The Culmination of Eight Years’ Effort Tomas Brødreskift, his father and a dedicated team of volunteers have been working on a nearly no-budget, eight-year project to build a cutting-edge technology hybrid amphibian aircraft. This past week, Equator P2’s wheels left the runway, twice on each of two days. The team plans a full flight around the airport traffic pattern in the next few days. Although brief, the runway runs demonstrated the hand control’s proper operation, similar to the hands-only controls used on human-powered aircraft. In that instance, the pilot’s legs are busy pedaling, obviating the need for manual operation only. In the Equator’s case, Tomas wanted simplified controls to make his aircraft a more desirable machine for future buyers. He is, after all, an industrial designer, creating beautiful things that would otherwise be mundane. He works with Classic Factory Automotive and Industrial Design, putting the “look” in exotic electric sports cars, bicycle frames, coffee makers, and designer watches, among objects. Crowd …
First motor Test Run for Equator P2
The Equator P2 is a hybrid amphibious two-seater that looks like the future. Under development for a decade, this amateur-built machine looks highly professional, surpassing in form and function many of its factory-built peers. It had its first motor run-up recently, a much-anticipated event that met all expectations. Looking Like the Future, Built in a Garage One can see the garage-built home of the craft in the simple bracing used to hold the tail-mounted motor in place, an example of the truly hand-made nature of the Equator prototype. The rudimentary surroundings fail to show the sophistication of the design, however, including a power system similar to that used on the range-extended e-Genius. Progress over the last nine years has been limited, as with many such projects, by (in Tine Tomazic’s words)”the speed of cash.” As with other such projects, the family car occupies the driveway, the Equator the garage. Tomas Brodreskift designed the craft while serving an internship with Airbus. …
Tomas Brødreskift to Appear at SA Symposium
With the upcoming Sustainable Aviation Symposium (May 6-7, 2016) already packed with stellar presenters, we are excited to have Tomas Brødreskift join the faculty. An industrial designer whose skills in product and process design, project management, ergonomics, and visual and CAD design have led and enabled him to bring his amphibious Equator P2 Xcursion to life will share his expertise and experiences with attendees at the Sofitel San Francisco Bay. Tomas’ demonstrated skills in designing everything from Hardrocx mountain bikes to an array of consumer goods have helped prepare him to guide the Xcursion from concept to final product. Since he has overseen every step of the design/build process, the airplane is a reflection of its unique specification and its designer’s attention to detail. The Equator web site explains, “The P2 was designed from the ground up to be a highly practical aircraft. It is made for 2 people initially (with a future option for 4 seats) with focus on …