Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner

Metroliner
Perimeter Aviation C-FUZY SA226-TC Metro II over Winnipeg, Manitoba c. 2007
Role	Regional airliner
Manufacturer	Fairchild
First flight	August 26, 1969
Introduction	1972
Status	Out of production, in service
Primary users	Ameriflight Aeronaves TSM Key Lime Air Perimeter Aviation
Produced	1968–2001
Number built	600+
Developed from	Swearingen Merlin
Variants	Fairchild C-26 Metroliner

An Ameriflight SA227-AC Metro III rests on the ramp at the company's DFW Airport headquarters.

The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States.

Design and development

The Metroliner was an evolution of the Swearingen Merlin turboprop-powered business aircraft. Ed Swearingen, a Texas fixed-base operator (FBO), started the developments that led to the Metro through gradual modifications to the Beechcraft Twin Bonanza and Queen Air business aircraft, which he dubbed Excalibur.

A new fuselage (but with a similar nose) and vertical fin were then developed, married to salvaged and rebuilt (wet) Queen Air wings and horizontal tails, and Twin Bonanza landing gear; this became the SA26 Merlin, more-or-less a pressurized Excalibur. Through successive models (the SA26-T Merlin IIA and SA26-AT Merlin IIB) the engines were changed to Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6, then Garrett TPE331 turboprops. These were marketed as business aircraft seating eight to ten passengers.

An all-new aircraft was built and named the SA226-T Merlin III with a new nose, wings, landing gear, cruciform horizontal tail^{[note 1]} and inverted inlet Garrett engines. Ultimately a stretch of the Merlin III was designed, sized to seat 22 passengers and called the SA226-TC Metro. Because FAA regulations limited an airliner to no more than 19 seats if no flight attendant was to be carried, the aircraft was optimized for that number of passengers. The standard engines offered were two TPE331-3UW turboprops driving three-bladed propellers. A corporate version called the SA226-AT Merlin IVA was also marketed and initially sales of this version were roughly double that of the Metro.^[1]

Prototype construction of the Metro began in 1968 and the first flight was on August 26, 1969. Swearingen Aircraft encountered financial difficulties at this stage, and late in 1971 Fairchild (which was marketing the Metro^[2] and building its wings and engine nacelles), bought 90% of Swearingen and the company was renamed Swearingen Aviation Corporation. It was at this point that the previously cash-strapped company was able to put the Metro into production.^[3][4][5]

In 1974, the original Metro models were replaced by the SA226-TC Metro II after about 20 Metros and about 30 Merlin IVAs had been built.^{[note 2]} Among the changes made were larger, squared-oval windows and optional provision for a small Rocket-Assisted Take Off (RATO) rocket in the tail cone, this being offered to improve takeoff performance out of "hot & high" airfields in the event of an engine failure.

The Metro and Metro II were limited to a maximum weight of 12,500 pounds (5,670 kg) in the USA and countries using imperial units, and 5,700 kg in countries using SI units. When this restriction was lifted the Metro II was re-certified as the Metro IIA in 1980 with a maximum weight of 13,100 pounds (5,941 kg) and the Metro II's TPE331-3 engines replaced by -10 engines of increased power.

VH-EEO, a purpose-built SA227-AT Expediter freighter (without cabin windows) in service with Pel-Air, but painted in the Australian air Express livery c. 2007

Colourful Air Chathams Fairchild Metroliner on the tarmac at Whakatane Airport in New Zealand. The aircraft is used exclusively by the airline to maintain a scheduled air service between the Bay of Plenty town and Auckland International Airport.

Jetcraft Aviation SA227-AT Merlin IVC freighter conversion VH-UZA in service, Australia c. 2007

The SA227-AC Metro III followed, also initially certified in 1980 for up to 14,000 pounds (6,350 kg), this increasing to 14,500 pounds (6,577 kg) as engines and structures were upgraded. An option to go as high as 16,000 pounds (7,257 kg) was offered. Externally, improvements incorporated into the Metro III were a 10 ft (3.05 m) increase in wing span, four-bladed props, redesigned "quick-access" engine cowlings and numerous drag-reducing airframe modifications, including landing gear doors that closed after the gear was extended.

Once again a corporate version was offered as the Merlin IVC (the model name was chosen to align with the contemporaneous short-fuselage Merlin IIIC). A version with strengthened floors and the high gross weight option was offered as a cargo aircraft known as the Expediter. Both the Expediter and the Merlin IVC were designated the SA227-AT. Finally, due to reliability problems with Garrett engines in the second half of the 1980s, the Metro IIIA was offered with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-45R turboprops in place of the Garrett units; however none were actually delivered.^[6] A special model was the SA227-BC Metro III built for Mexican airline AeroLitoral, which took delivery of 15 of the 18 of this model that were produced.

Improvements beyond the Metro III provided better systems, more power and a further increase in takeoff weight. This design effort resulted in the SA227 CC (for Commuter Category) and SA227-DC models, initially called the Metro IV^[6] then renamed Metro 23, so named as they were designed for certification under FAR Part 23 (Amendment 34) standards. A Metro 23 EF with an external pod under the lower fuselage for greater baggage capacity was also offered as well as an Expediter 23 and Merlin 23. The SA227-CC was an interim model with TPE331-11U engines and only a handful were built.^[5][7]

Further development

In the 1960s Swearingen Aircraft developed a prototype SA-28T eight-seat jet aircraft with a flapless delta wing.^[2][8] It shared the tail and cockpit with the Merlin/Metro. The two engines were to be Garrett TFE731 turbofans then in development;^[9] they were originally to be mounted on the aft fuselage, however during the course of design work their location was moved to under the high-mounted wing.^[10] Early flights were to be undertaken with General Electric CJ610 engines fitted. Development continued after Fairchild acquired the company,^[11] but the project was shut down nine weeks from first flight. It was later cut up as scrap and the fuselage used as a Metro display at trade shows.

At the 1987 Paris Air Show, Fairchild released details of proposed developments of the Metro designated the Metro V and Metro VI. These versions would have featured a longer fuselage with a taller "stand-up" cabin providing 69 in (180 cm) of interior height for passengers; a redesigned, longer wing; engines moved further out on the wing from the fuselage; a "T-tail" and various system improvements. A Merlin V corporate version of the Metro V was also planned. The Metro V was to be fitted with the same engines as the Metro 23 and the Metro VI was to be fitted with more powerful TPE331-14 engines.^[6][12] The Metro VI was shelved within months of being announced due to a lack of customer interest,^[13] but Fairchild did not proceed with the Metro V either.

One version that did see the light of day was the Metro 25, which featured an increased passenger capacity of 25 at the expense of the baggage space found in earlier models; the deletion of the left rear cargo door, the addition of a passenger door on the right-hand rear fuselage, and a belly pod for baggage. A Metro III was converted as a Metro 25 demonstrator, it flew in this configuration in October 1989.^[14] Also mooted but not built was the Metro 25J, which would have been another jet-powered aircraft with TFE731s in over-wing pods.^[12]

The type certificates for Metro and Merlin aircraft are currently held by M7 Aerospace.

Operational history

Bearskin Airlines C-FXUS SA227 CC model, Winnipeg c.2007

One of the advantages of the Perimeter Aviation modifications was using a four-bladed propeller that was less susceptible to stone chips on gravel runways

Two of the original Metro model were delivered in 1972 to Societe Miniere de Bakwanga (MIBA) in Kinshasa, Zaire, the first customer to put the Metro into service. The first airline to put them into service was Commuter Airlines in January 1973,^[4] followed shortly after by Air Wisconsin.

At least one Metro IIA flies in Canada with Perimeter Aviation.^[15] Two SA227-CCs are today registered with Canadian operator Bearskin Lake Air Service Ltd.,^[16] while another two are operating in New Zealand.^[17] A fifth also flew with Bearskin Airlines but was destroyed in a mid-air collision in 1995.^[18]

In service with Perimeter Aviation in Canada, this long-term operator of the Metro II and III made a number of modifications to suit its use in northern and remote Canadian sites where rudimentary gravel "strips" were common. Some of the many innovative changes to the design of the Metro allowed the aircraft to fly more efficiently as well as cutting down on the "noise factor" that was attributed to the early models. The airline installed Garrett engines with quieter and more efficient four-bladed Hartzell propellers. More recently in 2016, 5 blade composite propellers are being installed, further enhancing performance and reducing noise levels. Their Metros are also all equipped with modern avionics suites including recent installation of Garmin 950 glass cockpits and GPS satellite tracking.

Many of the improvements resulting in the Metro 23 came about during work to produce the military C-26B model for the United States Air Force.

A Metro III aircraft was modified for the Colombian Air Force for counternarcotics reconnaissance purposes.^[19] The Colombian National Police also operates several Metro 23 aircraft for counternarcotics reconnaissance purposes.^[20][21] In addition, the Peruvian Air Force operates a Metro 23 and the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard operates a Metro III, both similarly configured.^[22][23] A "Regional Security System" Metro III with a large belly radome has been seen in the Caribbean.^[24][25]

In civilian service the type has proved to be popular, with sales in the 19-seat airliner market rivalled only by the Beechcraft 1900.^{[note 3]} It is especially popular in Australia. Since the first example (a Merlin IVA) arrived in 1975, almost 20% of the fleet has operated in that country. As of December 2008, 61 Metros and Expediters are registered in Australia, more than all of its market rivals combined.^[26]

Metro production ended in 1998; however by this time Regional Jets were in vogue and turboprop types were out of favour with airlines, and several airframes remained unsold at the factory. The final aircraft, Metro 23 c/n DC-904B, was not delivered (to air charter company National Jet Aviation Services of Zelienople, Pennsylvania) until 2001.^[4] A total of 703 Metro, Expediter, Merlin IV series and C-26 series aircraft were built.^[5] In addition, 158 other SA226 and SA227 series aircraft were built as short-fuselage Merlin IIIs, IIIAs and IIIBs.^{[note 4]}

Variants

VH-KDO, a Metro 23 of Australian regional airline Regional Express (REX). The REX Metros have since been sold or transferred to subsidiary company Pel-Air.

This Metro III was used in Sweden for Erieye/FS-890 AEW trials.

SA226 series

Perimeter Aviation C-FTNV SA226-TC Metro II landing at Tadoule Lake, Manitoba c.2006

• SA226-TC Metro and Metro II - 198 built
• SA226-AT Merlin IVA - 56 built

SA227 series

• Metro III - 291 built
  • SA227-AC - 273 built (11 to US Armed Forces as C-26As)
  • SA227-BC - 18 built (3 to US Armed Forces as C-26Bs)
• SA227-AT - 43 built
  • Merlin IVC - 21 built
  • Expediter - 22 built
• Metro 23 - 115 built
  • SA227-CC - 5 built
  • SA227-DC - 110 built (37 to U.S. Armed Forces as C-26Bs)

Military

• Fairchild C-26 Metroliner - C-26A, C-26B and RC-26B versions for the U.S. military.
• TP 88 - Metro III (two aircraft) delivered to the Swedish Air Force for use as a VIP transports. The first was delivered in 1984, and this was replaced by the second (TP 88B) in 1986 and remained in use until 1993. A third dubbed TP 88C, was acquired in 1987 and was used for Erieye/FS-890 AEW trials.

Operators

In July 2016, 225 Metroliners were in airline service; airline operators with six or more aircraft were:^[27]

• 47: Ameriflight
• 27: Aeronaves TSM
• 23: Key Lime Air
• 20: Perimeter Aviation
• 16: Bearskin Airlines
• 12: Encore Air Cargo
• 9: Bin Air
• 8: Berry Aviation
• 7: Toll Priority
• 6: Sharp Airlines

Accidents and incidents

• On June 12, 1980, a Metro II operating as Air Wisconsin Flight 965 suffered engine failure following massive water ingestion during a thunderstorm; the crew lost control and crashed near Valley, Nebraska. Both crew members and 11 passengers died; two passengers survived with serious injuries.^[28]
• On January 30, 1984, a Metro II operated by Britt Airways crashed shortly after takeoff from Terre Haute, Indiana, on a repositioning flight to Evansville, Indiana. Three Britt employees, including its Director of Operations and Chief Pilot, were killed. The plane, N63Z, was destroyed. The cause was undetermined.
• On January 15, 1987, a Metro II operating as Skywest Airlines Flight 1834 collided with a single engine Mooney M-20 near Kearns Utah. All eight people on the Metro II were killed in the accident.^[29]
• On January 19, 1988, a Fairchild Metro III, operated by Trans-Colorado Airlines as Continental Express Flight 2286, crashed near Bayfield, Colorado. Both crew members and seven of the 15 passengers died. Of the surviving passengers, only one was uninjured.^[30]
• On February 8, 1988, a Metro III operating as Nürnberger Flugdienst Flight 108 suffered a lightning strike, following which the electrical system failed. The right wing separated from the aircraft during an uncontrolled descent and the aircraft disintegrated and crashed near Kettwig, Germany. Both crew members and all 19 passengers died.^[31]
• On February 19, 1988, a Fairchild Metro operating as AVAir Flight 3378 crashed one mile from the runway after takeoff from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, North Carolina. Pilot error was found to be the cause.
• On September 26, 1989, Skylink Airlines Flight 070, a Fairchild Metro III was on a scheduled flight from Vancouver(YVR) to Terrace (YXT), British Columbia with two pilots and five passengers on board. The aircraft crashed one quarter mile to the west of Terrace Airport while the crew was attempting to carry out a missed approach in IFR conditions. The aircraft was destroyed by the impact and a post-crash fire. All seven occupants were fatally injured in the crash.^[32]
• On February 1, 1991, SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, operated with a Metro III, was waiting on a runway when USAir Flight 1493 collided with it, resulting in the death of the ten passengers and two crew members on board the Metro.
• On May 1, 1995, a Metro 23 operating as Bearskin Airlines Flight 362 (with a crew of two and one passenger on board) collided at 4,500 feet above sea level with an Air Sandy Piper PA-31 Navajo (with one pilot and four passengers on board) while on approach to Sioux Lookout Airport, destroying both aircraft and killing all persons on both aircraft.^[33]
• On September 16, 1995, a Tamair Metro III, VH-NEJ, crashed shortly after takeoff from Tamworth, NSW, Australia, killing all three on board. The crash occurred following a "V1 cut" at night and raised many questions regarding the safety of asymmetric training operations at night.^[34]
• On June 18, 1998, Propair Flight 420, a Metro II flying from Dorval International Airport (now Montreal-Trudeau International Airport) to Peterborough Airport in Peterborough, Ontario, experienced a left wheel well fire when the overheated brake and wheel assembly was retracted into the enclosed wheel well. The heat dissipated to the tire and the surrounding structures, eventually causing a fire. During the attempted emergency landing at Mirabel Airport, the landing gear was extended on short final and when the aircraft was over the runway, the left wing broke upwards, the fuselage pivoted to the left and struck the ground. All 11 occupants were fatally injured.^[35]
• On May 3, 2005, a Metro III operating a cargo flight as Airwork Flight 23 broke up in midair and crashed near Stratford, New Zealand. Both crew members died.
• On May 7, 2005, a Transair Metro 23 crashed near Lockhart River, north of Cooktown, Queensland in Australia. A total of 15 people died in what is, as of December 2009, the worst airline crash in Australia since the 1960s.^[36][37]
• On February 10, 2011, Manx2 Flight 7100, a Metro III owned by the Spanish airline Air Lada operating on behalf of Manx2, was on a flight from Belfast, Northern Ireland to Cork, Ireland. The aircraft crashed on landing in fog, resulting in the death of six people.^[38]
• On September 6, 2011, Aerocon Flight 238 from El Trompillo Airport, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia to Teniente Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport, Trinidad, Bolivia crashed on approach to Trinidad. The flight was operated by Swearingen SA-227 Metroliner CP-2548. Eight of the nine people on board were killed.^[39]
• On June 6, 2012, a SA227-C metro en route from Montevideo Carrasco, MVD to Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) crashed into the Rio de la Plata close to the coast of Montevideo south of Flores Island. It was registered as CX-LAS operating a freight flight on behalf of DHL.^[40]
• On November 3, 2013, a Metro III, CP-2477 Aerocon airliner crashed when it was trying to land at the airport in Riberalta Airport (northern Bolivia) that killed eight people.^[41]
• On November 10, 2013 a Metroliner operated by Bearskin Airlines under flight number JV311, crashed on final approach to its destination of Red Lake, Ontario, Canada en route from Sioux Lookout, Ontario. The aircraft experienced a near total failure of the left engine at 500 ft AGL which, combined with the aircraft being in the landing configuration, caused a loss of airspeed resulting in an unrecoverable situation. Safety systems to assist in the handling with one engine out did not activate since the engine did not completely shut down; the scenario gave conflicting information to the pilots who did not have time to identify the nature of the failure. Two crew members and three passengers were killed in the crash. Two passengers sustained injuries but survived.^[42]
• On December 2, 2013, a Metroliner property of IBC Airways, flying from Las Américas International Airport, Dominican Republic, crashed in the municipality of Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Two people were killed in the accident.^[43]
• On April 13, 2015, a Carson Air SA-226 Metro II disappeared somewhere in the North Shore Mountains after taking off from Vancouver International Airport for Prince George Airport. Debris was found near the area where the aircraft was last tracked.^[44]
• On June 2, 2015, a Aeronaves TSM Fairchild (Swearingen) SA226TC Metro II, registration XA-UKP (msn TC-376 built 1980) crashed shortly after take-off from Querétaro international airport, Querétaro State, Mexico.^[45]
• On October 24, 2016, a CAE Aviation SA227-AT Merlin IVC crashed shortly after take-off from Malta International Airport. All five people on board were killed. The aircraft was taking part in a French-led surveillance operation to counter people smuggling.^[46][47]
• On December 6, 2016, a Swearingen SA227-AC Metro III cargo plane, operating as Key Lime Air flight LYM308, crashed north of Pelham, Georgia, USA, on a flight from Panama City, Florida to Albany, Georgia. The pilot, the sole occupant, was killed. Weather in the area was poor, with a thunderstorm in the vicinity of the destination airport.^[48]

Specifications (Metro III)

Interior

Data from The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft^[49]

General characteristics

• Crew: Two (pilot & first officer), 1 pilot in cargo only configuration
• Capacity: 19 passengers or a cargo volume of 143.5 ft³ (4.06 m³)
• Length: 59 ft 4 in (18.09 m)
• Wingspan: 57 ft 0 in (17.37 m)
• Height: 16 ft 8 in (5.08 m)
• Wing area: 310 ft² (28.71 m²)
• Empty weight: 8,737 lb (3,963 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 14,500 lb or 16,000 lb, depending on model, The 14500 model may be modified to a max weight of 15000 pounds, but the landing weight for that model remains at 14000 pounds. (6,577 kg or 7,257 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Garrett AiResearch TPE-331^{[note 5]} turboprops with continuous alcohol-water injection (AWI), 1,000 shp (dry), 1,100 shp (with AWI) (745.5 kW, 820 kW) each
• Propellers: four-bladed McCauley 4HFR34C652 or Dowty Rotol R.321/4-82-F/8 ^[50]

Performance

• Maximum speed: 311 knots (355 mph, 576 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 278 knots (318 mph, 515 km/h)
• Range: 1,150 nm^[51] (1,065 km or 2,131 km)
• Service ceiling: 25000 ft (7620 m)

See also

Related development

• Swearingen Merlin
• Fairchild C-26 Metroliner

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Beechcraft 1900
• British Aerospace Jetstream
• Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner.

• Virtual Museum - Fairchild
• Fairchild Metro
• Flight International three-view drawing of Metro V