On December 18, 2024, students from the École Supérieure des Technologies et desaffaires in Belfort officially presented, after two years of hard work, their small two-seater plane. A school project, called Haegelenwhich still cost 70,000 euros.
A plane that was born from a challenge
To find the genesis of the project, we have to go back to 2021. Indeed, during a visit organized by the school to air base 116 (BA 116) of the Air Force, the commander of the base and air force colonel Arnaud Bouilland uttered a sentence which gave birth to the project.
“Building a plane is not complicated” he then said to the ESTA students reports The Three. Simple words which were taken at face value and which therefore launched the project Haegelen.
“I remember the day I signed the order form for 27,000 euros to purchase a kit plane, frankly I didn't know what I was getting into” explained Laure Vieillard, the director of ESTA, at the microphone of France Bleu.
Two years later, the challenge was successful
Even if it wasn't socomplicated” it took two years between the start of the project and its completion for the students to develop a small two-seater aircraft of the Zenair 650 EI type.
Filled with pride, Daniel Schlegel, the teacher who has piloted the project since 2022, expressed his emotion while speaking about the plane, but also about the students who have accompanied him all this time.
“Around thirty students brought this project to life. It's something unique to make an airplane.” he declared to the Three.
The plane will soon be able to fly and be exhibited at Le Bourget
Just as you build a car to run, an airplane is built to fly. Although the ESTA students managed to assemble it, the plane is missing a few components so that it can fly.
In particular the avionics or all the electronic components which allow the plane to be controlled, but also the propeller. This will not be the responsibility of ESTA or its students but of a company located in Haute-Saône: Gray Light Aviation.
After that, it will be ready to fly, even if no precise date for this first flight has yet been communicated.
But that's not all. The 6.3 meter long aircraft with a wingspan of 8.23 meters and a weight of approximately 450 kg will also be on display at the next edition of the Paris Air Show in June 2025 so that the public can take knowledge of French know-how and in particular of ESTA students.
Source: France Bleu / Le Trois
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