SCRAMASAXE– FRA
Based at Aérodrome de Cuers-Pierrefeu in the south east of France, Team Scramasaxe is led by Eric de Barberin-Barberini, a former fighter pilot who has set five aviation world speed records in his aircraft, Shark.
What environmental considerations will you be making in the building of your plane?
Our plane, Scramasaxe E project will be a prototype. Building our racer will start with drawings, calculations and overall feelings of what is nice and fast. However, we try to keep an angle of development that is more versatile than extreme. In this regard, we might closely derive later a type usable on a day to day basis. About the building itself we are looking at a zero waste policy, this will be kind of internal competition before the competition.
Are there any materials you are using that are environmentally friendly/recycled? Would you consider this?
This is an aspect we will have to study. But again, we are working within limited time ahead of us. To start with, we will rather use well known solutions. Build strong is the best guarantee to minimize waste. For sure we will consider using recycled or recyclable material for ancillary tasks.
How does the battery system work and how does it enable an equal level competition in the races?
We are building a flying object which is not remote controlled. Safety will be our chore consideration, specifically temperature control of the modules. High tension is needed for peak performance. This value is easily controlled. A limit will be set by the Air race E rules to guarantee an equal level of competition in the races.
Can you tell us one thing about your plane build that would surprise people?
We are going to use a tricycle landing gear configuration with an automatic retracting and extracting triggering system for the nose wheel. This will be fun to observe. And we will make sure it works in every circumstance.
What is the name of your plane going to be and can you share with us any early design ideas?
Scramasaxe E project is the name of our electric racer. scramasaxe is the name of an ancient sword which was used by king Clovis. Tandem configuration low wing, thin motor-cowling, engine in the front, not defined yet the number of blades for the propeller, neither if we would try exotic solution like contra prop. Batteries occupying the front seat. We will start from a semi elliptical wing and think about keeping speed during the high g loads sustained turns. We are not specifically looking for beauty. We will make sure to keep room for upgrades.