I'm a mechanical engineer in Baden. I've flown powered aircraft for twelve years, and before the Blackwing I rented a shoulder-wing low-wing whenever the weather allowed. My day job is machine-tool design — material fatigue, vibration, and above all tolerances. That shaped how I look at light-sport airframes: I wanted a build whose construction doesn't force me into compromise.
The BW 650 caught my eye at AERO 2024 in Friedrichshafen because the carbon lay-up is visibly built to Formula-One standards. What sealed it was the Rotax 916 iS — 160 hp inside a 600-kg airframe, a power-to-weight ratio I hadn't seen in the UL world. Four months later my own aircraft was parked in Hangar 3 at Birrfeld.
A typical weekend: Friday evening after work, a hop from Birrfeld to Sion, check in, Saturday morning onwards through the Mont Blanc corridor down to the Côte d'Azur. Cannes-Mandelieu has strict noise restrictions — the Rotax 916 iS fits the profile without trouble; plenty of colleagues with carburetted Avgas engines have to detour.
Cruise sits at around 190 kt at FL100 — Blackwing publish 352 km/h, in practice I measure a touch less depending on wind. The 140-litre tank gives five and a half hours at 65 percent — roughly 950 nautical miles of still-air range once I plan honest reserves. One tank covers most of my weekend missions.
The single-lever power control matters to me: one lever, one thought. In the climb, in the circuit, on a go-around — I always have a hand free for the radio.
Birrfeld LSZF is home — short, well-kept asphalt, a helpful tower, no slots. Sion LSGS is my gateway into the western Alps and Valais: the ILS on RWY 25 lets me arrive cleanly even in marginal weather, and the FBO turn fuel quickly.
Cannes-Mandelieu LFMD is the weekend payoff — sea approach, the Esterel massif off the left wing. I always budget an extra hour because slot discipline is tight. And I love Mollis LSZM when I want a Sunday lap around the Schwarzenegg before the BW goes back into the hangar at Birrfeld.
Before I ordered the Blackwing I looked seriously at the Blackshape Prime BK160. Both run the 160-hp Rotax — the Prime, however, as a tandem with 750 kg MTOM and over 1,500 km range. A pure travel machine, beautifully made, Echo-class, IFR-capable. For pilots who fly hours straight over open water, the Prime is the better choice.
My profile is different. I want a co-pilot beside me — my wife, a friend — eye-contact and conversation, not the back of someone's head. The side-by-side geometry of the BW 650, the low-cut canopy and the agility of a 600-kg airframe fit my weekend profile exactly. On short Alpine strips like Mollis I'm grateful for the 175-metre takeoff distance.
“The BW 650 feels like a sports car that never parks. You get in, turn the key, and three hours later you're at the sea.”
Two things I wouldn't leave out of the initial spec next time: the Vertical Power digital-fuse package and the BRS ballistic rescue system. Neither is cheap, both work in the background without bothering the pilot — exactly the kind of safety net I want on a fast UL.
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