AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2014 - 38

PILOT BRIEFING
TURBOPROP SOLUTION
A FLORIDA COMPANY that acts as distributor
for a Czech-built turboprop engine is testing a 155-pound turboprop engine on a Van's
Aircraft RV-10. Van's Aircraft is not involved
in the project. Turbine Solution Group of
Deland, Florida, began testing in June.
The project has been in progress for several years. It uses a 241-shaft-horsepower
engine from PBS in the Czech Republic.
The gas generator section, known as TJ-100,
has many hours of flight time in gliders, and
is used on the SubSonex jet built by Sonex
Aircraft. Turbine Solution Group, headed by
Christian Skoppe, calls the model the PBS
TP-100 RV-10.
The basic engine weighs 128 pounds, but
with exhaust, electrical wiring, and accessories, it is 155 pounds. A propeller has
specifically been designed for the engine by
Hartzell Propeller. Avionics on the aircraft

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ERIK LINDBERGH, an advocate of sustainable aviation, has created a new initiative
to promote and celebrate innovation. The
grandson of one of history's most famous
aviators plans a flight adventure of his own
to demonstrate the fruits of such innovation. Lindbergh has created Powering
Imagination, dedicated to technologies
that could make future aircraft quieter
while taking advantage of renewable and
sustainable fuels. "It is critical to create a
sustainable future for aviation," Lindbergh

38 | AOPA PILOT June 2014

are from Advanced Flight Systems. There
are no performance details on the aircraft
as yet, since it has not begun flight testing.
The company expects to give demonstration flights during EAA AirVenture
at Oshkosh from July 28 to August 3. The
company has served the noncertified market since 1996. The goal is to offer an RV-10
conversion kit for the turboprop engine
installation. It is expected the aircraft will
carry 120 gallons of fuel and operate as high
as 20,000 feet.
-Al Marsh

said. "Emissions and noise are issues that
are causing increasing restrictions on aviation around the world. Solving these
challenges will ensure that future generations can share our dreams of flight."
Lindbergh plans to follow in the footsteps of his grandparents, Charles and Anne
Morrow Lindbergh, who crossed oceans
and continents in 1931 on a mission to test
aviation technologies and connect cultures. Anne Morrow Lindbergh's 1935 book
North to the Orient details that adventure,
and inspired her grandson to plan a similar
flight in 2016, covering 8,000 nm in a modern floatplane powered by alternative fuels.
"My grandparents came to understand the need for balancing technological
progress with stewardship of our natural
environment and wilderness," Lindbergh
said. "I was inspired to continue that vision
by exerting a positive influence on the private space industry with the Ansari XPrize
and recently on the electric aircraft industry." The Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize
has for several years rewarded promising
developments in electric aircraft technology, and Lindbergh plans to broaden that
scope by adding programs for technology
that makes aircraft quieter-and for alternative fuels as well.
-Jim Moore
http://www.gleim.com/PL314 http://www.gleim.com/PL314 http://www.hiltonsoftware.com/aopapilot http://www.hiltonsoftware.com/aopapilot
AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2014

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