On the Lake of Constance

April 18, 2012

The LSA that really works on display at the AERO 2012

The German city that once was home to the Zeppelin airships, giant of the skies soon overwhelmed by the hectic transport aircraft industry, is also the location for the most important general aviation show in Europe.

Held on April 18-21 in Friedrichshafen, on the North shore of the Lake Constance, the AERO 2012 hosts most of the light aviation world production, in spite of the global crises, which kept away from the fairgrounds some of the overseas player.

Magnaghi Aeronautica was there with two Sky Arrow aircraft on display: a 450T and a RAWAS, the former an ultralight version and the latter being one of the variants for the aerial work platform. In particular the aircraft at the booth is a Sky Arrow TMA (Terrain Monitoring & Analysis), equipped with belly mounted sensors targeted at the production of Multispectral Land Mapping , an innovative method for aerial monitoring of territory resources, based on pictures taken from an instrumented aircraft with results relayed to post flight analysis on digital maps to GIS Standard. The technique is based on a digital technology and operates in the wavelength spectra of visible and infrared both near IR (350 ÷ 500 nm) and thermal (800 ÷ 1200 nm). Dedicated Software and calibration techniques enable analysis and classification for in-flight recorded images and allow the creation of thematic digital maps GIS (Geographic Information System) compatible.

Enthusiasts for all over Europe welcomed the return of the Sky Arrow, and flocked at the Magnaghi booth, while several media representatives enquired on the new LSA Sky Arrow, scheduled to be introduced at the next Oshkosh AirVenture.