Surely a mechanical system would have toppled too? Except perhaps a turn-indicator that I suppose may have been useful if you were uncertain about the direction of spin?
I mentioned on another thread that after an aerobatics session on a Super-Decathlon, the artificial horizon was thoroughly askew, and was told this was common to most of the solid-state systems.
Surely a mechanical system would have toppled too?
Yes, but would have expected that! The reason a mechanical attitude gyro topples is that it doesn’t have complete freedom of movement in all axes (unless designed for aerobatics). There is no such issue with a solid-state system,
Can someone PLEASE tell me how one can |legally] conduct an aerobatic flight in an experimental design with 3 passengers and no parachutes ?
Surely a mechanical system would have toppled too?
Not necessarily, unless you wander through gimbal lock. My electric AI just disconnects the front plate when the attitude is too much off to display, and reconnects when it is within limits again. Supposedly that’s a requirement if you want to replace the turn coordinator with an AI.
I find it hard to see in the video what really happened. It looks like the graphics system is too slow to generate reasonable frame rates, but that may also be aliasing between the frame rates of the video camera and the display.
I find it hard to see in the video what really happened. It looks like the graphics system is too slow to generate reasonable frame rates, but that may also be aliasing between the frame rates of the video camera and the display.
Agreed, but you can see that the attitude indicator shows alternatively left and right bank.
This is an old data point, but the US AOPA mag tested the IO390 engined version in 2015 and they saw 182 TAS (5000ft, temperature not stated) at 10 USG/hr.
There doesn’t appear to be another flying prototype, let alone the new IO540-engined one (Lyco dropped the IO390 engine, according to the article), so it looks like development has stalled.
Peter wrote:
the US AOPA mag tested the IO390 engined version in 2015 and they saw 182 TAS (5000ft, temperature not stated) at 10 USG/hr.
And fairly predictably, quoting from the AOPA article
“What it doesn’t have is initial climb performance. Sure, Pipistrel uses Ajdovscina’s grass-runway airport, but the day I flew the Panthera the conditions weren’t all that bad: The airport elevation is 384 feet, the temperature was hovering around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and there were two aboard with partial fuel. Pipistrel’s Robert Likar briefed me on the takeoff and other procedures, and any pilot with some complex piston single time would feel right at home with them. Put in one notch of flaps, firewall the throttle, rotate at 63 knots, lift off, raise the gear as you accelerate to 80 knots, retract the flaps at 300 feet agl, and climb away at the VY of 120 knots. I saw a 600-fpm climb, but the trees at the end of the 3,280-foot-long runway seemed to loom pretty large as we passed by. I think a paved runway might have helped dial down the excitement. A lot”
I think the IO540, if and when it arrives, should fix that.
I remember that the guys at Friedrichshafen said they dropped the IO390 because Lycoming did not certify it for MOGAS as promised. That is why they went for the IO540 instead.
However, it appears to me that the website is no longer maintained, at least there is no “news” other than a new year’s card. I wonder if that project is still in development at all.
I have recently recieved the spec sheet and pricing for this beautiful aircraft and I must say that not only is it a beauty but the specs are impressive, particularly the full fuel payload and max cruise/fuel burn. It comes with a full airframe parachute, air conditioning and they plan to introduce a FIKI version. The price of Euro 465,000 is very competitive (with the Lycoming 540 with 260hp). I wont put the link here as dont want to upset anyone. ( I dont have any link to Pipistrel)
A link won’t upset anyone – why should it?
It is mainly totally blatent advertisements from traders who don’t participate here generally that get deleted. We have to do that otherwise every brand name in GA would be dropping in press releases, and if we deleted some, they would complain like hell that the others were allowed.
We have had many threads on this aircraft here, however, and views are divided on where it is going, mainly in terms of whether it will get the resources to get to the market and what the final perf numbers might be.
I reckon it’s great!
