,164 nautical miles and about 10 hours of transatlantic flying.

“Militaries and commercial airlines across Latin America and the Caribbean have expressed tremendous interest in the diverse and unique capabilities of this exceptional airplane,” Adam Schierholz, Sikorsky regional executive for Latin America, added.