New UK made Single seat aircraft - First public flight

Very nice looking machine. . . .but a bit expensive at £50,000, could get a good S/H Vans for that, and get another seat as well ! Not really sure what part of the market this is aimed at. . .

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24750978

 

 

At least it's a bit different from the ordinary! But yes I don't know about $100,000 ish for a single seater.

 

 

e-go has been on the books for 2 years, seems to be taking a long time to finish prototyping

 

 

hmmm.... came about as a result of the deregulation. imagine that.

 

 

Lovely little design.

 

Yes it is expensive, so another for the day dreams.

 

That rotary sounds nice

 

 

96kts, single seat, A$106000. Yes I think a 2nd hand Vans would be preferable. The only thing that could swing it would be fuel burn. The other thing I don't like is that one of my beliefs has been "Buy British, buy bad"

 

 

I would not worry about the buy British thing.

 

They are the world leaders in motorsport and have huge experience in carbon fibre.

 

 

Its been around for years as a design, around for a few years as a prototype. Its run into the hoo har of being designed for a set of regs that got replaced/superseded before they sorted out the prototype (designed for 115kg empty and 10kg/m^2 at empty ... then they deregulated all single seaters to 300kg empty regardless of empty :-/). Its aimed at the ridiculously expensive end of the market with NO mass appeal. Its needed three different canard designs so far. The production moulds are glorious ... and cost as much as glorious costs in mould making. The parts are nearly all carbon pre-preg vacuum and cost as much as that costs. The engine is a special designed for them only - pushing out good power but untested. (but the turbo version did fly on the paraglider over everest ... mostly successfully). The cockpit makes the Sapphire look roomy. And they have started spruiking a UAV version before even delivering a single manned aircraft ... apparently the military expect to pay bundles of cash for small stuff.

 

Lets just look at it - 6 employees for 5 years in a factory burning/investing money in a design that has yet to deliver a single customer aircraft ...

 

 

Didn't check the g-info listing - they have registered Sn.002 in January this year, so that's 2 air frames in 8 years (the design won the 2007 SSDR contest) ... quite a few homebuilders in their garages are as productive as that ... but most of them did not raise 950,000 pounds to build them (AU$2m).

 

Now assuming sales price of AU$100k and a fully costed profit margin within that of 20% (hopeful/wishful) ... they have to start delivering 15-20 per year to cover a minimum return on investment (ignoring the first 4 years with no return) ... against that:

 

- single seaters do not sell at all in the high end of ultralights/microlights

 

- single seaters do not sell well in the GA market

 

- they have no two seater to sell along side it to incorporate the basic development costs and aero knowledge they have developed

 

Now if they were to do a jet version for the more money than sense end of the market (like the SubSonex) they might have a small market ... but even Sonex have that design as one of many that share the development costs ... but without a type or ATSM LSA certificate they can't sell that into the US as its not a kit but full factory build only ...

 

 

well then.

 

 

It has an inbuilt flight simulator. How novel!

 

 

but I like it anyway, I like single seaters, I have a 2 seater that I fly on my own 99% of the time, I wonder if they"ll swap?....

 

 

but I like it anyway, I like single seaters, I have a 2 seater that I fly on my own 99% of the time, I wonder if they"ll swap?....

But think on the positive side Geoffrey. . . . .

 

This means you have plenty of spare room for a couple of boxes of cold KFC, a jerry can or two, or even a nice lady hitch hiker ? ? ?

 

When the design won the SSDR comp back then, . . . I heard many similar comments Kasper, and any talk of a Fifty Grand price tag for a single seater at that ( financial ) point in time would have elicited much hilarity and not a little derision I'm sure.

 

This aircraft is on a not disimilar level to the Bullddog Autogyro, expensively built by people specialising in formula one racing cars, resulting in very large wads to finance. . . . and as you mentioned, aimed at the "so much money it doesn't matter it's nice eye candy" brigade.

 

 

Single seat for a Canard is logical (or side by side which is too wide). CofG is more critical, They usually need more runway also. Efficient in flight performance. Nev

 

 

True, I am able to carry a full load of fuel (130ltrs) plus about 100 kgs of baggage.....What was that about lady hitch hikers?

 

 

True, I am able to carry a full load of fuel (130ltrs) plus about 100 kgs of baggage.....What was that about lady hitch hikers?

You have to be a bit careful selcting the right lady hitchiker Geoffrey,. . . . I was asked by a young lady if she could blag a ride in our C-182 after someone in the Halfpenny Green cafe pointed me out as a candidate for a bit of skirt,. . . she was trying to get to Coventry airport, which is where we were going anyway. . .

 

I sat her in the RH seat and of course, gave it large with the full briefing and the usual narrative patter crap I reserve for nervous passengers as you do, and it was not until we were on a left base for landing at Coventry that I found out that she was a commercial pilot working for Air Atlantique, a company who (used to) operate several DC3 aircraft, plus Austers, Tigers and a Dragon Rapide. . . felt a right twit, Bet she had a good giggle about that flight afterwards, my two other mates certainly did. . . .

 

 

phil, phil, phil

 

 

phil, phil, phil

Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan,

 

 

Oh Phil ROFL, so she let you know just soon enough to make you nervous about the landing?

 

 

Oh Phil ROFL, so she let you know just soon enough to make you nervous about the landing?

No, my friend Frankie, ( microlight pilot ) sitting in the back, who'd been chatting to her all the way along the trip, just happened to ask what she did for a crust. . . . . .that's when she said that she checked out the new pilots on the old Daks and the other stuff that Air Atlantique used. . . . .Which was when I started to feel like a twit. . . .typical woman,. . .she could have said "I Know. . .I fly as well" but she just let me make a banana of myself. . . . I had a bit of a giggle six months later though, as she was flying an Auster along with my Irish friend Mick O'Grady, to France, and she screwed up the landing at Le Touquet, and stalled the Auster at around fifteen feet AGL, and the gear collapsed. . . .closing the airfield for 2 hours.

 

just goes to show that even Commercials get it wrong sometimes . . . . She ended up marrying a guy from our airfield, who later had the top of his brain chopped off after getting it wrong whilst hand propping the very same Auster. . .he is still alive, but half his brain is currently in a jar in a Manchester Hospital, and he doesn't fly anymore. . . .dunno if she still does, as Air Atlantique closed down four years ago. . . .but she WAS a very good flying instructor, as I discovered later on. . . plenty of work for them. . .but she HATED MICROLIGHTS with some vehemence for some strange reason. . .but thats Wimmin for ya. . . . . .

 

 

I thought loss of half your brainpower was common following marriage...

 

 

This is possibly true Marty. . . but inadvertantly sticking your head into the arc of an energized propeller is proven as a far more effective method .

 

( Don't you mean loss of most of your wealth and three quarters of your pre-marital pastimes . . .? )

 

 

When you are sexually aroused you lose most of your brainpower. Nev

 

 

So I've been told. Nev

 

 

When you are sexually aroused you lose most of your brainpower. Nev

Yes, I always have a blood supply problem to the big brain when the little brain takes over.

 

Oh and watch out for STD's--- Sexually transmitted debt