https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Percival_E.P.9
The Edgar Percival E.P.9 was a 1950s British light utility aircraft designed by
Edgar Percival and initially built by his company, Edgar Percival Aircraft
Limited and later as the Lancashire Aircraft EP-9 Prospector by the Lancashire
Aircraft Company.
In 1954, Edgar Percival formed Edgar Percival Aircraft Limited at Stapleford
Aerodrome, England, his original company had become part of the Hunting Group.
His first new design, the Edgar Percival P.9 was a utility aircraft designed for
agricultural use. The aircraft was a high-wing monoplane with an unusual pod and
boom fuselage. The pod and boom design allowed the aircraft to be fitted with a
hopper for crop spraying. The pilot and one passenger sat together with room for
four more passengers. The clamshell side and rear doors also allowed the
aircraft to carry standard size wool and straw bales or 45 imperial gallon (55
U.S. gallon) oil drums or even livestock. Even when the hopper was fitted, a
ground crew of three could be carried when moving between sites.
Role
Light aircraft
Manufacturer
Edgar Percival Aircraft Limited
Designer
Edgar Percival
First flight
21 December 1955
Number built
27
The prototype (registered G-AOFU) first flew on 21 December 1955. After a
demonstration tour of Australia four aircraft were ordered as crop-sprayers and
an initial batch of 20 was built. Two aircraft were bought by the British Army
in 1958. In the same year, Samlesbury Engineering Limited acquired rights to the
design and the company was renamed the Lancashire Aircraft Company. Lancashire
Aircraft renamed the aircraft the Lancashire Prospector E.P.9 but only six more
were built, the last of which was fitted with a Cheetah radial engine as the
sole new build Mark Two.
The E.P.9s in their various guises had a long and successful lifespan as private
aircraft, utilized in multi-role STOL operations as an agricultural sprayer,
light cargo aircraft, jump plane, air ambulance and glider tug. One EP-9 N747JC
had a more chequered career and was one of two evaluated by the British Army Air
Corps with serial XM819. It was once owned in the late 1960s by a gang of
international smugglers who found it the ideal way to smuggle stolen furs and
counterfeit Swiss francs between England and Belgium. Although the criminals
were apprehended in 1969, the EP-9 was finally offered for sale in Belgium in
1972. After three years of pleasure flying in England, the aircraft was shipped
to the United States where it was stored in a Wisconsin barn until 1999. After
extensive restoration, N747JC appeared at Oshkosh in 2001-03, and in 2008 the
aircraft was for sale. Per the current owner, the aircraft is for sale as of
April 2015.
Specifications (E.P.9)
General characteristics
Crew: one
Capacity: five passengers (or hopper for 1,550 lb (705 kg) fertilizer)
Length: 29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)
Wingspan: 43 ft 6 in (13.26 m)
Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
Wing area: 227.6 ft2 (21.14 m2)
Empty weight: 2,010 lb (912 kg)
Gross weight: 3,550 lb (1610 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 146 mph (235 km/h)
Cruise speed: 128 mph (206 km/h)
Range: 580 miles (933 km)
Service ceiling: 17,500 ft (5,335 m)
Rate of climb: 1,120 ft/min (5.7 m/s)
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