A Review of Aircraft Research & Development, Prototyping, and Manufacture in the Philippines

Part 1

By Ernesto B. Ferreras Jr.  

      

Curtiss Model D (Curtiss Pusher) Biplane

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       A biplane named the Honolulu Skylark was the first aircraft to conquer the Philippine sky in the afternoon of February 21, 1911. American barnstormer James C. ‘Bud’ Mars took off in the biplane and climbed to a height of 1,000 feet above the carnival grounds at the Luneta. 

James ‘Bud’ Mars

By J. Ellsworth Gross (1862-1933) - https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/images/h91000/h91002c.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79074413

     

      Another biplane called the Red Devil piloted by its builder, Capt. Thomas Baldwin, flew over Manila six days later. The Filipino people witnessed a historic event, the kind of which has continued to thrill us ever since.

Baldwin’s Red Devil

By Cliff - Flickr: Baldwin Red Devil, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25697464

      Mars and Baldwin were barnstormers who performed in exhibitions to demonstrate the new “science of flight” that was started by the Wright Brothers eight years earlier. The Skylark was a Curtiss pusher biplane that had its engine and propeller located at the rear. 

Thomas Scott Baldwin

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     In 1914, another American named Tom Gunn, a Chinese-American aviation pioneer dubbed as the ‘Wright of China,’ displayed the same type of aircraft in Manila.

Tom Gunn

BURL BURLINGAME AIRCHIVE

A retelling of Defiant 300's 2nd flight in 1988...

[I reposted here the post I made in my previous blog in 2013.]

Reflections on the Flight of the Defiant 300

[This is my account of the second successful flight of the Defiant 300, Philippines' first high-powered airplane. This story was published in Aeroscope Magazine, official publication of PATTS College of Aeronautics, in March 1989, of which I was editor-in-chief way back in 1982-1983. Read on.] 

by Engr. Ernesto Ferreras Jr.

The Flight

Prepare for the historic flight

We held our breath as the Defiant prototype taxied to the foot of the runway. How elegant on its red and white color scheme the airplane stood as it was being cleared for take-off. We were in front of the PAFSECOM's domestic headquarters and we had a good view of the scene that would soon unfold before us. This would be the Defiant's second flight. It made its debut last February 22, 1988 over this same spot and everybody who saw the long-awaited event unanimously agreed it was a successful one.

From paper to plane

Some original members of the Norlindo Group (Dawinan, Saltivan, Flora, Salvacion, Pedregosa and Magpantay) had witnessed the historic moment (or so it seems to us). The prototype had been undergoing a series of high-speed taxi test for the past months and the recent one was held last Februaury 19, 1988. The tests proved satisfactory; hence, the decision to proceed to the maiden flight. (I was not able to see the first flight; so this story on the second).



The Captain ready to fly

We had waited since 8:30 in the morning. The wind was calm, the sky clear and the day balmy, conducive enough for a second smooth flight. We heard this one would be covered by the press people. It seemed Captain Panfilo Villaruel Jr., the daring test pilot and project director with an indomitable spirit and our former boss, was following the master plan we helped conceive before. The first flight was to be for private consumption without any invited guests or VIPs. The second one was to be for the media.

Defiant inside the hangar

We converged in front of the PADC Hangar 2 where the prototype was prepared during the various tests and checks it had undergone. Members of the Group who were already mentioned were there together with me. Students from PATS College of Aeronautics and Airlink International Aviation School began to assemble in front of the hangar, forming small scattered groups, adding to the excitement that filled the air.

Fuselage frame on stand

The prototype was parked inside a cordoned area just outside the hangar. We stood beside the ropes feasting our eyes on the airplane that the Group most dearly cherished. It was a thing of beauty to behold, so to speak, and a thing of beauty remains forver - it will remain forever inside us. It had been the darling of our lives for three to four years; we sacrificed our families, spent so much of our time and staked our reputation. We had suffered long enough and when we left to seek our future, the prototype was almost ready to fly.

Early morning check

We saw Captain Villaruel talking to barong-clad people around him. We were told this would be a demonstration flight for Captain Victorino Palpalatoc, then director of the Bureau of Air Transportation (BAT). Captain Villaruel donned a navy blue flying suit with the Defiant patch "Nothing can stop us" stitched on his upper right breast. That was the uniform Magpantay had designed for us, ours in light gray color.

Readying out for taxi

The sky began to form clouds, gray patches dotting its face. The wind became a little gusty and soon we were wondering whether the affair would continue. At about 9:00 a.m., the Captain stepped into the cockpit. Assistants checked the airplane for the last time, took away the chops and signalled everything was okay.

The first try for the engine was a short burst to life and died down. I murmured, "Go on, go on." The second one was a loud roar and we cheered. The roar was like music to us and this was the first time in months we heard the sound of the Avco-Lycoming 300-hp engine. It elicited joyous shouts from the students who huddled against the ropes.



The Defiant 300 prototype without the paint

The prototype started to move slowly through the area towards the runway. We scampered across the area, at the back of the Westpac Hangar to get a good view of the aircraft positioning itself on the threshold.

The airplane taking off

I counted the seconds as the airplane began to move. It accelerated effortlessly along the runway, as if there was no air against it. As we viewed it sideways, it smoothly gained momentum, following a straight path through the runway, giving no indication of the presence of a gust or turbulence. The Lycoming engine proved powerful for the Defiant, giving the prototype with more than enough power needed for take-off. Seven seconds later, the prototype was off the ground like a feather gently lifted by a light wind. There was no flutter in the wings; no lateral movement of the aircraft was seen.

The Defiant flying model

The climb was long and gradual. The Captain might have taken all the precautions, feeling the controls for the second time. It became a little speck silhouetted against the blue sky when it executed a turn to the right. We followed the maneuver, fixing our eyes on the prototype as it slowly disappeared in the azure expanse above the horizon. I borrowed a pait of binoculars from one of the spectators and focused my sight where the speck was last seen.

The plane standing majestic

I saw the aircraft with its landing gears still on, perhaps for precautionary purposes. The prototype seemed to have a smooth straight and level flight as viewed from the ground. I presumed the engine was delivering power just enough for a demonstration flight as the aircraft flew over Manila Bay. The speed was uniform and if there was any acceleration it was so slow to be detected. It took about ten minutes before the aircraft turned for the approach. I remembered fairly well the test flight we had of the Defiant remote-controlled flying model in July 1985 in Fairview, Quezon City. As the model came in for the approach, the scene - both the model and the approach speed - were so realistic to be true. It was as if an actual aircraft was descending to land.

The prototype preparing to land

Now before us the scene repeated itself. The approaching prototype was like the balsa model we beheld almost three years ago. There was tension mixed with excitement, the same emotion we felt our hearts were filled to the brim on that day in 1985. The prototype glided beautifully with a steady rate of descent until it touched the concrete runway in front of us. It executed a perfect three-point landing amidst the jubilant cries of the spectators.

The bare fuselage

We could not believe it and before we knew, the flight was over. We found ourselves jumping with joy and congratulating each other for all those years we suffered in frustrations and defeat. But the flight just laid to rest the suspicions hurled against us during those agonizing years. The Defiant vindicated the Group against all opposition. For us the historic moment ended not with a bang, not with a whimper but with a great sigh of relief.

This is it, guys

The Norlindo Group, Obi Mapua and the Defiant Flying Model

The Norlindo Group comprised the following persons, all graduates of aeronautical engineering, except for the last one.

The Norlindo Group in uniform

1. Engr. Edgardo Calalang (FEATI) - Group Leader (System installation - landing gears, flight control system)

2. Engr. Norlindo Dawinan (FEATI) - Assistant Group Leader/OIC - Prototype Airframe Construction & Assembly (Design, construction & installation - wings, ailerons, wing skin, engine cowling, paint scheme)

3. Engr. Richard Saltivan (FEATI) - Group Procurement Officer (Design, fabrication & installation - canopy mechanism, ventilation, instrument panel)

What are you doing, Richard?

4. Engr. Ernesto Ferreras Jr. (PATTS) - Group Coordinator/OIC - Flight Performance & Documentation (Preparation, analysis & administration - flight performance, engine mount, manpower & scheduling requirements, status & progress reports)

 

Keeping the record right, yours truly

5. Engr. Allan Flora (FEATI) - Structural Engineer (Design, analysis, fabrication & installation - wings, fuselage, wing flaps, flaps control system)



The prototype or the flying model?

6. Engr. Salvador Salvacion (PATTS) - Systems Engineer (Design, fabrication & installation - electrical system, battery, engine mount & firewall)

 

The static 1:1 model

7. Mr. Demetrio Suazo  (PATTS) - Systems Engineer (Design, fabducation & installation - fuselage frames & skin, canopy shield, cockpit & seats arrangement)

8. Engr. Adolfo Pedregosa (PATTS) - Systems Engioneer (Design, fabrication & installation - vertical & horizontal stabilizers, elevators, rudder, tail fairing)

Pong and wing ribs

9. Engr. Marco Magpantay (PATTS) - Systems Engineer (Design, fabrication & installation - fuel tank & system, hydraulics, pitot static system)

The bare wing, ribs and spars and stiffeners

10. Mr. Noel Quitain (PATTS) - Systems Engineer (Design & installation - landing gears)

11. Engr. Elpidio Laurel (PATTS) - Systems Engineer (Design, analysis, fabrication & installation - flight performance, flight control system)

12. Mr. Ralphy Hicaro (FEATI) - Systems Support Engineer (Canopy, instrument panel, fuselage, wing skin)

13. Mr. Efren Marasigan (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Fuselage, cowling, wing skin)

The skin made of veneer plywood

14. Engr. Alejandro Barcibe (FEATI) - Systems Support Engineer (Canopy mechanism, instrument panel, cowling, landing gears, empennage, engine mount)

15. Mr. Antonio Monteagudo (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Landing gears & doors, fuselage)

Towing the plane along the runway

16. Mr. Eduardo Moncera (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Fuel tanks & system, landing gears & doors)

17. Engr. Danilo Santos (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Engine mount, jacking points)

In happier times

18. Mr. Leonardo Sun (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Canopy shield, different systems)

19. Engr. Eleuterio Binayug (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Fuel tanks & system, fuselage & wing access doors)

Meeting of sponsors and supporters

20. Mr. Ellenric Ditalla (PATTS) - Systems Support Engineer (Canopy shield, different systems)

21. Mr. Eugenio Lanurias (FEATI) - Systems Support Engineer (Canopy shield, different systems)

We're in the news, too

22. Mr. Jury Casingal (PATTS) - Assistant Support Engineer (Engine mount)

The front view: perfect symmetry

23. Mr. Roberto Alonzo (PATTS) - Assistant Support Engineer (Engine mount, flight controls)

The side view: majestic in the light

24. Mr. Jojo Andal (PATTS) - Assistant Support Engineer (Fuel tanks & system)

25. Mr. John Pedregosa (PATTS) - Assistant Support Engineer (Empennage)

The back view: a thing of beauty

26. Mr. Nelson Barroga (FEATI) - Assistant Support Engineer (Center-of-gravity determination, manhour requirements)

27. MSgt. Tomas Carrillo (PAF, Ret.) - OIC - Engine installation & maintenance

-ooo-

But he grew old -

This knight so bold -

And o'er his heart a shadow

Fell as he found

No spot of ground

That looked like Eldorado.
- Edgar Allan Poe

Capt. Panfilo V. Villaruel Jr.: None had been like him before

Sweet time to reminisce...the days that once were...

[I posted here the post I made in my previous blog in 2013. ]

The Making of the Defiant 300

By Engr. Ernesto Ferreras Jr.

The Defiant under construction...

In 1981 Gold Wings Aviation, a private company under Capt. Panfilo Villaruel Jr. (who later became chief of the Air Transportation Office or ATO and president of Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation or PADC), conceived an aircraft research and development undertaking called the Norlindo Program, named after one of its first engineers. The program covered a progressive development of a high-performance trainer primarily intended for use by the Philippine Air Force or PAF. The program was launched as an innovative step to build an aircraft of local design and utilizing indigenous materials. Gold Wings initiated preliminary design of a twin-engine turboprop named Norlindo and even began conceptual design of a turbojet trainer called Tinihaban Superstrike under the All-Filipino Technology Aircraft (AFTA) Project. Out of these experience, a single, piston engine trainer aircraft was conceived, designed, built and flown within three years.

The Defiant on display during Air Force Day

The Defiant 300 prototype, as the aircraft was called, flew twice, the first on February 22, 1988. The Defiant Projectcame out to be an excellent collaborative effort of a group of aeronautical engineers, aviation enthusiasts, government agencies and research institutions. The two-seat tandem Defiant prototype (registered as RP-X239) was an exceptional technical arrangement of various systems and parts taken from different types of aircraft in the PAF inventory. The landing gears, flight controls and flaps motor were taken from T-34, seats from U-17, rudder and brake pedals rom PT-13, various instrument items from BN-Islander, T-34, Sikorsky S-76 and SF-260. The Defiant was powered by a single Avco Lycoming IO-540-K1B5 piston engine on loan from PADC, the same engine that powers the BN Islander. The prototype had the highest engine power rating of all the prototypes of local design flown so far.

Noteworthy were several original features designed and fabricated by the engines with technical support from several persons and companies. The airframe was fabricated from palosapis wood and the skin from tanguile veneer plywood. The engine mount was fabricated from chrome molybdenum steel. Most significant of all was the fabrication and assembly of a one-piece plastic canopy. Fuel tanks were constructed with 5052-H34 aluminum alloys. Instrument panel, electrical, hydraulic and pitot-static systems were laid out with the help of reference books and articles.

Several companies and agencies gave technical and professional expertise and resources to the project. Pieces of tanguile plywood were procured with the assistance of Forest Products Research and Development Institute or FPRDI; phenol resorcinol glue and its catalyst were provided by Borden International Philippines; paint and primer from Dutch Boy Philippines; line items from the PAF inventory and the hangar for aircraft assembly were provided by Air Force Research and Development Center or AFRDC and the PAF 410th Maintenance Wing; the first plastic canopy was fabricated by RP Plas Sign; the propulsion system was loaned from PADC and initial weight and balance was also performed by PADC personnel. Metal testing and fabrication were done by Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC). Several consultants from various companies and agencies also contributed to the success of the project.

Based on the successful flights of the prototype, Gold Wings planned to build another prototype of a modified Defiant (appropriately named Defiant 500) with an all-metal airframe and power rating increased to 500 hp. Due to lack of financial support from the government, the plan did not push through however, including another design of a light aircraft called Pegasus, which was presented to the Philippine Army as a contender for the proposed Philippine Army aviation arm.

The Defiant successfully flew in 1988...

With the expertise and experience in aircraft design, prototyping and assembling aircraft accumulated for more than fifty years, we have enough technical resources and manpower to embark on an aircraft prototyping project based on accepted international standards and practices.

Given the rigid requirements in certifying an aircraft prototype for mass production purposes, our local designs never went beyond the prototyping stage. Aircraft assembly of parts never really progressed beyond the prototyping stage. Aircraft assembly of parts never really progressed to fabrication of major parts, like the whole wing, except for the Lancair. We still depend on outside sources.

This continued dependence on foreign sources demands innovative and immediate actions if we are to fulfill the self-reliance concept in aircraft manufacturing. Self-reliance in the aviation industry has become passe in the sense that a succession of government and industry leaders have been mentioning the magic word since the fifties but their efforts have barely lifted aircraft research and development in the country to a self-sustaining and continuing endeavor. The various projects in prototyping our own aircraft began fanfare and copious flow of ideas but all ended in silent frustrations of defeat.

The pace of global technology is so fast that new inventions have cropped up before the current ones are applied to good use. The rate of utilization of these technologies in our aviation industry has been slow, mainly due to large capital investment required.

However, it cannot be denied that we have gained so much expertise and technical know-how in aircraft assembly and fabrication of parts, including aircraft overhaul anbd repair. The employment of competent personnel could be optimized if we could tap them to manufacture, assemble and evaluate aircraft which we will design on our own with the help of new technologies, especially in aircraft design and engineering. We have more than enough manpower and technical and industrial resources, lying dormant these past years, which we could fully exploit and get to move in the right direction.

The Norlindo Team who made it...

Indeed, we are not wanting in local and manpower resources; we have more than enough of it. What we need is the government's commitment to our vision of the future of aircraft research and development in the country.