Swedish Flight Trials

Richard Meredith Hardy puts Trig kit through its paces

Ahead of their Antarctic Expedition the Flying for Freedom team headed for Sweden to trial all aspects of their sub zero temperature operations.

Britain’s record breaking pilot Richard Meredith-Hardy was team leader,  keen to test P & M’s latest Pulsar microlight in the tough and snowy landscape. Communication was via a TY91 VHF radio and expedition founder John Laity of Flying for Freedom commented, “Trig kit proved trouble free, we used a throat microphone and standard aviation headset in an enclosed helmet to protect from the severe cold. I was sitting in the tower as Richard transmitted on the Trig radio and it sounded fantastic.” The Pulsar is also equipped with a TT21 transponder which is expected to be used to generate an ADS-B Out capability.

This proved to be an invaluable training environment for all team members, they expected serious icing problems and engine performance issues. Happily, the cold seemed to have less impact on the Rotax 912 engines than expected. However John Laity said, “I’m not sure we won’t face such favourable weather in the South Pole, it will certainly be colder than Sweden!”

Watch Richard Meredith-Hardy taking off on the snow covered runway: