Airmaster Avalon and derivatives

[WhyMe]

Lawrence (Larry) Matanski founded in 1980 Airmaster Inc. in Renton, Washington, to produce and market the Avalon 680 amphibian aircraft he was designing. The all-metal aircraft was powered by a single 750 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-135 turbine engine mounted atop the wing and cabin, driving a pusher propeller, which rotated between the twin-boom tail. The prototype N767LB flew for the first time in October 1983.

The six-seat cabin was unpressurized; the nose-wheel landing gear was retractable with the main wheels stored into the sponsons. The sponsons were attached to stubs and from these stubs two struts supported the wing where they connected at the twin-booms.


Also an Avalon Twin Star 1000 and a military A-1200 Guardian have reportedly been designed, but except for the Avalon 680 prototype no further aircraft have flown.



Information and pictures from 1000aircraftphotos.com

And here's a three-view from the "Air International" (1982-10):

[MrWidgeon]

I saw the Avalon on several occasions around Seattle, including in it's hangar there on Renton Field.
It was an interesting airplane, pretty fast for one engine (A P&W of Canada PT-6), roomy and supposedly handled pretty well.
Larry Matanski was a pretty good engineer with a bit of con man thrown in.
I think it was the con man part that really killed the Avalon project.
Not to speak ill of the dead, but every time I shook hands with him I felt I needed to count and make sure I got all my fingers back.
He exaggerated the airplane's capabilities quite a bit, but it was still an interesting design that just wasn't what the flying public wanted at the time.
I think today with the profusion of turbine powered seaplanes it might have stood a chance as a homebuilt.
Maybe even back then, but Larry wasn't interested in a homebuilt, he wanted to certify it and put it in production and the money/interest just wasn't there at the time.
He passed away some years ago and I have no idea what became of the airplane, the full size wooden mockup was abandoned in an empty lot not far from Boeing field in the late 1980s.
Most of it was scavenged for the wood in it, I last saw the remains of the mockup they'd been wadded up in a ball by a bulldozer prior to construction on that lot.

Bill

[WhyMe]

Thank you for sharing interesting info and personal experience!

[SpaceRanger]

The FAA's Aircraft Registry shows the registration expired 8 Feb 2011.