Pavel Potočnik, the proprietor of Albastar Ltd, created a new project together with Miro Kovič, the owner oh Mikmekanik s.p. (sole proprietor) and Boštjan Pristavec.

Two-seat ultra light training glider with an auxiliary engine

Albastar Ltd makes the plastic construction is also the leader of the project and will take the project to the market as well. Mikmekanik is working on the traction engine of the propeller and Boštjan Pristavec carries out the testing and training. Radovoj Kikelj, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, is liable for aerodynamic testing and testing for material strength.

There has not been a similar glider appropriate for training and recreation such as Albastar’s glider. There are some gliders with an auxiliary engine on the European market, but they are very expensive and too demanding for training, the price of our glider would be much lower than that of the existing gliders currently for sale. It enables simpler training and a higher level of qualification for the pilot. It has a modern aerodynamic shape and innovatory designed traction engine of the glider. At the moment there is no mass production of a plane that would include such a transmission system, which transmits engine power to the propeller. Gliding is performed in a simple way that is appropriate for the pilot.

The first and the greatest difference between our new two-seat glider and the older training two-seat glider Blanik L13 and L 23 is that the recent model has an auxiliary engine to help the glider take off. This enables the pilot to master the flight from very beginning. The older model on the other hand needed a carrier aircraft to carry it to a certain height and than release it. Five people had to assist at the takeoff of the older two-seat glider, while only 3 people are required to be present at the takeoff of the resent model. The fuel consumption of the new glider with an auxiliary engine is lower as well, i.e. 8 litters/hour. This influences the price of the flight, which is decreased by 50%. Air pollution consequently drops by 50% as well.

Compared to similar gliders this is a plane that offers suitable basic traits and even though similar gliders may have better capabilities, they aren’t appropriate for training gliding pilots.