Gliding from Flight Level 100: 10.000 ft without engine - TECNAM aircraft

For the certification of an aircraft, it has to be shown, that it complies with all parts of the airworthiness code (e.g. CS 22 or JAR-22 in the case of gliders and powered gliders and CS 23 for small aircrafts). The subparts ‘Flight’, ‘Design and Construction’, ‘Operating Limitations and Information’ as well as the Flight Manual have to be assessed by pilots, to allow a statement about the compliance with the relevant paragraphs. For the subpart ‘Flight’, test flights have to be carried out to show the compliance and to verify the relevant parameters of the pilot operating handbook. Sometimes test results written in our manuale are too "positive" let'say..

For a solid flight substantiation report, several important items are of interest. The conditions have to be documented precisely that at least the following data will be stored with the files:

1. wind direction and speed, temperature, degree of turbulence, altitude of test,
2. serial number of aircraft, loading conditions, state of design, condition of aircraft,
3. name of the pilot, experience on comparable aircraft,
4. sensors and tools used, last calibration, description of measurement,
5. description of flight test technique.

I've never been a test pilot, and i don't want to do that (and I don't have to...) but I mean it is very important to know the real data and perfomance of the aircrafts we fly.

Especially the atmospheric conditions are very important because of the influence on the speeds of the aircraft. One should keep in mind that a speed measurement by GPS. In this flight we used data from .gpx files of Skydemon and other GPS, in addition to on board instruments recorded by cameras.

 

One of the interesting things during the flight was that engine took many seconds to stop the propeller after putting igninition swicthes on OFF (probably because it was warm with oil lubricant hot).

 

These are the results of the flight for the TECNAM P96 (1 pilot on board, half fuel tanks)

- total distance 31 km

- total gliding time 14 min 30 secs for more than 10000 ft

- average ground speed 128 kmh (69 kts)

- average VVI: 700 fpm

- calculated efficiency: 10,2

Conclusion with a quote of Wilbur Wright:

It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.

  If you enjoyed this post you can follow me on this BLOG or just subscribe to my Youtube Channel.