Swiss Hybrid-Electric Training Aircraft Completes Landing Gear Drop Test

Switzerland – Swiss aircraft developer Smartflyer has completed a landing gear drop-test campaign for its SFX1 prototype as it works toward obtaining a Permit-to-Fly and beginning flight testing. The milestone advances development of the four-seat hybrid-electric aircraft, which Smartflyer is positioning for applications including professional pilot training.

• Two Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) specialists supervised the landing gear testing, which covered multiple landing scenarios and load cases intended to validate the prototype ahead of its first test flights.
• Smartflyer had previously completed the major structural load-test campaigns for the SFX1's fuselage, horizontal stabilizer and flight-control surfaces. The company subsequently identified seat and shoulder-harness testing and flight-control-system testing among the remaining activities as it progresses toward flight testing.
• AFM previously reported that Smartflyer is developing the SF1 specifically with flight-training applications in mind, using a modular architecture allowing operation with either a battery-based configuration or a range extender. The SFX1 prototype was rolled out at Grenchen Airport in November 2024 before entering its ground-test and certification-development phases.
• The current SF1 specification published by Smartflyer lists four seats, a 120-knot cruise speed, 400 NM (800 km) maximum range, 160 kW take-off power and a 1,400 kg take-off mass. During earlier structural testing, the 670 kg fuselage was subjected to loads of up to 3,380 kg, while the horizontal stabilizer was tested to loads of up to 620 kg.

About Smartflyer
Smartflyer is a Swiss aircraft developer based in Selzach that is developing the SF1, a four-seat electrically propelled aircraft with a modular energy architecture supporting battery and range-extender configurations. The company was founded in 2016 and is targeting applications including pilot training and general aviation.

Source: Smartflyer