Following a decade of development, Tomas Broedreskift’s Equator P2 Excursion prototype made its first flights out of ground effect, a significant step in flight testing. It flew in ground effect just above the runway on March 29, 2018. This helped verify the center of gravity and enabled further tests under audit by the Norwegian Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), which gave its release for full test at the end of February. In a brief email, Brodreskift told your editor, “After 8 years in development it was about time!” Two flights on March 29 and March 31, 2019 gave the team the assurance that all systems are “go” for further testing. Everything, according to test pilot Eskil Amdal, was more than acceptable. He is one of the most experienced test pilots in Norway, flying everything from WWII aircraft to his current mount, an F-35. Flights took place at at Eggemoen Technology Park in Norway.. A serial hybrid, the Equator takes its power from a water-cooled …
