Extra EA-400
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The Extra EA-400 is a six-seat, single-engined, high-wing
monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...
produced by Extra Flugzeugbau GmbH. The EA-400 is powered by a liquid cooled Continental Voyager
turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...
piston engine A reciprocating engine, more often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more Reciprocating motion, reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a Circular motion, rotating motion. This article ...
.


Design

Started by
Walter Extra Walter Extra is a German award-winning aerobatics, aerobatic pilot and chief aircraft designer who founded the aerobatic aircraft manufacturer Extra Flugzeugbau (Extra Aircraft Construction). Extra was trained as a mechanical engineer. He bega ...
, the company manufactures mostly aerobatic airplanes like the
Extra EA-300 The Extra Flugzeugbau EA300 is a two-seat aerobatics, aerobatic monoplane capable of Unlimited category Competition aerobatics, competition. It was designed in 1987 in aviation, 1987 by Walter Extra, a German people, German aerobatic pilot, an ...
series. The EA-400 is a pressurized airplane for travelling, featuring
carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...
construction, a
cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
ed high wing, and a
water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and no ...
Teledyne Continental TSIOL-550C engine. This engine is immune to shock cooling during descents, but more demanding to operate. The
airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...
was designed with engineering help from the Technical University of Delft in Holland under leadership from Prof. Egbert Torenbeek and with Loek Boermans for
airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...
design. The aircraft's Fowler flaps feature a completely recessed mechanism and reduce
stall speed In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack exceeds its critical value.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', p. 486. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...
from at maximum weight. The
landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...
was designed and manufactured by Gomolzig in Germany. It is unusual in its geometry and sealed behind doors once retracted. Its complexity contributes to the aircraft's operating costs. The optional
weather radar A weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar (WSR) and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type (rain, snow, hail etc.). Modern w ...
pod is blended into the left wing tip. All Extra 400 aircraft have been retrofitted with the flight into known icing conditions modification. Deicing equipment consists of Teflon
boots A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearl ...
, a heated propeller, a heated windscreen for the pilot side, dual heated pitot ports, and a heated stall sensor connected to the autopilot. The deicing equipment is powered by a pair of large alternators (100 and 85 amps) that also feed the AC compressor located in the tail. The cockpit has good forward and lateral visibility. Avionics are conventional with a full set of instruments for each of the two crew and a central stack. STCs for upgrades to modern GPS navigators and "glass cockpit" displays are available, but the only autopilot certified is the STEC 55X. An improved
propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
with the "b" type blades is available from MT-Propeller under FAA Form 337 Major Modification. It increases climb performance and cruise speed. Time to climb to FL200 is 20 minutes and cruise speed at 75% power ranges from at 16'000 ft to a maximum of at FL 250 (at MTOW and under ISA conditions). The passenger cabin is air-conditioned and offers four seats in a club arrangement with a folding table. It is similar in size to that of the smaller jets such as the Eclipse 550. The Extra 400 was costly to manufacture, requiring 16'000 hours of labor, and carried a price tag of $1 million. Only 27 aircraft were built before the company ran into financial trouble.


Accidents & Incidents

* A fatal accident occurred upon delivery of the first customer aircraft on August 21, 1998, due to flying into a storm, and this caused German authorities to impose a type rating on Extra 400 pilots which was withdrawn in December 2015. * Another Extra 400 was lost to an engine failure on March 10, 2018, causing the aircraft to ditch in a field in Sharpsburg North Carolina. The sole occupant was not injured. * A third Extra 400 was lost in Oklahoma on August 4, 2018, due to unknown circumstances that caused the aircraft to lose altitude after takeoff and crash and burn with 5 fatalities. * Emergency landing on 12 June 2020 after engine failure into a crop field. Due to limited visibility caused by leaking coolant into onto the windshield and unstable descent, the landing gear has collapsed, causing the wings to strike ground and the aircraft subsequently cartwheeled forwards, shearing off both wings. Single person, the pilot on-board was able to walk away from the accident with minor bruises. Aircraft is currently stored in LKPM in damaged condition, possibly written off. * On 17 March 2025 at 5.22 p.m. an Extra EA-400 crashed on the northern edge of the village of La Punt Chamues-ch (Switzerland) in a populated area and burned out completely. The propeller plane had taken off from Samedan airfield at 5.20 p.m. bound for
Roskilde Airport Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde — simply known as Roskilde Airport — is located southeast of Roskilde near the town Tune. History It was opened in 1973 as the first of three planned relief airports around Copenhagen. These plans were shelv ...
, Denmark. All three occupants of the plane died. The plane had arrived from Denmark on March 13 and was on its return flight.


Specifications (Extra EA-400)


See also


References


External links

* European Aviation Safety Agency
''TYPE-CERTIFICATE DATA SHEET'' (EA 400)
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