When the first aircraft of the SSVOBB, the Lambach, approached its first flight, the active people founded the so-called "Stratego commissie". This group of people was thinking ahead to secure the future of the foundation. There were a few main requirements. First of all, it had to be a two-seated aircraft so that the builders, the students, could fly their own aircraft. Secondly, it had to be cheap and a kind of promotion aircraft for the faculty. In 1993, the list of requirements, which consists of more than the previously mentioned items of course, was transformed into a real conceptual design: the Impuls.

The beginning

This new project is totally different from the previous one. The Lambach is a replica; so all the calculations and drawings are already made while the Impuls has to start from nothing. The biggest challenge is the fact that you build something that has to be airworthy. Since the designers and constructors are students, there is a need for a control mechanism. This is described fully in the next paragraph. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the Impuls is that it is an innovative aircraft. It is nearly fully constructed from plastics. Only the high loaded frame is made of steel. A lot of new materials mean a lot of new production methods. So the advantages of the design are multiple.

Certification

As mentioned before, a well considered certification system has to be created. The Dutch aviation authorities have to be sure that the design is in accordance with the airworthiness law. With all the needed expertise available at the faculty itself, a special group is created. It consists of professors aerospace who are authorities in specified disciplines. They have the right to approve or disapprove a certain design. Before the reports get to the so-called CVA (the group of advisors), they have travelled a long way already. First of all, they are to be approved by the co-ordinator engineering. Then he sends it to the CDAPU, the central data acquisition and processing unit. He is an engineer who is familiar with the Impuls project and he will check whether everything is at a certain level. When the CVA approves the design, they sign a certain paragraph of the CS23. In accordance with the guidelines of the Dutch aviation authorities, the Impuls is to be certified following the rules of the CS23. From that CS23 a has been list extracted with the paragraphs that are applicable to the aircraft. This list is the so-called compliance checklist. When all the relevant rules have their signature, the Impuls is certified to fly.

Current status

After a reorganization of the phase structure of the design proces, the design of the fuel system and flight control system has started. The design of the fuel system is currently in the detailed phase and is supposed to finish between easter and the summer holidays. For the flight control system a team still has to be formed, for this currently new people are needed. Depending on the amount and experience of these people a detailed time planning can be made. The fuel tank and especially the flight controls are important to be designed first. They have a big influence on other systems. Also after the new engine choise (Rotax 912 ULS), the rear of the fuselage has to be redesigned, this is currently done by a master student. The projected date for this design is the summer holidays.

Looking at the production side of the Impuls project, there are already quite some parts finished. These parts are the upper wingskins, the frame (without engine mounting), the seats and the landing gear. The main project that is running at the moment is the connection of the landing gear on the frame structure. The completion of this is planned before easter, but this is only possible when no mayor problems pop up.

Future

At this moment the completion of the fuel tank and the frame-on-wheels are the most important goals of the project. After completion of these goals the next important goal to be archived is the flight controls. With the gained knowledge from the fuel system team (which is still a young and less experienced team), the flight controls will be designed more efficiently. A next important step to be done simultaneous with the flight controls is a mayor status update of the project. This is needed to be able to have a straightforward planning of the total project, this also means that at this point it is useless to say something about the roll-out date or planning after the completion of the flight controls.