A Corvus Phantom microlight.
brushless electric motors installed in
the Pipistrel single-seat Bee and two-seat Taurus self-launching gliders.
These low-rpm, low-weight, low-noise motors are offered in the 27-
to 54-hp range and may be air- or
liquid-cooled. They will directly drive
propellers up to 2000 rpm with high
torque even at very low rpm and at
any altitude. In daily demonstrations,
Enstroj systems impressed onlookers
with their low noise and vibration
levels, even within a few feet of the
whirling propellers. The company
also makes motor controllers and
balancers for recharging the lithium
polymer batteries used for most
applications of this kind. Amusing
was Enstroj’s clever one-man “rigging
cart” used to aid in attaching glider
wings; its simple remote control
allows the cart to follow the pilot
around the plane like a robot.
Rotax 912 ULS-powered SLW has an
impressive range of 808 miles and
an endurance of eight hours. The
baggage compartment volume in the
SLW has nearly tripled as compared
to the SL, making the SLW a serious
traveling machine.
Enstroj (Radomlje, Slovenia,
www.Glider-
One.si) In the middle of Pipistrel’s
display of electric-powered, self-launching gliders at AERO was a
smiling Roman Sušnik, owner
and founder of Enstroj. That’s the
company Sušnik started a few years
ago as an outlet for his unbridled
electro-mechanical creativity. Gaining
great attention were his high-powered
FLARM (Hausen am Albis, Switzerland,
www.FLARM.com) Developed by a group
of three Swiss engineers, FLARM (the
name derived from “FLight alARM”)
is a system of low-cost avionics providing selective warning for potential
collisions between light aircraft. Originally developed to improve safety
during soaring contests, more than
11,000 FLARM units are now in use,
mostly in Europe, in a wide variety of
light aircraft. The compact Butterfly
(
www.ButterflyAvionics.com) display for
FLARM data was particularly popular
at AERO 2009, just one example of
a burgeoning cottage industry growing up around the FLARM standard.
Véronique Beringer displays a picture
of herself in front of the Souris-Bulle
motorglider she and her family built and fly.
Alas, FLARM is not yet approved for
use in the United States; however, its
developers appear to anticipate this,
as many systems are now capable of
accepting Mode-S/ automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast inputs.
Austro Engine AE300 Jet A- 1 piston engine (right) and, in the background, the
Diamond DA42 NG Twin Star it powers.
Flight Design (Echterdingen, Germany,
www.FlightDesign.com) Germany’s
Flight Design has developed a hybrid
propulsion system combining the
proven Rotax 914 turbocharged
engine and a 40-hp electric motor.
The system is capable of developing
160- to 180-hp for five minutes, sufficient time for most light aircraft
during their initial climb or to provide a pilot with more options in
the case of engine failure. (Unlike
internal combustion engines, an electric motor delivers maximum torque
even at very low rpm and steady
power regardless of altitude.) During
cruise, the engine’s 55-pound lithi-um-ion batteries are recharged in 20
minutes and available for additional
power as needed. While the powerplant has only been operated to date
on a test stand, Flight Design plans to
make its first flight tests this year and
display the system at AirVenture next
month. The company also touted its
brand new CT Supralight at AERO,
which combines the wings from the
CTLS with the lighter CT fuselage.
While the aircraft is aimed primar-
