The Best of AERO Friedrichshafen 2026

It's spring, it's Friedrichshaven, so it must be Aero 2026. Come join the flight team as we take a look at some of our favourite aircraft from the show. Replica aircraft, particularly when they're a percentage scale of the original, sometimes don't quite hit the sweet spot. But it's fair to say the Scalewings SW51 really has got everything completely nailed. From the outset, this aircraft was intended to model an original P-51 Mustang with over 100,000 surface details just like the original, even down to the fabric on the rudder. You might think it looks like fabric, but tap it and it's carbon fibre. The SW51, though, hasn't been an overnight success. It's gradually been building on bits of its story. It started out in 2014 with a built to a weight of 472kg and powered by the Rotax 100hp 912ULS, and that meant plenty of compromises. It wasn't until Scalewings evolved the aircraft, which was also perfectly timed with the arrival of the Rotax 916IS, so 160hp, that really meant the SW51 was able to land on that sweet spot. Now with a new scale prop made by MT, who also make real propeller blades for the P-51, the package really is a winner, and it's for this reason everything's come together to make the SW51 a success, and that's why it gets a spot in our Best of Aero video. For more great content on the SW51, we spoke to Scalewings CEO Christian von Kessel, so there's another video coming up. This is the turbo shaft, and it feels fast just sitting in it. It's the same as the other shaft, but with a turbo. Makes sense. The turbo is fitted underneath the engine and has an intercooler squeezing on top, and if you look at the front by the spinner, behind the spinner, there's a couple of extra cutouts to flow air to the intercooler. Now this has got phenomenal performance for such an aircraft. It is still a 600kg microlight. It's going to have a cruise speed, a fast cruise speed of 165 knots. It's going to have a climb rate of 1500ft per minute. This is a microlight. Crikey. It's going to be, it's not a cheap option, I have to say. This particular aircraft is going to come in at £340,000 plus VAT. If you want one, and they've already got customers queuing up for them, the lead time is 18 months. It's built to order, so it'll be ready by the end of 2027. Meanwhile, I'm just going to sit here and imagine doing 165 knots in my microlight. Okay, there are 55 Elixirs flying around with clubs in Europe, but this, this is the Elixir Plus. It's, if you like, the second version, or the development version of the Elixir. It has a couple of interesting changes that have come about as a result of the club experience, he says. Get your words out straight, Ian. This aircraft has an extra 70kg max take-off weight, so up from 630 to 700, which is pretty significant. It has an improved and strengthened undercarriage, presumably because of that extra weight. It has new aerodynamic tweaks to the wing. It has a bigger fin at the end of the wing to provide some more stability. The exhaust system has changed, and inside, a small change. If you look, the G5 has been replaced by a GI275, and that's part of the IFR approval, both in the UK, sorry, maybe not the UK, but both in EASA land and under FAA. It will get approved for the CA as well, but I think FAA and EASA will be first. The aeroplane has an opening price of about €400,000. A little bit further back, there is a turbocharged version of this, and you can expect to see a version that's aimed squarely at private owners a little bit later. So, there you go, Elixir, looking forward to going to La Rochelle and having a good fly around in one of these. It's a Bristol B23 Energy. It's nearly through certification with EASA. All of the individual parts have been certified. The airframe is from Bristol, it's a B23. The battery pack is from H55, a Swiss company, and the engine, the motor, is from Safran, already certified. They've just got to validate the whole thing, let all the systems integrate well, and they expect them to do that by the end of this year, and it'll go on sale next year, in 2027. Already, they've sold 100 of these aircraft, 50 to flying schools in Europe, 50 to flying schools in the US, and that total is thanks to a tour that H55 took the aircraft on last summer. They took it right across the states and back again, ending up at Oshkosh. So, a few figures. The Energic is going to cost $450,000. That's a bit more than a standard B23, but the operators, the flying schools, look at the operating costs, which are going to be less than an Avgas burning aircraft. Also, they're looking at the low emissions, zero emissions, and the fact that it's very quiet, important for flying schools based in the city. At the moment, the Energic has an endurance of 70 minutes, a payload of 180 kilograms, and a cruise speed of 110 knots. However, H55, the company that's produced the batteries and is developing the aircraft, they say that when the batteries leave replacing in about a couple of years, they'll have improved the endurance and the performance, so it'll go further. Now, the JMB 600 kilogram microlight stomp has been an aero show favorite for a few years now, but this one really is special because it's the first one for the UK, which is fantastic news. Empty weight is 333 kilograms, powered by 100 horsepower Rotax 912 ULS, and you can expect to waft around the sky at around about 65 to 70 knots, but if you call on all 100 of those horsepower, then you're looking at around about 90 knots. Stall speed, 29 knots. Base price of the stomp is €154,000 plus that, and if you're sat there thinking, yeah, that's right up my street, then lead time for this is 10 to 12 months. With the CA manufacturing approval in the bag for the type, all that remains is for this aircraft to arrive in the UK and for the British Microlight Aircraft Association to finish their type approval, and that, the aircraft's heading to the UK straight after aero. We won't see it at proper Microlight trade fair, unfortunately, but it will be flying shortly after that. And if you're sat here, if you're sat at home thinking, I wonder what the story is behind those colors, then you'll be surprised to hear that actually, it's really authentic. They're based on the colors of a real stomp. Two Belgian pilots, Michel Donnet and Leon Devoy, famously fixed up a stomp and fled Belgium on July 5th, 1941, making a three-hour flight to the UK. Eventually, the aircraft found a home at RAF Hornchurch and was impressed into service carrying the serial number MX457. Chris Kirk of Stomp Aircraft UK says they've been really surprised at how much interest the aircraft has generated, and it's not surprising, is it? Because it's fantastic. So you should definitely expect to see more of these in the UK in future. A couple of months ago, Cirrus announced the G3 version of the Vision Jet, the SF50. I didn't get a chance to have a good look at it then, so let's put that right now. Matt, G3. Yes. First time I managed to see one in the flesh. I've read all the press releases and everything. Do you want to run through the major changes? Absolutely. So the Generation 3 Vision Jet, the thing that you'll probably notice the most is it can now fit six adults in the airplane. Great. And we did that with kind of redesigning our whole interiors. But the biggest thing, we now have a bench seat that can comfortably fit six adults. That's the rear. That's in the rear. The second thing, we also introduced ATC data link. Yeah. So now we can essentially text message with our air traffic controllers. I mean, it's a big deal. We use it a lot in the US and here in Europe as well. It's also, you know, required to go into RBSM airspace. And then we also have about 30 or 40 other refinements on the airplane. And when you look on the outside of the airplane, one of the things you'll notice is we actually have now blacked the ice boots that are on kind of all the G3 Vision Jets. If I won the lottery and order one this afternoon, I'm not playing the lottery between now and then. So when am I going to get it? So when are you going to get it? So you would get it, you're probably looking at about a 2027 delivery. You'll probably be able to get it. 2027, not 27th next week. No, 2027. 2027. Yep. Yeah. Our demand is actually pretty high for the G3. So yeah, this year you're looking to about 2027. And how big a lottery win do I need? It's about 3.6 million for what this particular airplane is configured at. And this isn't an early bay, it's fully loaded. I'm really looking forward to flying this, hopefully prior to Oshkosh. So behind me is the DirectFly Stoll Cruiser, and it's a pretty funky looking aircraft. I really like it. And if you're going DirectFly, I know that name, then that's because you will have come across them when they brought their Alto NG, which is their low-wing two-seat side-by-side aircraft, to Popham Microlight Trade Fair last year. That's coming to the UK, and eventually this will follow, they tell us. It's been a slow burn project for DirectFly, started in 2017 and first flew in 2021. By their own admission, the company said it's not quite perfect, and they've been slowly refining the design. Changes to the wing, which is now kind of set, and there's fuselage tweaks that are coming along. Obviously, that cantilever wing, which is pretty obvious, means no struts, which it makes for a tremendous view. And even though there's no struts, the spar in the cabin doesn't get in the way of your face, which does feel really spacious, and the view is fabulous. On the wing, there's inner and outer slats. The outer slats are manual and just deploy when they need to, but the inner slats are quite clever and deploy with the flaps. And the flaps are pretty huge, so you actuate the flaps and you get slats as well. You won't be surprised to hear that it's being certified in the 600kg Microlight category, and DirectFly are targeting the Czech market first, followed by Germany. But they say they are interested in the UK market, which makes sense, because they'll have that Alto NG product. Engines, obviously, it's going to be the ubiquitous Rotax 912 ULS, so 100 horsepower, but there's also going to be an option of 130 horsepower Edge Performance engine, and obviously, who wouldn't make something like this and not offer a Rotax 916 with 160 horsepower? Cruise on 100 horsepower is going to be 95 knots, and the company anticipates somewhere around about 120 knots for the 160 horsepower version. Stall speed, you won't be surprised with those big flaps and the slats, just 34 knots. In the final version, anticipated empty weight is going to be 320kg, so that's giving you 280kg of useful load. Wing tanks, there's 110 litres of fuel capacity. In that baggage bay, which is huge, you've got 1,000 litres of space, and I know you're all asking, how much is it going to cost? Well, if it all works out okay, then DirectFly anticipate the ready-to-fly price of being €160,000. So timeline-wise, aeroplanes still under development, and DirectFly have the Alto NG that they're already working on for the UK, but who knows, maybe in 2028, we might see this in UK sky. Well, this is the LP Pioneer 800 Twin. The first thing to say is it's Italian. Stylish, beautifully made, and innovative too. It's designed to be low-drag, aerodynamically efficient, and have a good, a potent power-to-weight ratio. In fact, it's got 320 horsepower from two Rotax engines, and the aircraft only weighs 735kg empty. Max weight is 1350kg. That's a payload of 615kg, enough for four adults, and a decent amount of fuel. And the fuel tank, full tank, is 260 litres, that's about 188kg. It's gold-plated doors, which open to reveal a stylish, spacious cabin. I wouldn't say it's huge, but it's plenty. Avionics are Dynon HDX with 12-inch displays. LP says it's also integrated with Artificial Intelligence Co-Pilot, which I'm going to call Brian, designed to provide the pilot with real-time assistance. It's like a voice-activated checklist. Some more figures. The cruise speed is 162 knots at 75% power setting. The climb rate is 1250 feet per minute. Take-off distance is 470 metres, so it's not exactly short field. Landing is 380 metres. The crucial figure is a stall speed, a clean stall speed, of 59 knots, which allows it to fit into the new rules in America called Mosaic. Everyone is trying to be Mosaic at the moment. The downside is that it's a kit plane, made from wood and composites, though there is a factory build for this scheme. The price? Well, it's got to be 600,000 euro, except right at the moment, the launch package is 500,000 euro, and now it's time to get one at the fairfield. Normally, I only need one reason to be excited about a new product here at Aero, but this aeroplane behind me brings two reasons for me to be doubly excited. I think the Rotax 916 is a great idea of an engine for the Robin DR401, and Robin have gone, yes, that's right. They're offering the DR401 with the Rotax 916 engine, but more excitingly, they're also offering it as a retrofit for all previous DR400 owners. Whether you've got a or a DR400 regent, this could be an option for you. Retrofits are available for all Lycoming engine versions, so that's the regent with wing tanks or the DR140 regent without wing tanks. Performance-wise, Robin quotes a 75% cruise at 8,000 feet of 127 knots, a climb rate of 1,000 feet a minute, and a 75% cruise speed of 900 nautical miles. Robin also says the fuel burn is 18.9 litres an hour if you're training in the circuit, 16 litres per hour in economy cruise, or 26 litres per hour at the 916's max continuous power. Robin are anticipating EAS certification for November 2026, and I know the thing that's on your mind is what's the total cost? Well, for retrofit, SEPA, which is Robin's parent company, for them to do the work at Darwagh, all-inclusive but ex-tax, it's 125,000 euros. A glider towing version is going to be available, and if you just straight up want a DR401 with a 916, then the price is pretty much going to be the same as an example with a Continental diesel, so that's the Robin with the CD155. That's got a base price of 334,000 euros ex-tax, or if you go all the way to full IFR with autopilot, that's around 450,000 euros plus ex-tax. Initially, Rotax 916 retrofits are going to be done by SEPA at the workshop in Darwagh, and I just think this is a great combination, so it's really exciting to see. There you go, another era done and dusted, 2026. In the rearview mirror. In the rearview mirror, literally in the rearview mirror. I really enjoyed it, so anyway, if you've enjoyed this content, give us a like, comment and subscribe, and don't forget, for all things great in general aviation, join the Flyer Club. It's just six pounds a month, and it's flyer.co.uk forward slash? Membership. And let's not forget, let's say thank you again once again to Cirrus Aircraft, Continental Aerospace Technologies. Lone Mountain. And Lone Mountain. Yeah, thank you very much. It wouldn't be possible without you, genuinely. We wouldn't be sitting here now if it wasn't for you. And that's a wrap on another great aero. Thanks for watching, we look forward to seeing you there next year.