Interesting discussion over on pprune about the future of AEF (and UAS, AAC/RN flight grading) flying…
Thoughts?
That’s just the Tutor fuel bill
6 Likes
The bit about the replacement aircraft being unable to do aerobatics was an interesting bit.
They’re not suggesting that the electric one will be the replacement, more that it’s a demonstration of what direction the tech is going in.
Only a few years ago there weren’t any electric aircraft, now there are several, so there’s plenty of scope for further change.
My worry is that we’ll a- see far less of these than we do the Tutor, and b- have these at the expense of the Viking, which won’t be replaced when it’s out of service date rolls around.
2 Likes
I’m just glad the argument for replacing the tutor fleet with microlights appears to have fallen out of favour…
1 Like
I dint recall it ever being in favour…the only time i heard it discussed had the reply along thenlines of “we cant fly the aircraft the way the RAF flies…its simply not compatible with our syllabus and protocols” or words to that effect
Although some microlights have fantastic performance, are cheap to to run and cheap to maintain. And look, feel and handle beautifully.
Although given our already very sensitive wind limits, we’d never get them in the air 
1 Like
It will fall into the new sylabus of Drones, one cadet sitting on the drone, the other operating it fro the rear of Sqn HQ…
Just as well we don’t let them fly in gliders, then, as those are nothing like a fast jet with a glass cockpit.
Oh, wait…
1 Like
Holding out for…
1 Like
Found this news article referring to an AAIB report on an electric aircraft accident (pilot & observer unharmed luckily)
Electric aircraft severely damaged in test flight over Cranfield - BBC News?
1 Like
We don’t get cadets airborne anyway, so we might as well have cheaper non-flying !! 
Wonder if RAFAC would consider a similar system… Or is that too ACTO35 to be ASTRA
The Dutch army leases its Leo2 tanks. Assume if you break it you have to pay for it…
Thread revival:
Another of Wigston’s fantasies gone pop.
A passenger aircraft on that scale was never going to work.
The idea for light aircraft is very much still alive.
1 Like
Still not convinced especially if you have to do land aways, for weather etc, or they don’t have facilities in the event of diversions?
Electric is only a stop gap. Hydrogen fuel cell is the future.
Depending on how you produce hydrogen, and as far as I can remember my physics lessons you need to use hydrolysis and that on a commercial scale will be horrendously costly in electricity and infratstructure.
Land in a Tesco car park and use their chargers.