Back in the good ol’ days, the U.S.
Marines used a slogan to attract volunteers.
It went something like “The Marines are looking for a few good
men”. Well, that fits our situation
exactly. Flight Sciences and Kitplanes For Africa is looking for the funding required to bring
the bird (Flyer) shown in the pretty pictures to market.
What is it? FLYER is a
new generation General Aviation Aircraft intended to give the competition fits. The Flyer will be available as a Light Sport Aircraft (Flyer LSA) or a Light Aircraft (Flyer LA). The Aircraft will be supplied in kit form to be constructed by a home builder or as a fly-away factory build aircraft. Future plans are to develop the Flyer as a 4 seat aircraft.
What’s so special
about FLYER? It’s been designed to produce significant
advances in performance, fuel economy, handling qualities, noise, visibility,
ease of entrance and exit (kinda like your car), cabin room and cockpit
ergonomics. Advances in these areas will ultimately lead to an aircraft that is substantially safer to fly. Besides all that, it’s sexy.
Who will benefit from the project? The Flyer project could have been launched from anywhere in the world. We decided to keep the project in South Africa for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is to contribute actively to social upliftment in our area. The project will benefit many poor and unemployed individuals in and around the Johannesburg metro-poll. As far as possible, the mechanizing of systems and processes will be kept to the minimum so as to employ as many skilled and unskilled people as possible.
How about an example
of all this good stuff? Sure (keep the price of petrol in mind). How does 7.3 l/100km at 160 Mph sound? (that’s JOHANNESBURG TO CAPE TOWN (785miles) in 4.9 hours at a fuel cost of R1450 (127USD). FOR TWO.
You get the picture.
What’s the status of
the project? We’ve done a whole lot of work and homework, including
EXTENSIVE wind tunnel tests at the CSIR facilities as well as engine and propeller tests. Basically whats left is that we’ve got some detail design work
to do, then construction of the prototype and flight testing followed by
production.
Who are you guys? We’re a mix of South African guys and Yanks. Kitplanes For Africa (South Africans, owned by Stefan Coetzee) have been producing aircraft for the past 22 years and are the oldest private kit aircraft manufacturer in Africa. Flight Sciences (Yanks,) is headed up by Mike Antoniou. Mike is a retired US navy Test Pilot and Aeronautical Engineer who worked on many certification projects in his 60 year career. This included military as well as private companies. The Flyer concept was Mike's brain child and incorporates all his years of experience as a test pilot in one design.
Why are you crowd sourcing? Because we need to raise roughly $ 180,000 to get the project of the ground and to full production. We've raised about $ 30,000 and need help with the balance.
If you’re an airplane person, (not too faint hearted) and you think you’d like to be involved in something
like this then this is your oportunity to contribute to a worthy cause.
Yours Sincerely,
The FLYER folks (Mike and Stefan)
p.s.
This project is being executed by professionals, not amateurs.
