Designed by Frank Christensen in the mid-1980s as a sport/utility two-seater, around 400 of the original A-1 model were produced before production shifted to the slightly heavier A-1A. The test aircraft is actually the new A-1B model, which features a further increase in the Husky's gross weight and also a luggage door on the standard side. This door is an option on the A-1A, but is standard on the A-1B. During the pre-flight it soon became apparent that the Husky is every bit as robust as its canine namesake. The A-1B was actually designed to a specification issued by the US Government, and a number of Federal Agencies (such as the US Department of Interior) operate the aircraft. The Husky is perfectly conventional in both its design and construction. The fuselage is constructed of welded 4130-gauge steel tube, while the wing features two aluminium spars and a metal leading edge. The wing and the fuselage are both covered with Dacron, except for part of the aft fuselage, which is skinned with metal. Dacron is also used to cover all the flying controls, as well as the fin and tailplane. The tailplane is particularly strong, being braced with stainless steel wires above the tailplane and streamlined steel tubing from below. I imagine that this may be due in part to Aviat's considerable experience with aerobatic aircraft - while one facet of the Husky's control system that did catch my eye was the addition of spade-type mass balance units to the ailerons. Again, I would ascribe this to Aviat's association with the Eagle (see Today's Pilot December 2001).

The ailerons themselves are also worthy of comment as not only are they symmetrical but the first 25% of the aileron's chord is actually thicker than the wing. These ailerons have been specifically designed to remain effective even at very slow speeds, so I was looking forward to discovering if they retained their effectiveness after the mainplane had stalled.
Access to the engine bay is good, making it easy to perform a good pre-flight inspection on the ubiquitous Lycoming O-360. The Lycoming's 180 horses are converted into thrust by a Hartzell constant-speed two-bladed prop. One feature that I'm sure meets with the approval of bush pilots (it certainly met with mine) is the amount of useful load that the Husky can carry. Indeed, a quick glance at the POH revealed that with two 180lb adults aboard, and with both fuel tanks full, there is still nearly 140lb of useful load remaining for cargo.

Of all the two-seat aircraft I've ever flown, the Husky has the largest useful load by a considerable margin. The large baggage bay aft of the rear seat is accessible via the starboard side baggage door, although the rear seat back also folds flat onto the seat bottom. I particularly liked the fact that the baggage area does not have a cross-cabin steel brace (unlike the Super Cub), as this makes loading stuff into the baggage bay a lot easier. There is also an optional second baggage bay aft of the main one, while if you need even more stowage space, AirGlas Engineering offers an external cargo pod. As for range and endurance, two points that are always close to a bush pilot's heart, it is worth noting that with both tanks full, endurance is in excess of seven hours!

Access to the cockpit is via a horizontally-split door/window on the starboard side - the door hinges down and the window hinges up. Getting in is easy, although care must be taken not to head-butt the large flap brackets. I was impressed upon learning that the Husky can be flown up to the 132kts Vne with the door open, although I would guess that it would be pretty uncomfortable at this speed. The cockpit is comfortable and functional. Unfortunately, neither the seat nor the pedals adjust - adjustment is really only possible by changing the thickness of the seat back cushions. Although this works fine, it is perhaps not the most elegant solution. I particularly liked the fact that a five-point seat harness is fitted as standard, with the shoulder straps connected to an inertial reel. An excellent restraint system.

All the flying controls fell nicely to hand, although personally I found the stick a tad on the tall side. The chunky throttle lever is located on the left cockpit sill and contains a PTT button, while the prop and mixture controls are of the plunger variety and are mounted on the left bottom of the instrument panel. In fact, it was the instrument panel that contained the real surprises.

From the outside the Husky it looks like any other classic rag-and-tube taildragger, but upon settling into the cockpit I was confronted by such digital delights as a Garmin GNS 430 integrated GPS Nav/Comm and a Vision Microsystems VM-1000 engine instrument display. I'm a great fan of both the GNS 430 and the VM-1000, and it was a real treat to find the Husky so well instrumented. A happy by-product of using the VM-1000 is that the combined rotary ignition switch for the mags and starter has been relocated to the right side of the panel (earlier Huskies had the switch on the left, which was ergonomically less than satisfactory). The rest of the panel is very neatly laid out, with the primary flight instruments arranged in the classic 'sacred six' directly in front of the pilot, and a VOR/ILS receiver on the top left of the panel. A neat group of six toggle switches for the electrical services is located directly below the GNS 430, with the circuit breakers at the base of the flight instruments and the transponder immediately below the panel.

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