2009 LIBERTY XL2 VANGUARD EDITION
Base/Used Price:	$188,000 (includes standard IFR with Garmin 430 and SL 40)
Price with Aspen Evolution Pro PFD and Garmin 530 upgrade:	$212,000
Engine make/model:	4-cylinder TCM IOF-240-B with FADEC
Horsepower:	125 hp@2800 rpm
Fuel type:	100/100LL
Propeller type/diameter:	2-blade, fixed-pitch, 69-inch MT propeller with wood/composite core
Landing gear type:	Tri./Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs.):	1750
Max takeoff weight (lbs.):	1750
Landing weight (lbs.):	1750
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	1165
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	588
Usable fuel, std. (gals.):	28
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	420
Wingspan (ft):	29
Overall length:	20 ft. 3.8 in.
Overall Height:	7 ft. 5 in.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	112
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	15.63
Seating capacity:	2
Cabin width (in.):	48
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	100
PERFORMANCE
CRUISE SPEED
75% power:	120 kts./138 mph
65% power:	113 kts./130 mph
55% power:	105 kts./121 mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION (gph)
75% power:	6.5
65% power:	5.5
55% power:	4.7
MAX RANGE (nm):
75% power:	444
65% power:	497
55% power:	535
Vso (kts.):	44
Best rate of climb, SL (fpm):	669
Service ceiling (ft.):	12,500
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	1472
Landing ground roll (ft.):	708
Max demo crosswind (kts.):	15
Source: Liberty Aerospace

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The mission was an intriguing one: I would fly the brand-new Liberty Aerospace XL2 Vanguard Edition for a pilot report along California’s Malibu coast. The demo pilot and I would head back to Santa Monica Airport and rendezvous with a Cessna 172 camera ship for an aerial photo session above Catalina Island’s emerald waters. The beautiful afternoon promised nothing but high cirrus clouds and great flying.

America seems to be just discovering the XL2. The Vanguard is the latest development from Liberty Aerospace in Melbourne, Fla., and is the only FAA-certified single-engine piston production aircraft equipped with a full authority digital engine control system (FADEC). Its hybrid carbon-fiber construction and its unique design features have endeared it to pilots in the know. China just ordered 600 XL2s in anticipation of opening its airspace in 2010.

I’d been itching to get my hands on the jaunty XL2, and the airplane’s reputation as ingenious added to its allure. Liberty Aerospace took the successful XL2 and improved it with a gross-weight increase to 1,750 pounds and other goodies. Payload with full fuel is now a generous 420 pounds. The Vanguard Edition has toe brakes instead of finger brakes and sports three new color schemes; it’s IFR-certified (as are all XL2s) and it offers the Aspen Evolution Pro PFD system, Garmin GTX 330 transponder with traffic avoidance and GPS-coupled S-TEC 30 dual-axis auto-pilot as avionics options.

What Makes It Different
The design of the airplane is for thinkers. The XL2’s fuselage is constructed entirely of Toray carbon-fiber composites—same as the Boeing 787. The construction is uniquely modular: The entire airplane consists of a steel rolling chassis, removable aluminum wings and a single-piece fuselage that weighs a mere 100 pounds. This component approach makes maintenance easier than with traditional aircraft. A single belly panel opens up to expose the aircraft’s major systems, and Liberty says each wing can be removed by a mechanic in 20 minutes.

The Teledyne Continental IOF-240-B provides 125 hp, and the FADEC optimizes performance so the Vanguard only burns 5 gph and offers up 120 knots at 75% power. Low-energy fabrication processes make it one of the “greenest” aircraft out there.

Trainer, Cruiser Or Both?
Although Liberty has partially positioned the XL2 as a two-seat trainer, there’s much more to it. The Vanguard is also a bulldog of a cross-country airplane. In fact, its cross-country capabilities might overshadow the fact that it’s a superb trainer. Few airplanes, if any, have filled this unique niche. The XL2 is to a Cessna 150 what a Harley Sportster is to a scooter. Its looks are deceiving, but the XL2 Vanguard might be the most ingenious trainer in half a century.

Like the venerable Piper Cub, the Liberty XL2 makes people smile wherever it goes. The first time I noticed this effect was at the AOPA Expo in San Jose, Calif. People would walk up to the XL2, cock their heads like the RCA “His Master’s Voice” dog and smile. The airplane invokes fun, and I was to find out just how much fun it is.

On The Ground
I sauntered out to the ramp at Santa Monica Airport to meet Liberty demo pilot Paul Everitt; he’s also a business development manager for Liberty who has more than 700 hours in the XL2. His easy smile and South African accent immediately put me at ease. He resembled what I imagine an international secret agent would look like; indeed, standing next to the sparkling XL2 on the empty ramp, the dapper Everitt looked like he was waiting for some exotic beauty to bring him a martini.

Climbing into the XL2 is different than it is with most airplanes. The airplane’s T-37-like stance puts the wing fairly high, and you start the routine from the front. Like an Arthur Murray dance instructor, Everitt rattled off the proper steps: “Rear end on the wing leading edge. Hop up and push back. Swing both legs into the cockpit and lower yourself in.”

Once settled in, it struck me that the XL2 is huge inside: The cockpit is a full 48 inches wide. That’s wider than the big-boned Cessnas and Bonanzas, and just one inch narrower than a Cherokee Six. I felt decadent. The gull-wing doors gape open and add to the roominess. The seats don’t move, but the rudder pedals adjust fore and aft to accommodate a wide assortment of body types. The memory foam in the gray leather seats made them feel supportive but soft—like a British sports car.

Starting the Vanguard was simple; the only nontypical checklist item was checking the dual FADEC switches. The Continental stuttered to life and settled into a smooth idle. I quickly became aware of the incredible 270-degree visibility around me; it felt almost like an open cockpit. Taxi control was astonishing as Everitt pulled straight into a tight spot between two airplanes and then turned the XL2 a full 180 degrees on its castering nosewheel.

My Personal Fighter Jet
Cleared for takeoff, I advanced the center console throttle to its max position, labeled “WOT” (wide open throttle). This tells the FADEC that I need everything it can give me for takeoff. The XL2 tracked beautifully and lifted off with no effort. In truth, my takeoff was a bit ham-fisted, since I hadn’t gotten used to the incredible handling that awaited me.

For those who haven’t flown an airplane with a stick, it’s completely natural. In the Liberty, the stick is mounted close to your body, and the feel is intuitive and sure. With the stick in my hand, and the cockpit visibility surrounding me, the XL2 felt like a miniature fighter jet. I had time to notice the generous baggage area behind me. Liberty says the XL2 can carry 100 pounds back there, from tents to suitcases.

We climbed out at 80 knots, which gave us a sprightly 700 fpm rate on the cool afternoon. We leveled off at 2,000 feet to enjoy the view of the bazillion-dollar celebrity beach homes in Malibu, staying clear of the Los Angeles Class Bravo. And then it was time for some maneuvers.

The handling was pure fun: crisp and featherlight. It reminded me of the Bellanca Super Vikings of old, with their slippery and instantaneous controllability. The XL2’s direct-linkage controls felt light and yielded nimble pitch and roll response.

Stalls were docile, with control mushiness and a slight buffet preceding the break. The nose went over gently at about 44 knots and recovered with nothing more than neutral elevator. Slow flight was easy as we hung on the prop at 50 knots, above the tanned celebrities in Malibu Colony. This airplane was the definition of “easy to fly”: docile, ultra-controllable and forgiving. One of the few complaints I have is the position of the trim on the center console. To me, it was awkward to use and would be nicer on the stick.

This Vanguard XL2 sported the Aspen Evolution PFD, which is bright and clear and gives almost all the information of larger PFDs in a smaller footprint. I found the combination of the Aspen and the steam gauges safer to use. For example, I didn’t “chase the tape” for airspeed and altitude, and the PFD didn’t beg my eyes down to the panel. I used the Aspen for basic attitude and heading information and the steam gauges for everything else. It’s a winning combination.

In the pattern, the XL2 Vanguard held no surprises. Approach speed was 65 knots, and my touchdown seemed flat compared to my experience in most two-seaters. (Everitt explained that the aircraft can be landed in any typical landing configuration, from “flatish” up to a full-stall landing.) Though I landed it a bit!let’s call it less than perfect, it wouldn’t take much to land this airplane well, consistently. The toe brakes were effective and solid. I wanted to go again.

The Vanguard XL2 avionics panel comes standard with a Garmin 430 and SL 40; it can be upgraded to include the Aspen Evolution Pro PFD and Garmin 530.

The Smile Factor
The Liberty XL2 Vanguard Edition is a refreshing and different airplane. It’s a well-mannered trainer for FBO fleets. With its advanced avionics and the low pilot workload offered by FADEC, the aircraft excels as an IFR platform. The quiet, spacious, auto-like cabin and 500 nm range (or five hours for people with super-bladders) make it an ideal cross-country machine. The miserly fuel consumption and uncomplicated maintenance make it easy on the wallet, and the aircrat’s looks are difficult to beat.

Back at Santa Monica, as we pulled into the FBO, the line guys smiled, did some good-natured goofing as we followed them to a parking spot and looked over the XL2 like it had come down from space. The camera-ship crew came over to brief the photo flight. The first thing they all did when they saw the XL2 was predictable: They smiled.

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The short-termers may have been no less viable as trainers or fun two-seaters, but they nevertheless failed to survive. Fact is, two-seaters are generally a tough sell, even if statistics prove that most of us rarely use all four seats in our quartet airplanes. (It’s been 12 years since I’ve filled all the seats in my Mooney.)

Truth is, flying with two seats empty is an expensive habit that too many of us simply accept as normal. (“Yeah, but I can carry all the baggage I want, even 100 Swiss Army Knives, large bottles of shampoo and an oxygen bottle.”) Four-seaters are inherently more costly for a number of reasons. By definition, they’re larger airplanes, with more wetted area and usually greater equivalent flat-plate area, therefore more drag. Similarly, they weigh more than an equivalent two-seater, which means they need more power to preserve acceptable performance, which means increased fuel burn, which demands larger tanks, which adds more weight, which subtracts from payload, which often necessitates a larger wing to support the load, which means!you get the idea.

All these factors elevate hourly operating costs and make it impossible to produce a four-seater at anywhere near a two-seat price. The bottom line is that those of us who choose to fly four-place airplanes, with only two of those places occupied, pay for the extra two empty seats anyway—in spades.

In fact, we all know two seats would work just fine for the vast majority of GA missions. In some instances, even business travelers could utilize two-seaters. Years ago, the National Business Aircraft Association surveyed its members on how they use their airplanes and determined that the average stage length was less than 400 nm, typically carrying only 2.54 passengers.

Liberty Aerospace of Melbourne, Fla., hopes to capitalize on those numbers with an airplane that’s very different in several important respects. It brings to the two-seater market an uncommonly large cabin, along with near four-seat/fixed-gear performance and a level of fail-safe design that would be the envy of a NASA engineer.

First, the XL2 isn’t a one-trick pony. True, it’s designed to carry only two folks, but those two aren’t confined to instructor and student. They can as easily be husband and wife on vacation, two buddies in search of the $50 breakfast or possibly two business associates making the rounds.

The Liberty XL2 is loosely based on the Europa design born in the U.K. in 1992. In this case, “loosely based” is an exercise in understatement. Park the two aircraft side by side, and you’d note a myriad of differences. Despite the Europa’s acknowledged innovations, the Liberty design is light years ahead in virtually every area.

Ivan Shaw, an Airbus engineer, designed the Europa, and his concept was to produce a “light touring aircraft.” The Europa was Shaw’s experimental, Rotax-powered kitplane, essentially a motorglider that balanced on a single wheel with outrigger wheels to keep the wingtips from dragging on the ground. Some 1,000 kits were sold in 32 countries during the 1990s. The Europa was a revelation for the time and won a number of awards in Europe.

The Liberty was launched at the turn of the century and developed over the last half-dozen years in search of its FAA certificate. The Feds issued that authorization last spring, making the XL2 the first two-seat piston aircraft certified in the United States since the Piper Tomahawk. (Before Diamond fans object, consider that the C1 was first certified in Austria, then, approved in America under reciprocal agreement.) The Liberty also has the distinction of being the first piston airplane fully approved for FADEC (full authority digital engine control) operation.

The XL2’s structure is about as 21st century as Liberty could make it. Its fuselage is pre-preg carbon fiber, and the 4130 tube-steel frame absorbs loads from the engine, nosegear, main gear and wing attach points. The XL2’s wing is also a little unusual. Designed by European aerospace engineer Don Dykins, who had a hand in choosing sections for the Concorde wing, the Liberty’s relatively small 112-square-foot airfoil provides a cruise of more like Mach .20 than Mach 2.0. (As partial compensation, the XL2 burns only about 6 gph, compared to about 8,000 gph on the Concorde.)

The XL2’s wing is a true natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoil, maintaining attached laminar flow far back on the chord. Dykins also fitted the XL2 with multiple sets of vortex generators on the outer wing to help preserve aileron response at high angles of attack, providing better roll control when approaching, and actually in, the stall.

Motive force on the Liberty is a four-cylinder, Continental IOF-240B engine driving a fixed-pitch Sensenich prop. You’ll notice the letter “I” at the beginning of the model number, designating fuel injection. That’s an unusual technology for such a small engine. Fuel injection is a relatively expensive feature, normally applied only to engines of 160 hp or more. The overriding benefit of fuel injection is that it allows very precise fuel distribution between cylinders, and that translates directly to reduced fuel burn. Injection in place of carburetion was necessary to accommodate the Continental’s PowerLink FADEC system.

True to its promised “full authority,” FADEC operates through a computerized electronic ignition system. The FADEC scans all aspects of engine operation several times a second, evaluating temperature, air pressure, CHT, EGT, fuel and manifold pressure, the phase of the moon and your astrological sign; then, it automatically adjusts mag timing and mixture for all stages of flight, from takeoff and climb to cruise, descent and landing.

From the pilot’s perspective, FADEC is totally transparent. Once you start the engine, you merely push forward to go and pull back to stop. FADEC does the rest.

Engine health reads out through a Vision Microsystems VM1000 that serves as an EICAS—airline speak for Engine Instrument Crew Alerting System. The system reads power in percentages, and it automatically warns the pilots if any parameter approaches tolerance limits.

Climb into the cabin through the twin gull-wing doors, and you’ll find a space that’s surprisingly roomy for what we’ve come to expect from a two-place machine. Old-generation two-seaters, such as the Skipper, 152 and Tomahawk, made do with internal cross sections of 40 inches or less. In stark contrast, the Liberty offers a comparatively huge cabin that measures 48 inches at the elbows. Cabin height also is a generous 46 inches. Liberty claims the cabin can accommodate a pilot and passenger as tall as six feet, six inches. The idea was to offer more than just barely enough room. This is, after all, supposed to be a “sport touring” airplane rather than strictly a trainer, so you should be able to sit in it for longer than an hour without feeling claustrophobic.

Control and panel layout is reasonably conventional—a stick for roll and pitch and the usual pedals for yaw control. One interesting variation for ground control is finger brakes. The nosewheel is full-castering, but rather than mounting toe brakes for differential braking, the Liberty utilizes two small levers on the center console that work exactly like toe brakes except with the first two fingers of the pilots’ inboard hand. There’s nothing especially difficult about the system, but you can’t help wondering what was wrong with the more conventional toe brakes. The throttle is center-mounted, so it’s not a major trick to have your outboard hand on the stick and control both brakes and power with the inboard hand. Still!

With FADEC on the job, engine starts are nearly guaranteed the first time every time. Taxi is similarly simple, and the airplane is ready to fly nearly as soon as you are. Push power full forward for takeoff, and acceleration is better than you might have expected. That’s partially a simple function of power loading. The XL2 sports 125 hp to lift only about 1,650 pounds; the Skipper, 152 and Tomahawk all employed 115 hp or less to do roughly the same job.

Accordingly, the XL2 records the shortest takeoff distance in the class, 750 feet. Climb typically settles in at about 700 fpm, and the little wing keeps on keeping on to a service ceiling of 14,000 feet.

On the way uphill, you can’t help but notice the XL2’s excellent visibility. The windshield is wide and tall, and side windows in the clamshell doors wrap well back past the pilot and copilot shoulders, opening up the view to the top and through at least the front 240 degrees. It’s not quite as open as a bubble canopy, but that’s probably just as well. The overhead and side post structure provides shade that’s sometimes missing with a sliding hatch.

Put together a small, slick, efficient, NLF wing, reasonable horsepower and a lightweight airplane, and you have the makings of a quick machine for the horsepower. Sure enough, the XL2 offers cruise more appropriate to the four-seat Cessna Skyhawk and Piper Archer. The company suggests 132 knots with everything optimized, but even 125 knots would be excellent performance with only 125 hp under the bonnet.

With 28 usable gallons in the tanks and a burn of around 6 gph at max cruise, you could reasonably expect to linger aloft for 3.5 hours and cover nearly 450 nm in the process. For those strange people who enjoy flying slow, the XL2 will reach out to more than 500 nm at 55%. This is more than enough for training purposes, VFR or IFR, and private owners should be pleased with the combination of economy and range.

Whatever the stage length, the XL2 makes a comfortable conveyance—roomy, modestly quiet and well ventilated. Vibration is modest with the FADEC-controlled Continental out front, and the combination of reasonable speed, good visibility and high wing loading for a better ride in turbulence contribute to a pleasant in-flight experience.

At the opposite end of the trip, the Liberty’s wide track and low CG contribute to good manners during landing. Stall with the full 30 degrees of flaps deployed is only 43 knots, so approaches as slow as 55 knots present no great challenge. Landing ground roll is less than 850 feet, which is reassuring if you fly into a short strip.

Prospective buyers are sometimes a little apprehensive about dealing with a single-product, start-up company—there’s often a greater feeling of security buying from Piper/Cessna/Beech/Cirrus/etc.—but Liberty’s backing is about as solid as it can be. While the company doesn’t have unlimited funding, it’s backed by the Kuwait Finance House of Bahrain, which owns 75% of the assets. Such solid ownership suggests reasonable financial staying power.

Base price for the XL2 is $159,000 before avionics and other options. Liberty has embraced Garmin International’s line of radios, with the top options being the GNS530 and Mode S 330 transponder, with the GNS430 and 327 transponder as less-expensive alternatives. Plan to spend about $180,000 for a reasonably equipped VFR airplane, $200,000 for a full-on IFR machine.

The recent AOPA Convention in Palm Springs, Calif., suggested a new optimism among general aviation pilots, and the Liberty XL2 is ideally placed to benefit from the resurgence. It’s a trainer, it’s a cross-country traveler, it’s two planes in one.

SPECS: 2006 Liberty XL-2

The post Liberty XL2: Trainer With A Difference appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

2006 Liberty XL-2
Base price:	$159,900
Engine make/model:	Continental IOF-240
Horsepower:	125
TBO hrs.:	2000
Fuel type:	100/100LL
Propeller type:	2-blade, FP Sensenich
Landing gear type:	Tri./Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs.):	1653
Gross weight (lbs.):	1653
Landing weight (lbs.):	1653
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	1065
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	588
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	420
Useful fuel, std. (gals.):	28
Wingspan:	28 ft. 9 in.
Overall length:	20 ft. 4 in.
Height:	7 ft. 5 in.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	112
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	14.8
Power loading (lbs./hp.):	13.3
Seating capacity:	2
Cabin doors:	2
Cabin width (in.):	48
Cabin height (in.):	46
Wheel track (in.):	70.3
Wheel base (in.):	57.2
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	100
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed (kts.):
75% power:	132
60% power:	120
Max range (nm):
75% power:	450
55% power:	500
Fuel consumption (gph):
75% power:	6.0
60% power:	5.3
Estimated endurance (60%) (hrs):	4.0
Stall speed (flaps up) (knots):	50
Stall speed (flaps down) (knots):	43
Best rate of climb (SL fpm):	682
Service ceiling (ft.):	14,000
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	750
Takeoff over 50-ft. obstacle (ft.):	1250
Landing ground roll (ft.):	750
Source: Manufacturer’s Website

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If you’re Tiarks and you have the two-seat Europa as a starting point and a penchant for sword fighting with windmills, the answer is easy. Just take on the certified aircraft builders on their own turf. Others have done it with fast four-seaters loaded with technology. So Tiarks figured there must be room for a simple two-seat trainer that can be sporty and fun as well. To get there, all he needed to do was jump the certification hurdle.

For any design, the road to certification is a long one. For the Liberty XL2, it started 18 years ago as the Europa, a popular kit airplane with versions flying in Europe, the U.S. and even New Zealand. Tiarks saw a chance for something different. He says, “We’ve delivered over 1,200 airplanes, so we know how to build airplanes. In 1998, I perceived an opportunity in the certified market. What we didn’t know was the FAA certification process. I was convinced that if we could certify the airplane, the market would be large. On the whole, the certification process is a straightforward series of system approvals. Now that we’re done, the Liberty XL2 meets the latest, highest bar for development.”

Even with a good basic design to start with, Tiarks and his legion at Liberty Aerospace had to virtually re-design the entire airplane. “From the very beginning, we did not want to compromise safety in any way. We wanted to exceed FAA standards, not just meet them. Plus, we wanted to emphasize a few things, like ease of maintenance and a simple, robust construction process. We decided to use the most appropriate materials for a particular part of the airplane. For instance, the fuselage is still carbon-fiber composite, strong, light and easy to make. The wings, however, are aluminum. It’s easy to make a strong single-spar wing out of aluminum, and we have a clever way of putting them together. The cockpit is wider and more comfortable than the legacy Europa. More importantly, we have reduced our building process to the point where we can roll the airplane out the door with only 150 man-hours in order to put it together.”

Insurance is a big factor in any airplane purchase decision, and Liberty has paid close attention to it. “We figured that the insurance industry would acknowledge the simplicity of our building process and that rates would reflect how easy it would be to repair an airplane if it were damaged. The XL2 is a crashworthy design, and that enhances safety considerably. More importantly, it should make the customer feel more secure when they fly the XL2. We think that the customer also will like the high standard of our interior and our new curing process for the fuselage that allows us to offer some choices in color other than white,” comments Tiarks.

Color choice is one thing, but the heart of any airplane is the engine. The most important factors affecting performance from an owner’s perspective are horsepower to fly the airplane and fuel to keep it going. Both have the potential to get expensive quickly and both are areas in which the XL2 shines.

Liberty chose the new Continental IOF 240-B to power the XL2, and it’s an interesting choice. Small four-cylinder engines typically last a long time, but this one has a twist. It has fuel injection and what is known as Full Authority Digital Engine Controls (FADEC). The FADEC system allows a 2,000-hour TBO and makes engine operation dead-simple. Flip the battery switches on and turn the key like you start your car, and the engine springs to life. Only one power lever, located on the central console between the seats, operates the engine throughout the envelope.

Set the power you want, and the FADEC does the rest. The FADEC compensates for altitude and even monitors the health of the engine. All you have to do is choose your speed. Tiarks feels that “the public will recognize the desirability of the first engine certified with a full FADEC system. We’re expecting high reliability and low maintenance costs.”

The performance numbers for a 125 hp engine are impressive. A 75% power cruise with its new wheel fairings comes out at 132 knots indicated at 5.5 gph.

Tiarks and Liberty have spent a lot of effort identifying their market. Tiarks says, “Our biggest customers so far are flight schools. With our low acquisition and operating cost, coupled with the rugged airframe, the XL2 is popular with fleet-based flight schools. At a base price of $139,500, we expect individuals to be our biggest customers. The specifics of this airplane really bring the possibility of ownership to people who couldn’t otherwise afford an airplane.”

The XL2 can economically fill the demand for airborne surveillance in an emerging sector of the light aircraft market dictated by homeland security. With operating costs barely $35 an hour, the XL2 can fly slow enough and cheap enough to replace helicopters as observation platforms over critically important urban areas.

Liberty has big plans for its little airplane. With the solid backing of a recent investor, they’re prepared for volume production of up to 250 airplanes next year. The parts supply basis could handle a production number over 500 a year. They’re aggressively opening sales offices from Santa Monica, Calif., to Europe. The future is bright and covered by a three-year warranty.

From a business perspective, Liberty has its act together. “Liberty is a strong team,” says Tiarks. “The designers, production, sales and marketing staff are absolutely brilliant. Our engineers are stars. Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectations.”

Sometimes a good-looking airplane is not a responsive one, but flying the XL2 is more than enjoyable. It’s downright fun. There is no slop with the controls, and the airplane immediately responds to the lightest touch, which is achieved by a control system incorporating dual push-pull tubes for the elevator, rudder and the ailerons. That’s how they built military fighters before the dawn of electronic flight controls. The XL2 reflects the definition of positive response, and the mass balanced elevator adds to the silky, feather-light control feel.

Two interesting features of Tiarks’ design are the hinged wings and the wheel brakes. The wings can be removed or re-installed in minutes by utilizing an externally powered electric motor to unlock the wing pins. The system allows a whole new world of storage options. The brakes are located next to the throttle on the center console—after a few minutes of steering with your fingers, it becomes second nature.

Excellent visibility, speed and technology make this airplane a real sportster. Tiarks says, “Everyone who flies in it gets out with a smile!”

For more information, contact Liberty Aerospace at (800) 759-5953 or log on to www.libertyaircraft.com.

SPECS: 2005 Liberty XL2

The post The New & Improved Liberty XL2 appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

2005 Liberty XL2
Base/used Price:	$139,500
Engine make/model:	Teledyne Continental IOF 240-B
Horsepower:	125
Horsepower for takeoff:	125
TBO hrs.:	2000
Fuel type:	100/100LL
Propeller type/diameter:	Sensenich wood and composite 2-blade fixed pitch
Landing gear type:	Tri./Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs.):	1653
Gross weight (lbs.):	1653
Landing weight (lbs.):	1653
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	1056
Useful load (lbs.):	597
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	845
Useful fuel, std. (gals.):	28
Wingspan:	28 ft. 9 in.
Overall length:	20 ft. 4 in.
Height:	7 ft. 5 in.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	112
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	14.8
Power loading (lbs./hp.):	13.3
Wheel size (in.):	5.00 x 5
Wheel base (in.):	57.2
Wheel track (in.):	70.2
Seating capacity:	2
Cabin doors:	2
Cabin width (in.):	48
Cabin height (in.):	46
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	100
PERFORMANCE
Max cruise speed (kts.):	132
Cruise speed, best economy (kts.):	120
Range (w/ reserve) (nm):
55% power:	500
Fuel consumption (gph):	5.5
Estimated endurance (60%) (hrs):	4.0
Vs (kts):	50
Vso (kts):	54
Best rate of climb (fpm):	682
Service ceiling (ft.):	14,000
Takeoff distance (ft.):	822
Takeoff over 50-ft. obstacle (ft.):	1496
Landing distance (ft.):	841
Sources: Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft and Liberty Aerospace Website

The post 2005 Liberty XL2 appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Good friends Hal and Michelee Cabot of Princeton, Mass., are inveterate travelers who own an immaculate, six-seat Cessna P210R specifically because it has enough room to haul all their stuff. The Cabots make regular trips all over the U.S.

Fact is, most of us rarely fly with a quartet of folks in our four-seat airplanes. Even pilots of rental aircraft tend to fly four-place machines when there are only two travelers, partially because four-seaters are more comfortable and also because two-seaters on the rental market often can’t carry much more than two people—no dogs, no fold-up bicycles, not even much baggage.

The folks at Liberty Aerospace of Melbourne, Fla., have been heavily involved for six years developing a simple, comfortable, efficient two-seater with better performance than most entry-level four-place singles. It’s been a long road to FAA approval largely because Liberty certified the XL2 to the more rigorous FAR 23 (rather than merely certifying the airplane under European JARs and applying for reciprocal approval). Dr. Jason Russell, Liberty’s chief design engineer and an FAA/DER, headed the certification team. Under Russell’s leadership, the XL2 was finally granted its normal category authorization in February and should have begun deliveries by the time you read this.

In some respects, the Liberty XL2 is a different kind of two-seater. The design is loosely based on the British Europa, an extremely popular, all-composite homebuilt airplane conceived in the late ’80s by Ivan Shaw. “Loosely” is the operative term here, as the certified Liberty XL2 has only an aesthetic resemblance to that original homebuilt. The Europa is a Rotax-powered aircraft, balanced on a single, retractable gear with outrigger wheels at the wingtips for ground stability. It first flew in 1992, and some 1,000 kits have been sold in 34 countries.

The Europa’s wide, comfortable fuselage was the major component retained in the Liberty design. Shaw fashioned the airplane around the cabin, a surprisingly large enclosure protected by a 4130-tube steel rollover cage. The wing, landing gear, powerplant, empennage and panel have only a distant resemblance to the homebuilt’s equivalents. Even construction is now mostly metal, although the airframe retains some prepreg carbon-fiber materials.

The Liberty XL2’s new wing is primarily the brainchild of Don Dykins, an airfoil expert with experience dating all the way back to the early Airbus and the Mach 2.0 Concorde. The Liberty settles for more like Mach .20, still excellent efficiency considering the horsepower. It seems practically every new aircraft design touts its natural laminar-flow wing, but Dykins’ airfoil may be closer to that ideal, keeping the airflow attached to the surface for a greater percentage of the chord. Dykins’ wing also features three sets of vortex generators on the outboard wing to improve aileron response at high angles of attack. If performance is any indicator, Dykins obviously must have done several things right.

For power, Liberty chose the IOF-240B Continental, a relatively new-generation engine rated for 125 hp at 2,800 rpm. As the name implies, the little Continental is injected, essentially the same mill used by Diamond Aircraft on the C1. Liberty opted for the Powerlink FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Controls) version, however, featuring a computerized electronic ignition system.

FADEC monitors all aspects of engine operation several times a second—throttle setting, rpm, density altitude, CHT, EGT, fuel pressure, temperature and pressure—and adjusts mixture and mag timing for all stages of flight, takeoff, climb, cruise and descent. By definition an all-electric system, the Continental’s FADEC relies on the alternator and two batteries for redundancy. Accordingly, the Liberty center console couldn’t be much simpler. Although it also houses fuel selector, trim, flaps, alternate air and brakes, the whole idea was to make engine operation as idiot-proof as possible. There’s only a throttle lever for power control—push forward to go, pull back to stop.

Engine health reads out through a Vision Microsystems VM1000 that serves as an EICAS, airline speak for Engine Instrument and Crew Alerting System. The system reads power in percentage and warns if any parameter approaches tolerance limits.

Most pilots argue you can never have enough power, but with only 1,653 pounds to lift, the Liberty makes do very nicely with 125 hp. Grumman-American’s Lynx, Piper’s Tomahawk, Cessna’s venerable 152 and the Beech Skipper lifted roughly the same weight with 108, 108, 112 and 115 hp, respectively, so the Liberty, with an average 10% more horsepower, enjoys a definite advantage in power loading. In combination with the 112-square-foot, NLF wing, the XL2 offers considerably better performance than the older airplanes, proof that the glass-is-half-empty pessimists are mostly half-wits.

One obvious advantage of the small wing is less drag, and that translates directly to more speed. In fact, you’re unlikely to find anything in production aircraft ranks that will cruise alongside the XL2 on the same horsepower. Back in the bad ol’ days of general aviation, we used to measure an efficient design by 1 mph/hp. In other words, any airplane that could score 150 mph on 150 hp was considered efficient. These days, the XL2 produces more like one knot per horsepower. In fact, it does even better, considering that the 132-knot cruise spec demands only 75% of 125 hp or 93 hp.

Another fringe benefit of the Powerlink FADEC computer control is an sfc in the sub .40 pounds/hp/hour area. According to Liberty, such efficiency generates a miserly 6.0 gph at max cruise, 5.3 gph at the recommended training power setting of 60%, the latter worth something like 110 knots. With 28 usable gallons aboard, that means you’ll have an easy 3.5 hours plus reserve, over four hours at the recommended 60% instructional power setting. You could plan 450-nm cross-country flights with a reasonable reserve, realizing better than 20 nmpg in the process.

One of the greatest joys of an XL2 may be that it feels like a much bigger airplane on the inside. By two-seater standards, the cabin is huge, 48 inches across by 46 inches tall. Compare that to the 39-inch cross section of a 152 or even the 42-inch width of a Bonanza. The rudder pedals adjust for long-legged pilots, although seats are fixed in place. The folks at Liberty designed the cockpit to accommodate two big men, and it does so in both size and weight allowance.

As Americans continue to chunk up, the FAA is rethinking its 170-pound allowance per occupant for general-aviation airplanes. Even at 200 pounds per seat, the XL2 should have enough full fuel payload for two big pilots plus toothbrushes. Preliminary numbers suggest an empty weight of 1,065 pounds, leaving a 420-pound payload with full fuel.

Engine start with the FADEC system regulating all parameters of engine operation requires little more than hitting master and fuel pump, and engaging the starter. Taxiing is a little different in that it employs differential finger brakes rather than toe or heel brakes. Finger brakes take some getting used to, like thumb steering in an Aerostar, but they offer a good mechanical advantage, and once you’ve used them for a while, they’re not that different. In combination with the full-castering nosewheel, directional control is nearly good enough to turn the airplane 180 degrees in its own wingspan.

Takeoff and climb are more enthusiastic than you might expect, closer to 1,000 fpm than the old 152 and Skipper’s 600 fpm to 700 fpm. The more significant advantage comes at typical cruise heights where the XL2’s extra power allows you to climb an extra 2,000 feet in minimal time. Service ceiling is listed at 14,000 feet.

The XL2’s handling is quick with conventional joysticks for roll and pitch, but not so brisk as to be touchy. That’s partially a function of push rods rather than cables for control activation. Ailerons are wide span, covering nearly 40% of the wing’s trailing edge. Pitch control employs an all-flying stabilator rather than the more conventional horizontal stabilizer and elevator. One curious anomaly is electric pitch trim mounted on the panel rather than the yoke.

Visibility is excellent with the semi-bubble canopy providing Plexiglas all over the place. There’s a small hinge area directly overhead and a narrow windshield frame, although neither restrict the view. The clamshell-style doors wrap back well past the pilot and passenger’s shoulders, so you can look to both sides, back, up and forward with virtually no restrictions.

The Liberty XL2’s gear features a wide track and a long wheelbase, both of which help to contribute to its easy landing characteristics. The Liberty XL2 design also employs wide-span, long-chord, slotted electric flaps that reduce stall speed from 52 knots all the way down to 45 knots. With such impressive low speed available, it’s not hard to imagine approaches as slow as 55 knots, so runway requirements are short, which is under 800 feet. Even the over-50-foot numbers are only 1,250 horizontal feet. Pilots with a need to plunk it on and stop it short should find even modestly obstructed runways of 1,500 feet or longer more than adequate.

Liberty is promoting the XL2 as a private transport more than a trainer, but the airplanes will inevitably find homes on training flight lines across the country, especially those that were forced to switch to four-seaters when the older generation of trainers was retired in the ’80s. Anthony Tiarks, founder of Europa in the late ’80s, and president and CEO of Liberty Aerospace, feels there’s a strong market for a two-seater that can perform both missions.

At a base price under $140,000 for a VFR airplane and $160,000 for an IFR machine, the Liberty XL2’s obvious competition is the Diamond C1, a formidable contender supported by an established company and priced at about the same level. Liberty’s plant in Melbourne is geared up to produce as many as five XL2s a week. Current backlog is 53 orders, although that’s sure to improve when more people have the chance to fly this quick, economical personal transport that Liberty hopes will impress private buyers as well as flight schools.

For more information, contact Liberty Aerospace at (800) 759-5953 or log on to www.libertyaircraft.com.

SPECS: 2004 Liberty XL2 N204XL

The post Liberty XL2 appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

2004 Liberty XL2 N204XL
Base price, VFR:	$139,500
Engine make/model:	Continental IOF-240B
Horsepower@rpm@takeoff:	125
Horsepower for takeoff:	125
TBO hrs.:	2000
Fuel type:	100/100LL
Propeller type/diameter:	Sensenich 2-blade fixed pitch
Landing gear type:	Tri/Fixed
Max ramp weight (lbs.):	1653
Gross weight (lbs.):	1653
Landing weight (lbs.):	1653
Empty weight, std. (lbs.):	1065
Useful load, std. (lbs.):	588
Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.):	420
Usable fuel, std. (gals.):	28
Oil capacity (qts.):	8
Wingspan:	28 ft. 9 in.
Overall length:	20 ft. 4 in.
Height:	7 ft. 5 in.
Wing area (sq. ft.):	112
Wing loading (lbs./sq. ft.):	14.8
Power loading (lbs./hp.):	13.3
Wheel base (in.):	57.2
Wheel track (in.):	70.3
Seating capacity:	2
Cabin doors:	2
Cabin width (in.):	48
Cabin height (in.):	46
Baggage capacity (lbs.):	100
PERFORMANCE
Cruise speed (kts.):
75% power:	132
60% power:	120
Max range (w/ reserve) (nm):
75% power:	450
60% power:	480
Fuel consumption (gph):
75% power:	6.0
60% power:	5.3
Estimated endurance (60%) (hrs):	4.0
Vs (kts.):	52
Vso (kts.):	43
Best rate of climb (SL fpm):	1150
Service ceiling (ft.):	14,000
Takeoff ground roll (ft.):	822
Takeoff over 50-ft. obstacle (ft.):	1496
Landing ground roll (ft.):	841
Sources: Aircraft Bluebook Price Digest, Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft and Liberty Aerospace Website

The post 2004 Liberty XL2 N204XL appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.