Perfect visionJohn Edgley has reacquired Optica design rights and is looking for a backer.Greg Dolph flies this unique aircraft. Pictures: Tony Walsh and Austin Brown

26 General Aviation April 2009

Optica rrr:1 Articles 19/3/09 11:30 Page 26

One Saturday morning found me sitting ina chair floating 2,000 feet above theHampshire countryside, master of

everything I surveyed. I was able to scrutiniseevery inch of the earth as it passed serenelybeneath my feet. That’s what it feels like flyingin the Edgley EA-7 Optica observation aircraft,an unusual and fascinating machine that I hadthe privilege to sample. Designed in the late1970s by John Edgley and produced in limitednumbers in the eighties, the Optica was aimedat a gap in the aviation market that still existstoday for a lower-cost fixed-wing observationaircraft to replace helicopters in tasks likepipeline patrol, aerial photography, search andrescue and policing where there is no need forhover and land capability.At first glance the Optica looks like the

product of a one-night stand between ahelicopter and a P-38 Lightning. At secondglance, when you see the ducted fan you thinkthat there was a hovercraft on one side of thefamily. This is definitely an unusual beast.Edgley’s goal was to put a helicopter-stylecockpit on the front of the aircraft, and the restall stems from that. The duct structure is alogical way to join the helicopter cockpit to therest of the aircraft while acting as the fuselage

and main spar. Although a pusher propellercould have been mounted high above a moreconventional structure, the duct design hasseveral advantages: it allows the engine thrustto be closer to the aerodynamic thrust linegiving better stability with power changes, itprotects the propeller from ground strikes, it’squieter than a conventional prop, and the ductgives better performance at slow speeds. Plus,“ducts were in fashion at the time” Edgley saidin an interview.The 260HP fuel-injected Lycoming engine

and five-blade ducted fan are in a podmounted to the back of the fuselage. Byremoving four bolts the whole assembly can beremoved from the aircraft in less than an hourand rolled out for maintenance andreplacement, a useful feature for a workingaircraft. The elevator is mounted high betweentwin booms for this very reason. Fuel is storedin wing tanks, which are mounted across theexact centre of gravity so the balance of theaircraft does not change as the flight goes on,and the aircraft has a loiter capability of overfive hours, which is far superior to the majorityof helicopters. Edgley says: “The main problemwith helicopters is that vibration fatigues boththe aircraft and the pilots. The Optica is very

comfortable; someone could fly it for an eighthour day.”Although the design is unconventional the

flight characteristics are ordinary andinstrumentation is all off the shelf. The flightcontrols are standard stick and rudder, andhandling is no different from any other aircraft.The main thing to get used to is the panoramicview as the lack of a cowling up front can takesome getting used to. Also, the slow cruisespeed can trick pilots inexperienced with theaircraft into thinking that they are flying tooslowly, similar to new pilots on a Piper Cub.Up close the first things that stand out to me

are the excellent build quality and the attentionto small details. The doors and seals fit

extremely well. There are built-in inspectiondoors instead of removable covers. The seatbelts are four-pointers with inertia reels. Thewhole thing has a solid, well-built feel. Pre-flight checks are pretty standard except thatyou have to crawl under the fuselage to get tothe engine fuel drain, which on a wet daystarts you off with a very damp back.Definitely a good thing to do in the hangar!Fortunately it’s a dry day and Clive Davidson,the Optica’s pilot, stays comfortable. Becausethe aircraft’s design has much of the weightclose to the centre of gravity the aircraft hastwo 7.5 kg counterweights that must bepositioned according to passenger load. Withone-up the weights are up front, with three upthe weights are locked into compartments inthe two fins, and with two up the weightsaren’t needed, so for this flight they stay in thehangar. Obviously counterweight positioning isvital to safe flight, which is why there's anannunciator panel for them on the cockpitceiling.Access to this airplane is the simplest I’ve

ever experienced. The Optica is low-slung, thedoors huge and the bubble cockpit is veryroomy, so getting in takes no acrobaticswhatsoever. Sit and swing or step up, it’s your

choice. The seats are three across with the lefttwo having sticks and pedals, with the engineand flap controls between them. The right doorhas a large panel that can be opened to allowfor a camera lens. The instruments are set in ahelicopter-style console between the left andmiddle seats and are in a standard six-packconfiguration, with engine instruments below.There are some circuit breakers on the leftside, which I can imagine isn’t optimal asduring flight the pilot has to lean forward tosee them. More circuit breakers are located onthe housing of the engine instruments and aremuch more accessible. While sufficient to dothe job, the instruments on this particularaircraft are a bit sparse and this panel justcries out for some glass.Startup is standard fuel-injected engine

stuff. Master on, prime until you get fuel flow,boost off, hit the starter and it rumbles to life. Imean rumbles as well: the engine is wellbehind the cockpit with structure between sothe whole thing sounds very different fromhaving the mill in the front. It’s reasonablyquiet as well: at idle you can easily have aconversation without headphones. The usualchecks done, we start to taxi.

General Aviation April 2009 27

Above: Greg Dolph in the helicopter-likecockpit of the Edgley OpticaAbove left: Optica’s helicopter-like instrumentbinnacle increases visibility for the pilotsLeft: instruments look a little dated and ‘cryout for some glass’Bottom left: the entire engine and prop podcan be removed easily for maintenance

Optica rrr:1 Articles 19/3/09 11:30 Page 27

Clive had warned me that taxiing takes a bitof future planning as the nosewheel is direct-drive and is offset to the left to allow for acamera pod. I see what he means right away– the turning radius is adequate but withoutdifferential brakes – the brake lever is situatedon the centre console – and when turningright, you definitely have to think ahead. Theride is firm but not uncomfortable, and withthe wide undercarriage very stable. I find itimpossible to manipulate the throttle andbrake at the same time from the middle seatwithout completely redesigning the humanhand, but they are close enough together thatmoving my hand between them takes afraction of a second so it’s not a problem. Aftera couple of turns it becomes second nature.The bottom of the ducted propeller only has

about a foot of ground clearance and at highpower can suck up gravel which is bad for thepropeller, so we pull back to idle whencrossing any loose stone. A screen can befitted to the lower half of the duct whenoperating at rough fields.While backtracking Clive has me throttle up

to put on some speed and I can see why: thenosewheel steering is very responsive at speedand only small inputs are necessary. Run-up iscompletely ordinary and soon we’re lining upon Thruxton’s runway 25 for takeoff with 10degrees of flap. The acceleration doesn’texactly force my eyeballs back in their socketsbut I don’t nod off either and sooner than you’dthink Clive eases the nose off the ground at55kt and the aircraft unsticks at about 65kt.Ideal climb rate is 70kt.

If the London Eye could lift you at 1,000fpm I’d say the experience would be prettysimilar, as the sensation is not as much flyingas levitating. In this respect it’s very similar toa helicopter – the ground really does sort of fallaway. The visibility is nothing short offantastic. The only opaque material in thecockpit is the floor and the superstructure tokeep the Perspex in place. The doors are clear,the roof is clear, and the front is clear rightdown to the floor. There’s remarkably littledistortion from all the curved plastic. It doesn’tfeel like a helicopter because there’s no bone-shaking vibration and audible assault tocontend with. It’s no more noisy than astandard light aircraft, and maybe a bit quieter– certainly fine with a basic no-ANR headset.Because noise levels are low the airflow

around the canopy sounds deeper than I’mused to and is more noticeable.We level out at circuit height with a cruise

speed about 100knots. Loiter speed at 80knots gives a whopping eight-hour endurance,which will see pilots being recruited on thebasis of bladder capacity rather than superiorflying skill.Others have experienced disorientation

when first flying this aircraft as the bubblecanopy has no level surface to provide areference to the horizon. When flying any newaircraft there’s always a bit of bobbing up anddown until you get the hang of it and this timeis no different, but in my case it was more dueto getting a feel for the controls and not to lackof a reference point. I found this an easyaircraft to fly visually and didn’t experience anydisorientation at all.The ailerons have heavy breakout forces but

are crisp and effective, and the roll rate is finebut not sprightly. The elevator is also heavy,

28 General Aviation April 2009

The company John Edgley started beganproduction in 1983 but failed followingthe fatal crash of the first production

aircraft, which had been sold to HampshirePolice, and the withdrawal of financial backingin the mid 1980s. Later a serious fire due toan unsolved arson destroyed eight completedaircraft, which effectively sealed the

company’s fate, and this innovative designwas nearly consigned to the back of history’shangar forever.

Now Edgley has re-acquired his design andis attempting to bring it back into production.Is this the time to try to start an aircraftcompany? In the case of the Optica, yes. It isdesigned to offer a cheaper alternative to

helicopters, and with recession lightening thepockets of industries and governments acrossthe globe many will be looking for a way toreplace costly helicopters with less expensivealternatives. This is one of those few caseswhere starting production of an aircraft in arecession actually makes sense.

Plus, as Edgley says, “when you start up anaircraft company from scratch there’s somuch to do: you have to develop the aircraft,build the tools, and start up a manufacturingline all at the same time. With the Optica allyou’d have to do is start the manufacturingline as much of the hard work has been done.The airplane is ready to go. We have all theoriginal press tools, forms, and jigs. It’s EASAand FAA certified and can fly anywhere in theworld.”

With the government looking for ways tostimulate the economy, supporting Opticaproduction would be a comparativelyinexpensive way to jump-start a high-techmanufacturing industry in Britain and create

The case for the Optica

Above: the prototype Optica, ‘a cross betweena P38 Lightning, a helicopter and a hovercraft’

Left: John Edgley and Optica at Old Sarum forthe Neville Duke Memorial Day last summer;among his many achievements, Neville Dukewas test pilot of the OpticaAbove: first production Optica went toHampshire Police, but it crashedRight: the Optica hangar at Old Sarum beforeit was destroyed by fire

Chris

Stanbury

Optica rrr:1 Articles 19/3/09 11:30 Page 28

but the trim lever is nicely geared and quick tobalance out the stick forces. The twin ruddersare fairly light compared to the other controlsand take a bit of getting used to. Because ofthe unusual shape and the fact that most ofthe weight is in the middle of the aircraft theOptica is very sensitive to rudder changes, sofootwork is important. Turns need to be led toget the nose around, but with the powerfulrudders it doesn’t take much pressure and itdoesn’t take long to get used to. All in all it’s apretty easy aircraft to fly, and a stableobservation platform.The stall characteristics are benign. The

mild buffet comes well before a nose drop andhigh sink rate, and with the stick pulled backall the way (two hands are better than onewith that heavy elevator) wing drop is easilyheld up using rudder. Stalling in a turn seesthe wings roll level on their own. While thestall characteristics weren’t exciting, lookingstraight down at the ground through the cleardoor at a steep bank and high angle of attackwhile feeling airframe buffet was exciting – soexciting I asked Clive to do the next one to theleft instead.On final approach, once throttled back and

trimmed there’s not much to do except keepan eye out for other aircraft, which needless tosay is very easy to do. The light wind waspretty much straight down the runway so Ididn’t get to sample the aircraft’s crosswindcharacteristics, but with the good rudder Idon’t see there being much drama in thatregard. The aircraft’s demonstrated crosswindlimit is 25kt. Flaps down to 50 sees some trim

changes, and after a short float we plunkdown and roll out. The brake lever does a goodjob in slowing us down and I’m sure shortfields would be a piece of cake in this aircraftalthough very rough fields would be achallenge due to ground clearance limitationsand firm suspension.The Optica is an inventive, well designed,

and robust aircraft that accomplishes its goals,and I hope it finds a backer. I know that if Iwas stranded somewhere, someone flying anOptica would have a better chance of spottingme than in an Islander, and because of fuellimitations the Optica could spend far longerlooking for me than a helicopter. Anyone in themarket for an aircraft that can loiter for hourswatching for brushfires need look no further.I really enjoyed my flight in the Optica not

because of the aircraft’s handlingcharacteristics but the sheer sense of freedomand of openness that you get flying thisaircraft. Sure, it’s not something you’d throwaround, but it’s not meant to be. It’scomfortable, stable, you can see straightdown, and it can stay up long enough to giveyou kidney failure. At the end of thismemorable flight I definitely had what Clivecalls “the Optica smile.” �

General Aviation April 2009 29

skilled jobs. Edgley says: “If you look at thenations that are consistently doing well in theworld they are the ones who have high-techmanufacturing, and it’s as simple as that. It isimportant for the UK to have an economy thatis not solely based on finance and serviceindustries.”

Edgley is adamant that the aircraft if at allpossible should be built in Britain in order toinspire young engineers and entrepreneurs.“Where’s Concorde?” he asks. “Where’s theSpace Shuttle? Somebody’s just spent threemillion pounds to re-create a 50-year-oldsteam engine. Where are the new challengesthat will interest young people in the UK?

“When we originally started production atOld Sarum we had a policy of hiring newgraduates, and almost all of them stayed inthe industry because of the experience.”

Edgley is cautiously optimistic thatgovernment funds will start to shake out tosupport new businesses, and the EA-7 is aclassic case for support. “This aircraft isready to go, it only needs someone to take iton and make it happen,” he says. In thiseconomic climate there is a need for anaircraft such as the Optica, and a need tocreate new industry. It would be a waste ifthis inspired design was not put back intoproduction. �

‘Hershey-bar’ wing confers good loiteringcapability on the Optica

Can the Optica now take off?

Optica rrr:1 Articles 19/3/09 11:30 Page 29