Pilot – June 2018

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Show Report: AERO Friedrichshafen

T

aking place over 18
to 21 April at Messe
Friedrichshafen
on the shores of
Lake Constance,
AERO−“Probably the world’s
most important business meeting
for general aviation,” according
to CEO Klaus Wellmann (we’d not
disagree)−drew no less than 630
exhibitors from 38 countries and
a final tally of 31,100 visitors.
New for 2018 was the area
dedicated to flight simulators,
teeming with people during
Pilot’s visit and clearly generating
lots of interest. Another area that

supposedly made its premiere

was the Helicopter Hangar,

‘where experts on the ‘worker

bee’ of aviation come together,’ as

the organisers put it (we’ve seen

helicopters gathered in the same

location before, and the crowd

here was decidedly thinner).

Those in the vanguard of what

you might call the rise of the

drones were given a platform

with their own exhibition in the

West Foyer, right next to the main

visitor entrance.

With a much smaller bizjet

attendance this year, light

aircraft were again the focus at

AERO, and for Pilot it was the

e-flight exhibition, largely filling

one of the huge, hangar-like

exhibition halls that was the

main talking point. Although

they have been displayed before

in concept and prototype form,

a small number of electric-

powered aircraft are now in

production and there continue

to be exciting developments in

motors−which grow ever more

powerful while becoming more

compact−battery technology

and ‘refuelling’ systems. In an

‘e-flight’ demonstration prior to

the show opening to the public,

ABOVE: ‘full motion’ F-something simulator – one for the virtual pilots, we’d say...

BELOW: ... while AirSIM’s Comco-approved Ikarus C42 simulator trains real ones

LEFT: Magnus eFusion duo, one electric and the second a diesel-electric hybrid