From The Birthplace Of The Space Age, A Space-Age Airplane
By ANN Senior Correspondent Kevin "Hognose" O'Brien
The importance of the
island of Usedom to aerospace depends on your frame of reference.
To an aerospace historian, it's where guided ballistic and cruise
missiles got their start, at the German Army and Air Force test
centers on the island's tip at Peenemunde. For an 80-year-old RAF
Bomber Command vet, it's a memory of a tough, well-protected
target. For a Cold War vet, it might have been a home base or a
target folder (depending on what side you were on). For modern
Germans, it's a nice place for a summer vacation on the Baltic Sea.
But for us, today, it's the birthplace of a GA twin like none
you've ever seen, the TT62 Alekto by High Performance Aircraft
(HPA). The prototype, D-IXTT, has not yet flown, but began taxi
testing on December 29th. Only some full-system vibration testing
remains before the German Civil Aviation Authority clears the new
twin for flight tests.
At first glance, the Alekto looks like any composite twinjet. It
has straight wings, a swept T-tail, seating for five. Except that
where the jet engines should be, the Alekto has two propellers. Not
propeller engines... just two smallish five-bladed propellers, made
by Germany's own MT-propeller. Where did they hide the motors?!?
The propellers are driven by two 4.0 liter Centurion diesel V8s
that are buried in the rear fuselage, behind the cabin (roughly
where the engines were in the tractor-propelled Bell P-39). The
pylons that the propellers are mounted on also contain the
radiators for the liquid-cooled engines.
The aircraft is priced very aggressively at around a half
million Euros, and HP Aircraft claims to have sold sixty of the
machines already. Their "how to buy" web page is being overhauled,
which may portend a price hike.
The structure is composite, nothing new to Europeans, who've
been building composite gliders for fifty years. The cabin is
pressurized to a differential of about 5 PSI, with seats for five
people, and unusually large windows for a pressurized plane -- to
take advantage of the cabin's excellent position for
visibility.
Along with the new
airframe, the design has new engines, and an entirely new
conceptual design and powerplant layout, and, as you might expect,
a cutting-edge cockpit, with sidesticks for control and three
displays: primary flight display, multi function display, and
engine control display. The MFD displays radar, navigation
including approach charts, and collision-avoidance data. The TDI
engines dispense with mixture and carb heat; a single power lever
controls each engine. (The prototype is at present fitted with an
interim panel, including a six-pack of normal flight instruments,
and the standard Thielert engine management gages).
The December start of taxi testing is an important milestone in
the HP Aircraft program, which aims at civil certification for the
Alekto. The individual systems of the aircraft have been tested and
overtested, because the managers of the firm are determined to do
flight and certification testing right the first time, and not have
to do it over. The company works closely with the German
certification authorities at each step along the way. If
certification can be completed by January 2006, it will be done to
JAR 23 Amendment 1 (a later completion may require certification to
subsequent Amendments of JAR 23). Because JAR 23 and FAR 23
standards are close, reciprocal certification should be simply a
matter of paperwork at that point.
At this early stage of
development, all flight performance data are calculated or
estimated. But these data do reveal the intended strength of this
airplane vis-a-vis its competition. Thanks to the frugal
turbodiesels, and the slick aerodynamics, the machine should be a
range king. The developers expect about 50 nautical miles per
gallon, and a 1,700 nm range with IFR reserves, at speeds of over
200kt.
It hasn't been an easy ride for the German company. In August,
2003, company founder Heiko Teegen (HIGH-ko TAY-gen, with a hard G)
collapsed next to his parked motorcycle, and couldn't be revived.
While Teegen was best known to German-speaking pilots as the
longtime publisher of the general-aviation magazine Pilot und
Flugzeug, he was involved in many other aviation activities, from
lobbying for sensible regulations (always a problem in Old Europe)
to heading up HPA. It is a measure of his skill in selecting
subordinates that most of his projects, including HPA, continue.
HPA renamed their R&D hangar in his honor.
While the engines seem radical to American eyes, and they are
new, they have already achieved certification in Europe and are
expected to be certified soon in the USA. The Centurion 4.0 V8 is
the big brother of the 4-cylinder Centurion 1.7 that is available
in Diamond Aircraft's twin-engine DA42 and, in Europe, in the
single-engine DA40. These 310 HP engines run on Jet A and have
dual-redundant FADEC, making them economical and simple to operate.
In November, 2004, engineers from HPA and Thielert gave Alekto's
powerplant, to include its propellers and driveline, a 50-hour
test, which is part of the certification requirements. The only
anomalous result was that temperatures in the main reduction
gearboxes did not go as high as originally expected. The sound of
the engine and propeller combination is unique, like a cross
between a large turbofan at idle and a powerful sports car. (You
can hear it for yourself in the movies on the HP Aviation
website).
Some people will worry
about having the engine behind you in the event of a crash. P-39
pilots used to worry about that. (At least the Alekto doesn't have
a driveshaft running between the pilot's legs). The designers of
Alekto have taken great care to ensure that the engines will stay
put; they are held back by a titanium structure that is designed
& tested to 26G, and that also serves to isolate the engine
compartment in case of fire.
What about that name, Alekto? Pull out a copy of Bulfinch's
Mythology and all will be revealed. Alekto (often transliterated
Alecto in English) was one of the three Furies of Greco-Roman myth,
her name means "the relentless one" or "unceasing, untiring" one.
The Furies, of course, had wings, rather like the Christian
depiction of angels.
Introducing any new aircraft is difficult, as anyone who has
tried can tell you (whether he succeeded or failed). The more
radical a design, it seems, the harder it is for it to win
acceptance. So HP Aircraft has quite a challenge ahead. They have
an interesting, attractive design, and promise good numbers.