[Biofuel-capable South African] aircraft takes to sky
Barbara Cole 12/09/09,
Daily News The first all South African-designed and manufactured aircraft is to be launched in Durban, South Africa next year. "This will probably be the best, most advanced, general aviation aircraft of its class in the world. It is totally state-of-the-art," said Richard Schulz, managing director of Adept Airmotive, based at Virginia Airport, Durban North. "Our timing is brilliant and we have stolen a march on the Americans and the rest of the industry who have cut their research and development budgets because of the recession. "This takes design and manufacturing to a new level," said Schulz, who is eyeing the international market.
General aviation is one of the biggest sectors in South Africa and refers to fixed-wing, non-scheduled aircraft. The way in which existing conventional engines, which come from America, have been built has not changed in 40 years, apart from "some progress" with very light aircraft, Schulz explained. Now, all that is about to change. The four-seater fuselage of the all-South African plane is a SA Ravin 500, manufactured from the most advanced composite material, which is lighter, stiffer and stronger than that used in existing aircraft. The avionics - the instruments - in the cockpit are also the most technologically advanced. The airframe is manufactured in Pretoria and the avionics are produced in Cape Town. The "completely new generation" engine, which has been specially designed and developed to go in the Ravin, but can also be fitted to other fixed-wing planes and helicopters, has been produced by Adept Airmotive, although some of the machining was outsourced to companies in Cape Town and Pretoria. Schultz is hoping to consolidate every aspect of manufacture in Durban next year. He has been in discussions with Trade and Investment KZN about establishing an aviation industry in the province.
His company's engine, which is 60kg lighter than conventional engines, has the most modern internal combustion technology and advanced materials and processes. The 320-horsepower engine burns less fuel than existing engines, and it is environmentally friendly.
It runs on any fuel (except diesel), lead-free fuel, ordinary vehicle fuel and bio-ethanol. The engine is liquid-cooled as opposed to air-cooled, making it more reliable and more fuel-efficient. And its fuel consumption in cruise mode is 37 liters per hour, compared with 55-60 liters an hour in existing planes. "No other aircraft in its class can fly 2,700 nautical miles (4,995km) without refueling," said Schultz.
Members of the company's design team, headed by Raymond Bakker, were named Best Inventors of the Year in 2008 in a global award for advanced computer-aided design (CAD). Schulz began working on the engine about 10 years ago. When he ran out of money, an equity investor, Andrew Schoeman, put R5-million into the project. Another R10,5m came from the Department of Science and Technology's Innovation Fund. Now he is looking for further investment funding to take the project into full commercial production. "There has been huge interest from people who want to put the engine into existing aircraft. And we have potential orders from all over the world." Each plane will sell for R2,5m, half the price of a comparable aircraft sourced from overseas, he said. "The potential is that we can manufacture 200 a year by 2015," said Schulz. The aircraft will be unveiled at Virginia Airport [in Durban] in March or April next year.