THE EQUATOR SYSTEM
The Corporate and Utility Amphibian Aircraft
for Land, Sand, Grass, Water, Ice and Snow
Überschrift
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Safety  Economy  Versatility  Comfort  Beauty
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The Equator is an unusual aircraft system. As amphibian
or landplane. Perfect for unusual mission abilities to make
profit day and night, during all seasons. The modularsystem ranging from 2-4-6-8-10 seater up to 12
passengers, in the cabin- or wide-body class. From the
low-price landplane with fixed gear and piston engine
single up to the pressurized turboprop twin amphibian
with center line thrust.
The unique design, is the combination of known and
proven conceptions:
1. Powerplant Location
2. Fiber Technology
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3. Float-Wing
The Equator is safe, economic, efficient and comfortable.
It is virtually independent from prepared airfields. They
take-off from small grass or sand strips or water. They fly
fast and high for long distances and touch-down wherever
the pilot chooses - as close as possible to the final
destination: At Manhattans East River, just in front of the
Wall Street, or in a sand desert, a palm beach lagoon, or
aside an iceberg. Touch-downs take place naturally like a
glider.
Each flight is something special, for adventure, experience
and unlimited freedom. The good feeling begins on the
easy way to get into the convenient cockpit.
Due to wide and low doors on both sides and in the rear,
balanced loading and unloading is simple. Once the engine
is started, the worry about a dangerous propeller near the
ground or water is non-existent. The pilot is throning in
front of the wing having visibility in all directions and
during all maneuvers. It is a pleasure to fly this aircraft
which has directional stability like a jet.
If crossing large water areas, the usual subconscious
oppression is non-existent and gives room for a new
feeling of relaxing and safety. Water is the friend of the
Equator.
An irresistible temptation for pilots, who like to fly into the
21st century with a top-of-the-art aircraft setting new
standards. We do not produce the Equator in a large
serie. A team of qualified technicians build a personalized
Equator to order, for each customers need and his
missions, complete with extra requirements and special
equipment. The price of the aircraft per seat is the same
as for comparable classical airplane and the cost per seat
mile are favourable.
The difference is, the Equator offers more safety,
economy, versatility, comfort and beauty.
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Powerplant Location
Fiber Technology
With this powerplant location the aerodynamic laws have
come to application with a genious compromise not disturbing
the clear and streamlined beauty. In spite of the additional
pylon effort of the powerplant, the low drag of the whole
laminar aircraft and the efficient propeller make the Equator
a time-saving machine, faster than a comparable classical
airplane. With the removal of the propeller from near the
ground, limitations are eliminated. New possibilities open up,
as landplane not only for the amphibian. Due to the
powerplant above the center of gravity this protean aircraft
can be change the type, weight and power of the engine. Due
to the balance of the powerplant location back, the Equator
gets additional seat rows in front. Compared to the classical
airplane, it can double the seat and space capacity, or with
the same seat capacity, it is smaller in size, lighter, faster with
more range. Due to the free slipstream of the efficient low
noise propeller with an optimized diameter direct to the active
rudder and elevator, the aircraft becomes controllable from
the very beginning of the take-off up to and beyond the stall.
The elevator trim compensates automatic the up or down
moment when changing the power setting. The hot
powerplant with its loud, poisonous und dirty exhaust gas as
well as the dangerous propeller, are far away. In this
geniously protected and aerodynamically correct position, it
cannot be damaged, nor cause injuries to humans or animals.
The reverse propeller thrust is helpful when landing on iced
runways, as a support for the brakes in a STOL landing, and
makes taxiing a pleasure, even in the smallest space, on land
or water. Due to the high location there is no erosion possible.
All of this results in longer life cycles by reducing the ingestion
of water with foreign particle and guarantees many flying
hours with a minimum of maintenance. The comfortable
access to the powerplant from all sides makes inspections and
maintenance simple.
Fiber composites are copies of the living fiber technology of
nature, applied in every plant and creature. It is the
engineering material of the future for all transportation
systems.
Our homogeneous and jointless one piece sandwich
structure consists of fewer parts, specific metal parts.
Extensive use of the flexible fiber for slotless slats and flaps
at leading and trailing edges, ailerons and rudder are
integrated parts of the jointless fiber structure. It gives the
Equator STOL cababilities. Our system is a selfsupporting
fiber doubleshell with hardfoam, without the usual
reinforcements. This rigid material gives the unsurpassed
strength against high dynamic longtime stresses, is virtually
undestroyable, durable and not subject to fatigue or
corrosion. The sandwich system is absorbing vibrations and
insolating as well. We use carbon-fiber, bulletproof aramidfiber and fiberglass. It needs hardly any maintenance, and
is easy and quick to repair, also in the field. All antennas are
protected due to internal mounting
A gift of the system is the air- and water-tight cabin. The
billions of closed cells of the hard foam of the sandwich
make the saltwater resistant amphibian unsinkable.
An Equator is not undestroyable on the long run, but it can
theoretically reach the age of its natural akin objects, the
sequoia trees - comparing the fibre based design.
It is for certain that our great-grandchildren can still fly it,
hopefully with improved engines, being operated with regenerative bio-fuels, while the metal airplanes of same age
have then already been recycled or disintegrated by corrosion. The aerodynamically timeless design will still enjoy the
viewer. Not before this time the real value of this unusual
airplane maybe evaluated objectively.
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The float wing acts as a large sponson and gangplank.
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Float-Wing
The float-wing acts on the water like a large sponson, stabilizes the
amphibian laterally, eliminates wing-tip floats and can be used as a
gangplank. It is a wet wing. The large fuel capacity makes the Equator
a long-range aircraft to remote sites without refuelling facilities. The
wing incorporates the strong main landing gear. The amphibian is
insusceptible against strong crosswinds and high waves when taxiing a
360°. Accidental capsizing is impossible. The hydrodynamic V-hull with
step, water-rudder and reverse propeller give the amphibian good
characteristics during all maneuvers on water.
Since the light water-loading unit, reacting all over the V-hull and
bottom of the inside section of the wing, the amphibian quickly lifts
up out of the water, onto the step and accelerates.
An aircushion forms under the wing at speed and gives the amphibian
a stable self-centering characteristics. During the first second on step
the active 3rd aileron on the pylon gives the amphibian the necessary
laterally stability.
The powerplant location, the float-wing and the fiber composite
together make the Equator amphibian an elegant, high-performance
beauty in the world of the seaplanes and makes all of our and our
customers dreams come true.
What does the Equator distinguish from other seaplanes?
Experienced seaplane-pilot knows that all sizes and types of high-wing seaplanes with an elevated location of the center of gravity tend to capsize in strong
cross-winds and are exposed to nose-over during watering. These seaplanes
are primarily airplanes and only secondarily flying boats.
Strong cross-winds rise the windward wing, with or without wave support. The
leeward wing lances overarm into the water. The wind pushes more and more
and the seaplane tilts on its back. No sponson or wing tip float can avoid the
capsizing. These stabilising elements are not designed for this purpose.
figure 2
The worldwide only safe system is to date the Equator’s float-wing.
Constructed in water-tight, unsinkable, corrosion resistant fiber composite.
Each version of the Equator accepts higher waves and stronger winds than a
comparable sized seaplane can withstand. It manoeuvres on water better
than a boat. Its float-wing acts as large sponson, gangplank and as strong
(robust) surfboard. It can ride and dance on the waves with and through the
strong wind and can go through breakers. The Equator doesn’t provide
enough working surface to the cross-wind, the location of the centre of gravity is low, the buoyancy of the floating wing as well as the water drag against
the plain wing surface are too strong. The waves simply flow over the floatwing and drain again. The wind drifts the Equator only a short distance until
it gets oriented towards the wind by its windflag stability (see figure 3).
(see figure 1 for a
large high-wing
seaplane with tipfloats or sponsons
and figure 2 for a
single engine highwing landplane on
floats)
figure 3
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figure 1
History of the float-wing
The powerplant location of the Equator is well known from many other airplanes. The modern aerodynamics of the Equator has already been used for decades in the glider design as well as is the fiber-composite construction as a material of the future, meanwhile applied to other motorized airplanes.
But the genious float-wing system is not known to many pilots in-spite of its
advantages.
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Ralph S. Barnaby, aviation pioneer and holder of the US Soaring Certificate #
1, had tested the 14-seat amphibian military gliders LRQ und LRA with floatwing design successfully on land and on water during world war II.
Molt B. Taylor, another genious US aviation pioneer, crucially contributed
with his 2-seat amphibian Coot with float-wing design that this construction
principle became popular in a certain group of seaplane pilots.
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Taxiing over the beach or ramp in and out of the water is simple with the steerable nose gear.
1930 level of technology
HISTORY
state of the art 2000
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FUTURE
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The twin engine in push-pull-configuration with counterrotating propellers and center line thrust
eliminates torque and gives hand off stability.
Model in scale 1:5
Simulation
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The TWIN TURBO EQUATOR has the Dual-Pac power plant. With one engine turned off,
the airplane still flies straight ahead, just with reduced power.
Therefore the TWIN TURBO AMPHIBIAN offers unbeatable saftety features.
Simulated panel design
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based on 3 screen
glass cockpit AviDyne PFD/MFD
with integrated HUD
The increasingly widespread recognition of the fact that technology
must fit into the natural world, enhancing its values for us, not destroying them, has determined our thinking in developing the EQUATOR.
Terms such as „laminar“ and „aerodynamic“ express this search for the
relationships between flight-technology and the elements of water, air
and earth, our „flight-environment“.
The EQUATOR fits into this flight-environment so organically that the
pleasure of flying is increased by the intensified experience of the nature of these elements: the acceleration in the water, the transition
from water to air, the unobstructed view of the earth, the natural ease
of touch down.
This deepened experince and increased enjoyment, together with the
astounding beauty of the EQUATOR all of which are co-products of our
technical work lead us to think that we have discovered a new and universal law, which may be expressed as follows: The better a product is
related to the total natural environment, the better and more efficient
the technology becomes.
This is a radical departure from the commonly held view of that nature
and technology are at odds with each other, that they are necessarily
in opposition. Our experience leads us to think that this is the case only
there where a technology - in spite of, or perhaps, because of its successes, though failure to take all of the factors concerned into consideration, has remained under-developed.
It is our conviction that in proportion to, and as a result of, increased
understanding of nature, its elements, and all of its laws, a better and
more efficient technology will evolve. We would like to consider the
EQUATOR a forerunner of this technology which we envision for the
future.
Each EQUATOR will be certified in accordance with the FAR Part 23,
category normal.
Some Technical Data
2-4-6-8-10 seater up to 12 passengers
Landplane with fixed or retractable gear
Single or Twin - Amphibian
Push or Pull Configuration
Pressurized Cabin Low Floor Cabin
Wide Body Class or Cabin Class
Piston Engine up to 475 hp Avgas or Diesel
Turboprop up to 1350 shp
Speed:
Service ceiling:
Range:
Gross Weight:
Useful Load:
up
up
up
up
up
to
to
to
to
to
340 kts
36000 ft
5000 nm
8000 lbs
4480 lbs
Special Versions for Special Operations
A panoramic vision glass cabin, including a picture window in the floor
for watching, observation, inspection, exploration, prospecting, surveying, reporting, sightseeing, and photography with optical qualities.
As bushplane with oversize wheels or Tundra-tires or as a skiplane.
Paramilitary use for SAR - Coast Guard - Patrol and Control with Protection - Reconnaissance and Surveillance - Law Enforcement - Training - Liaison with Logistics - Agriculture - Oil-spill response - Ship to
Shore resupply - Water Bomber - Firefighting etc
As a part of our continuing research and development program,
EQUATOR AIRCRAFT COMPANY reserves the right to make changes in specifications, performance, material, equipments, models,
colors and prices at any time without prior notice. Refer to Pilot‘s
Operating Handbook for complete operations information. Equipment
for a specific aircraft should be ordered only from official aircraft and
accessory price list.
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TECHNOLOGY AND ECOLOGY
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12 passenger Wide Body
If you are interested to get a quotation, please let us know the type, size and version you prefer.
You may also ask for partnership, dealership, licensee or
FBO world wide web service information.
EQUATOR AIRCRAFT
Panoramastraße 37
D-89081 Ulm / Germany
fon: +49.7304.6116
www.equatorair.de
[email protected]