Photograph:
Lange E-1 Antares ZK-GDE (c/n 30) at Drury, NZ in April 2011 (NZCIVAIR)
Country of origin:
Germany
Description:
Single-engine self-launched glider
Power Plant:
One 42 kw (56 hp) brushless, fixed shaft electric motor
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 20 m (65 ft 7 in)
- Length: 7.40 m (24 ft 3 in)
- Height: 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
- Wing area: 12.6 m² (135.6 sq ft)
- Max speed: 280 km/h (174 mph
- Max glide ratio: 56
- Rate of climb: 173 m/min (566 ft/min)
- Rate of sink: 29 m/min (56 ft/min)
- Water ballast: 100 litres (22 Imp gals)
- Empty weight: 460 kg (1,014 lb)
- Loaded weight: 660 kg (1,455 lb)
History:
The Antares was a single-seat self-launched glider, produced in Zweilbrucken, Germany, by Lange Aviation GmbH. It utilised an engine in the rear fuselage and was produced in a number of models. The basic model was the 20E but other models have included the 18S, a pure glider; the 18T with a two-stroke petrol engine; and the 18P with a pulse jet. The E-1 was the model fitted with the electric motor and a 20 metre wing. It has a wingspan of 18 metres, but could be fitted with a 20 metre wing. In order to minimise drag each model shared a super-ellipting wing, this wing geometery having a 0.1% more induced drag than the theoterical minimum. Nine different aerofoil sections provided minimum pressure drag and friction drag,
The Antares 18T is equipped with a two-stroke self sustainer engine, but all Model 18s come with an engine bay to permit retrofitting of another type of self sustainer engine at any time. The two level water ballast system with separate wing and trim tanks allows for wing loadings up to 54.7 kg/m² (11.2 lb/ft²). The flaps are equipped with an extra negative flap setting (-3º) which was designed for speed beyond 200 km/h (124 mph). The 18S and 18T share more than 97% of their parts with the 20E, which first flew in 2004, the first 18S flying on 28 May 2006.
The company has also been involved in producing lithium-ion batteries and a 42 kw (56 hp) brushless motor, this unit first being flown in a modified Glasir Dirks DG-800B which commenced flight testing in May 1999. This engine has a fixed shaft, external rotor driven by an ADC-DC inverter at 190-290 volts utilising 160 amps driving a 2 metre (6 ft 6 in) diameter propeller attached directly to the rotating outer tube of the motor. This system was tested in an LF-20 glider (D-KLAF) on 7 July 1999, all systems being monitored by a multi-sensor computer.
The battery packs are located in each wing in the leading edge and consist of 24 units containing three cells each. At full charge they can launch the aircraft to 549 m (1,800 ft) in 13 minutes but the power is usually utilised for multiple launches to lesser heights. Type certification from EASA was obtained on 14 July 2006. The 18P utilised a valveless Adv AFWE pulse jet engine, described as an Advanced Focused Wave Engine. This engine contains no moving parts and its structure is said to be very simple.
The company was re-capitalised in September 2007, Lange Faserverbundtechnik GmbH acquiring all material and intellectual property, and production of gliders continued. First of the series seen in this part of the world became ZK-GDE (c/n 30 – ex N29ZZ, D-KGLF) registered on 26 August 2008.