Saunders ST-27
Saunders Aircraft Company · Canada · first flew 1969 · airliner
The Saunders ST-27 was a regional aircraft built in the 1970s by the Canadian Saunders Aircraft Company of Gimli, Manitoba. It was designed as a conversion of the de Havilland Heron.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × turboprop, wing-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | Stretched fuselage with a lengthened nose to fit radar |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Twin Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprops on a low-wing airliner
- Stretched fuselage with a lengthened nose to fit radar
- Reshaped and enlarged vertical tail
It resembles a stretched de Havilland Heron but has two turboprops in place of the Heron's four piston engines, with a longer nose.
Specifications
- The Saunders ST-27 has a length of 17.93 m (59 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 21.79 m (71 ft).
- Typical crew: 2.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Saunders used 13 surplus Heron airframes for the conversion, which had a stretched fuselage for 23 passengers, a longer nose, a reshaped vertical tail and two Pratt and Whitney PT6A turboprops replacing four Gipsy Queen piston engines. The prototype first flew on 28 May 1969.
Variants
The ST-28 was a later version built from new tooling to meet FAR 23, with larger cabin windows, a larger rudder, four-bladed propellers and a 1,000 lb increase in maximum takeoff weight.
Where you'll see it
Only 12 ST-27s were built. Manitoba government funding was withdrawn in 1976, and the lack of US certification limited sales. Air Otonabee, later Air Atonabee, flew scheduled service from Toronto Island Airport from 1974 and carried 25,000 passengers annually by 1984.
Related aircraft
AircraftIQ — the aircraft field guide: 8,606 recognition guides, live overhead identification, works offline.