aerokurier 1/2001
Editiorial A European civil
aviation authority on its way / Feature Fantrainer: fan-tastic to fly / Pilot Report The
new Aquila A 210 / Magazine Flight safety: cutbacks in accident
investigation, Off-field helicopter landings: landing restrictions, New DFS service over
new media, New on the market: Super Chipmunk now available as a kit / Travel Excursion
to Sardinia / Flying The
flying eyes of São Paulo / Practice Know-how: excursion to Samedan, From fright
to impotence, Accident analysis: a fatal mix of loading and altitude / Ultralight Silence
single seater: soloist with new ideas / Gliding The Antares electrically-powered glider,
DG-1000S: the challenger, In the lee of the Brocken at Diamond Altitude, 59th German
Glider Pilots Convention in Leipzig, The DAeC club class team at the world
championships in South Australia / Special
Maintenance
EDITORIAL
A European civil aviation authority on its way
The European Commission passed a resolution in October to create a European agency for
air safety, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). EASA is initially intended to be
confined to commercial aviation. However, it is likely that, given time and the political
will, its powers will be extended to other areas of aviation as well.
In any case all eyes will be on the new authority; European official
bodies are not renowned for being economical on bureaucracy. EASAs work must lead to
lower charges than today, otherwise it will have failed to achieve a part of its job. As
EASAs responsibilities are defined, the areas of responsibility of the national
aviation authorities must be appropriately slimmed down. Duplication of administrative
expenses once for Europe and once for every individual state would be
unnecessarily costly and extremely unproductive.
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FEATURE
Fantrainer: fan-tastic to fly
It all began with news of an auction. Two enthusiastic pilots wanted an unusual
aircraft, the Fantrainer. In fact they got three. What is special about these aircraft is
their propulsion system, which features an Allison turbine and integrated enclosed
propeller. Fantrainers therefore offer their pilots the characteristics of a jet, but at
an economical price. Join us in the January edition of aerokurier in discovering the
fascination of these aircraft, which are now based in Trier, for pilots and passengers.
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PILOT REPORT
The new Aquila A 210
The well proportioned Aquila A 210 is on the final approach heading for JAR/VLA type
certification. The prototype completed its maiden flight on 5 March 2000. Since then it
has clocked up 200 flying hours.
On our flight we achieve an indicated air speed of 115kt (125.4
KTAS) at 5,000 ft using 24in boost at 5,500 rpm (77% power). The A 210 doesnt quite
achieve its target of 130 KTAS, but with modifications it should get there.
With a 110l fuel capacity it should have good endurance. If one
assumes a fuel consumption rate of 20l per hour, then the maximum flight duration is five
hours plus 30 minutes reserve. This would mean it could fly up to 1,200km.
The Aquilas useful load is 260kg. If we allow 79kg for fuel with
full tanks. and 35kg for baggage, that leaves 146kg for the crew.
The spacious cabin can accommodate 1.9m tall pilots including bulky
headset. The instrument panel is of generous proportions.
In the January issue of aerokurier you can read all about what the
Aquila has to offer.
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MAGAZINE
Flight safety: cutbacks in accident investigation
Under the new law, the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation is
only required to investigate crashes and accidents involving aircraft of less than two
tonnes take-off weight in certain cases. Professor Elmar Giemulla, an aviation law expert
from Berlin, is highly critical of this stipulation.
Off-field helicopter landings: landing restrictions
When it comes to restrictions on aviation, Germany is definitely out in the lead. Even
helicopters, which precisely because they are so flexible can take off and land in a tiny
area, are obliged to operate out of an airfield. There are exceptions for commercial
operations, but generally only when approved by the authorities. And if the applicant is a
private pilot you can more or less forget about even trying. In other countries the
regulations are a lot more relaxed. Thus, for example, in England or Ireland all you need
in order to be allowed to land outside of an airfield is the consent of the property
owner.
New DFS service over new media
Next year Deutsche Flugsicherungs GmbHs Aeronautical Information Service (AIS)
will only be available centrally from the AIS Centre. For General Aviation (GA) perhaps
the most interesting development is the way Aviation Data Management, of which the AIS is
also a part, will be organised in future. We asked Frank Brenner, the new spokesman for
the Aviation Data Management business unit, about the background as to why DFS, the
company which runs air traffic control services in Germany, is giving up its local
representation, whose competence is undisputed, and plans to concentrate all its
aeronautical information clerks in an AIS Centre in Frankfurt-Rödelheim. Clemens
Bollinger was asking the questions.
New on the market: Super Chipmunk now available as a kit
The de Havilland DHC-1 Chipmunk is back again. This tandem seat military trainer had a
production run of 1500 and was in service with many air forces around the world. On 2
September 1999 a Chipmunk once again completed its maiden flight, this time near Montreal
and built by Gilles Leger. The Canadian is offering this nostalgic low-wing aircraft in
kit form. Legers version is called the Super Chipmunk because the engine is more
powerful, the cockpit is more spacious and the airframe is designed to be more stable. It
is powered by a 210hp Conti IO-360.
The kit version needs 207m of runway to get airborne, with a 97
km/h take-off speed. Rate of climb is 2000ft/min or 10.3m/s. At a cruise speed of 258km/h
it consumes 38l of avgas an hour. With full standard tanks, its range is on the low side,
at 483 km.
The partly prefabricated kit is available for $33,900. The build-time
is estimated at 2000h.
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TRAVEL
Excursion to Sardinia
Dr. Ulrich Werner was acquainted with the island of Sardinia from his days as a flight
surgeon with the Luftwaffe. So why not fly there alone in a powered glider? On a summer
day and with a good weather forecast he took off from Wittmund in a SF 25 for the Alpine
crossing on his 1800km trip to the south.
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FLYING
The flying eyes of São Paulo
In São Paulo, one of the biggest metropolises in the world with a population of over
18 million, criminal elements are everywhere at work. To protect bank branches and local
supermarkets, R-44 helicopters patrol above the city 24 hours a day. Their effectiveness
as a deterrent is borne out by the statistics: the number of bank raids has dropped by
around a half.
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PRACTICE
Know-how: excursion to Samedan
Off to the highest airport in Europe. Samedan in Oberengadin is the destination on our
VFR trip abroad this time. Elevation: 5,600ft (1,707m). The surroundings are truly
picturesque. We present our tips on flying to Oberengadin.
From fright to impotence
Anxiety in the cockpit is this a problem that afflicts only student pilots? Or
are even pilots with many years of experience for ever revisited by earlier anxiety
episodes? Experience indicates that the nature of the anxiety is not necessarily causally
related to the acute situation.
Accident analysis: a fatal mix of loading and altitude
The young pilot had only had his pilots licence for six days when he set off with
his wife on board a PA-28 for a trip to the high mountains in Colorado, USA. He took his
father and sister along with him on a local sightseeing flight. At an altitude of more
than 8,500ft the aircraft collided with a fir tree and was smashed into pieces. The
accident investigators attributed the crash to incorrect loading, lack of flying
experience and the Pipers insufficient climb performance at altitude.
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ULTRALIGHT
Silence single seater: soloist with new ideas
It is not every day that a single seater is developed for the ultralight class. Not
only that, but the Silence incorporates some novel design ideas and solutions which depart
from the previous way of thinking.
This unusual aircraft has been flying for some months. When the
Silence team began developing it four years ago their sole concern was to build a sports
aeroplane to their own design. Now there are plans for serial production. We took a closer
look at the Silence for our readers.
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GLIDING
The Antares electrically-powered glider
When the first Antares flies in the summer of 2001, its engine performance will quite
eclipse the LF-20E testbed, with which the high-tech electric drive has successfully been
in service for over two years. A lot of the design work for the Antares has gone into
development of a new generation of lithium ion batteries which will mean a maximum
take-off altitude of no longer 1,700m but a good 3,000m.
The performance data is extremely impressive. After thorough laboratory
testing of the new high current-capable Li-ion batteries in the factory in Zweibrücken
and computer comparison with the long protected data for the LF-20E testbed (metal hydrid
batteries), the Antares should be able to take off at 3000m with an all-up weight of 500kg
quite comfortably. The maximum climb rate could be as high as 5.5m/s, giving an extreme
gradient of climb which will probably not be recommended for safety reasons.
As well as the new batteries and the extra performance which this makes
possible, the aerodynamic features of the electrically powered glider are presented in
Januarys edition of aerokurier. It is packed with interesting details.
DG-1000S: the challenger
At long last there is now some competition in the two-seater class.
DG-Flugzeugbaus new 20m two-seater is an attractive alternative for this world
competition class. The 18m version of the DG-1000S is suitable for aerobatics and
training.
With a 20 m wing span, the fibre composite two-seater fits neatly into
the competition definition of the two-seater class. It will bring new diversity and add to
the attractions of a competition category which at championship level had almost been
reduced to a single-type class thanks to the hold exerted by the Duo Discus.
aerokurier examines the DG-1000S flying performance in the 1/2001
issue.
In the lee of the Brocken at Diamond Altitude
There is no need to seek out far-off places in order to go wave gliding: you can
achieve Diamond Altitude from the lowlands of north-east Germany as well. Bernd Goretzki,
meteorologist and glider pilot, describes setting off from Lüsse.
59th German Glider Pilots Convention in Leipzig
In the middle of November Leipzig was host to the German gliding community. The
location of the 59th German Glider Pilots Convention revived once again memories of
the awakening of democracy 10 years ago while at the same time testifying to the rapid
merging that has taken place in the sport. It was thanks to Siggi Kabbe, today the
honorary chairman of the Deutscher Aero Club gliding special interest group, that gliding
was one of the first sports to achieve integration. On the other hand, the catchphrase of
the 59th Glider Pilots Convention, "Gliding in the new millennium", was
clearly directed at the future.
On the afternoon of 18 November a number of specialist presentations in the Congress
Centre of the Leipzig Exhibition Centre were also concerned with the immediate and
medium-term future. Gerhard Waibel, inventor of the W-series in Alexander Schleicher
Segelflugzeugbaus AS range, gave a glimpse of the technical possibilities under the
heading of "Gliding 2010".
The DAeC club class team at the world championships in South Australia
On 14 January the first club class world championships are starting in Gawler, South
Australia. Five German pilots will be taking part.
Frank Hahn from Amberg is one title holder who will be heading for
Gawler, which is around 30km to the north of Adelaide. He is the current holder of the
European championship title. Mathias Nagel, the German club class champion, is also going
"down under", as are the runner-up and third prize winner of the DM 2000 prize,
Andreas Nagel and Wolfgang Beyer, who won the German championships in 1998. Axel Reich is
going along as reserve pilot. Portraits of the pilots are presented.
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SPECIAL MAINTENANCE
"Enthusiasm is the most important
thing"
Without it, nothing can fly: the profession of the flight engineer offers a lot of
variety, but it is also demanding.
Paintwork: a means of displaying your corporate identity and also a protective
shield
We introduce the technology and work routines found in aircraft paintshops.
From dirty mark to fracture
The first signs are usually inconspicuous, but once corrosion has afflicted your
expensive flying vehicle, you should take action immediately.
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