ENAER's Eaglet Is Fully Fledged and Ready to Fly

It's been a long time leaving the nest, but the first-ever Chilean designed airplane, ENAER's Namcu (Eaglet), will soon go into production.

The two-place trainer is to be assembled at Euro-ENAER Holding BV's 1,000-square-meter purpose-built plant at Den Helder Airport in the Netherlands, using components supplied by ENAER here in Santiago.

ENAER first began work on the airplane, then known as the Avion Liviano, in early 1986.The prototype, renamed ECH-02 Namcu (Eaglet), first flew in May 1989 and made its international public debut a month later at the Paris Air Show. A second prototype flew in March 1990, but was later lost in a flight test accident.

Euro-ENAER was set up in 1995 as a joint venture between a group of Dutch investors and ENAER, supported by the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology, to refine the design and seek European Joint Aviation Authorities and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration certification.

The fourth ENAER-built airframe (one was a static test article) was shipped in 1998 to the Netherlands. It has undergone an extensive flight test and modification program that has included replacement of the original 115 hp Textron Lycoming O-235-N2C engine with a 160 hp O-320-D2A, a revised cockpit layout, redesigned control surfaces and a new fin and rudder. The final production version of the airplane is known as the EE 10 Eaglet.

The Eaglet is all-composite GFRP/foam, resulting in a exceptionally clean airframe giving a maximum speed of 152 kts and a 75 per cent cruise of 139 kts at 8,000 feet, Euro-ENAER notes. It's aerobatic, too, stressed to +4.4/-2.2g. Forecast airframe life is 20,000 hours/30,000 landings.

The side-by-cockpit has been developed using modern industrial design techniques to provide a comfortable but functional environment equally suitable for pilot training or private touring. It is accessed by a pair of gullwing doors and equipped with conventional control columns rather than yokes.

The Eaglet received JAR 23 certification on 13 July 2001. Euro-ENAER expects to assemble 12 airplanes in its first year of production, doubling in the second, and peaking at 40 per year. Projected list price with VFR avionics is $160,000. An IFR-equipped version, and custom options such as a leather interior, will be offered later.