Launched to the world at Warbirds over Wanaka
Warbirds over Wanaka International Airshow is New Zealand’s premier airshow and the highlight of the aviation calendar within the country.
We’re were proud to launch our groundbreaking Aviation Composites New Zealand design to the international market at Warbirds over Wanaka, alongside other leading new releases within the event’s Future of Aviation pavilion. It was an incredibly exciting time for us to see our work from the past few years - and our experience in the composite developments space from the past few decades - come to fruition as it was presented to the world.
What we bring to that industry is a design ready for a cost-effect, low emission cargo aircraft, with the ability to evolve it in the future for autonomous use.
On show was our ACNZ’s AC-2; proposed as a full-carbon regional cargo single-turboprop aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 16,800 lbs. As well as aiming at a growing market, our intention is to dramatically simplify and reduce production cost, at the same time improving operating efficiency, and to future-proof the platform from the outset.
“We have concluded an in-depth market study confirming the need of this part of the market to transition from old aluminium-based regional cargo models designed 30+ years ago to a next generation composite aircraft. A carbon aircraft will be more aerodynamically efficient, use less fuel, reduce emissions, be more economical to maintain, and offer a larger cargo volume to better meet the needs of the growing e-market which the study indicated to have very significant international potential,” says ACNZ Director Lapo Ancillotti.
“From its first version, the AC-2 is designed to potentially accommodate semi-autonomous piloting technology. We have also designed the aircraft platform to be easily expandable to new electric technologies as these come to market, although to begin with and to ensure our aircraft can be immediately practical and profitably operated, the first production versions will be powered by a single turboprop engine.”
Keep an eye on our news feed for more chances to meet the team and discover Aviation Composites NZ at events around the world this year.
