Making History

New aircraft for the Irish Parachute Club

The Irish Parachute Club based at Clonbullogue in Co. Offaly have taken delivery of a PAC 750XL, ZK-KNM. The aircraft was built in New Zealand by Pacific Aerospace in 2013. It then spent a couple of years earning its keep in Papua New Guinea as P2-OMC with Central Aviation before returning to the New Zealand register on 31st July 2017 under the ownership of Oceania Aviation Ltd. The aircraft was noted at Larnaca, Cyprus on 1st of October and it began the final leg of its journey to Ireland on 29th October when it flew Larnaca – Bari – Antwerp – Clonbullogue, arriving in the early afternoon of 31st October.

The PAC750XL is a utility aircraft of conventional all metal low wing monoplane design, with a fixed tricycle undercarraige. It is powered by a Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop engine, similar to the engine used on the Pilatus PC-6, EI-IAN used by the Irish Parachute Club between 2005 and early 2018. This aircraft has now been sold in Germany and re-registered as D-FANO to Sky Lease GmbH.

The PAC750 at Clonbullogue

The PAC750 is ideal for parachuting operations as it can operate with one crew and up to 17 parachutists and has a rate of climb of over a 1,000 fpm. It has a service ceiling of 20,000ft and requires a take off run of just over 700ft. Over 120 of these aircraft are currently in service as passenger and cargo variants along with the parachute version which has a large roll up door on the side of the aircraft.