Fairchild Metroliner variant
Fairchild Metroliner SA226-TC Metro II
Replacement for the original Metro from 1974, recognisable by its squared-oval windows and an optional rocket-assisted take-off unit in the tailcone. Still capped at 5,700 kg by the rules it was certified against.
- 1,100 km
- Range
- 19
- Passengers
History
New windows and a rocket in the tail
The Metro II did not change the aeroplane; it corrected it. In 1974, after some twenty Metros and about thirty Merlin IVAs, production moved to this version with larger squared-oval windows in place of the early aircraft's portholes, and with one distinctly unusual option: a small rocket-assisted take-off unit in the tailcone, meant to protect performance out of hot-and-high airfields in the event of an engine failure.
Prisoner of a number
The Metro II's real ceiling was regulatory rather than aerodynamic. Both Metro and Metro II were limited to 12,500 pounds — 5,700 kg — by the Special Federal Regulation 23 requirements they had been certified against, and that figure governed payload, fuel and therefore range. The way out came in 1980 with recertification as the Metro IIA at 13,100 pounds and more powerful TPE331-10 engines, and then with the real leap of the Metro III.
A long life in the north
The Metro II found its longevity far from the routes it was sold for. Perimeter Aviation in Canada worked it for decades off remote northern gravel strips and fed in modifications of its own: quieter and more efficient four-bladed Hartzell propellers, later five-bladed composites, modern avionics with Garmin glass cockpits and satellite tracking. Aircraft certified in the 1970s were still flying half a century later.