Look!  Up in the Sky!  At Oshkosh

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Two different machines, with vastly different purposes and unique looks, are flying electrically above Wittman Field for the worlds’ biggest airshow.  The Experimental Aircraft Association’s gathering, having skipped a year because of the pandemic, is back with nearly twice the number of attendees.  It’s a crowd ready to be rocked. Volocopter Helena Treeck, head of public relations for Volocopter GmbH, is on scene at AirVenture, not only promoting her company’s machines, but granting interviews and reporting herself. She shares the experience.  “The crewed Volocopter 2X took off at 2:45 PM CST for a 4-minute flight at ~164 feet and a top speed of 18 mph over Wittman Regional Airport as part of EAA’s AirVenture aviation celebration. Event attendees were able to watch the Volocopter 2X fly and take a seat in the VoloCity model at Volocopter’s booth to experience these aircraft. Nicknamed the ‘World’s Greatest Aviation Celebration,’ more than 600,000 visitors are expected to come to see pioneering designs in …

Something to Lighten the Post-Holiday Letdown

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, GFC, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Even following Boxing Day, we have a few items to re-gift to our faithful readers, and close out the season with four very light examples of electric aviation. A-I-R ATOS Felix Ruhle has been improving and refining a basic wing design for over a decade, growing a line of aircraft that range from simple hang-gliders to fairly sleek, self-launching, electrically-powered ultralight sailplanes.  The A-I-R factory/showroom in Halblech, Germany, one of 18 dealerships around the world, fronts a lush green meadow and houses a plethora of ATOS wings. The ATOS wing, coming in a range of sizes, can be attached to seemingly anything from a simple jump-off-the-nearest cliff hang-gliding rig to refined, electrically-powered ultralight sailplanes. Under development for the last few years, the ultralight sailplane merits even A-I-R’s enthusiastic approval.  “The newest development of A.I.R. is revolutionary! The foldable electric powered. nearly noiseless ultralight-aircraft is based on the proven Atos hang-gliding wings! With 3-axes-steering, real elevator, retractable landing gear and propeller, …

GoFly and Win Big Prizes

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

“Have You Ever Dreamed of Flying?” Boeing asks, and answers its own question: “We’re making that dream a reality.”  Well, actually, the person entering HeroX and Boeing’s GoFly competition will make their own dream a reality, and possibly win substantial sums in the process. Abundance Insider, an Internet outreach from Peter Diamandis, himself well-acquainted with prize competitions, gives an excellent short rundown on the competition. “What it is: HeroX recently announced the GoFly Prize, sponsored by Boeing — a $2 million challenge to create a personal flying machine that is useful, safe and thrilling (italics by the editor). The goal is to foster the development of a safe, quiet, ultra-compact, near-VTOL personal flying device capable of flying 20 miles while carrying a single person. “Why it’s important: Each week, we feature examples of converging exponential technologies that are helping us go from science fiction to science fact. Boeing’s sponsorship of this unique incentive competition reflects how its leadership is thinking …

HY4 Makes First Public Flight – Your Editor Rides EAA’s Ford Trimotor

Dean Sigler Batteries, Fuel Cells, GFC, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

A day after Pipistrel, the DLR and associates flew the first public demonstration of their four-seat hydrogen-powered HY4, your editor and a friend took a brief hop around the Aurora State Airport in Oregon in EAA’s Ford Trimotor, the first certified airliner in America.  The two events, roughly equal in duration, if not in historicity, demonstrate a readily observable progress in aeronautics. A quickening of design and technology 14 years after the Ford 5AT first flew on a scheduled route that took 51 hours total time to cross the United States (and split transport duties with trains), your editor’s father was whisked nonstop by Army Air Corps C-54 across the Atlantic to Shannon, Ireland, and then to Bobbington and Newquay, England to work on bombers for the duration of the conflict. Those 14 years seem like a major quickening of design and technology, which brought us pressurized cockpits, turbocharged engines, and great leaps forward in speed, endurance and reliability. Following the …

13th Annual Personal Aircraft Design Academy Meeting Honors Popov

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

At the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture, a week of grand aviation events comes to a close with the annual Personal Aircraft Design Academy meeting.  Each year, an individual or group who has contributed significantly to the progress of personal aviation receives a trophy in recognition of that contribution.  Your editor could not be there this year, but CAFE President Brien Seeley officiated and shares this report. “The Personal Aircraft Design Academy (PADA) convened its 13th annual meeting on July 24 at 7:30 p. m. in the EAA Vette Theatre. After nominations and voting by members of the PADA Board, the group presented the perpetual PADA Trophy to Boris Popov for his career-long achievements in bringing forth ballistic recovery systems for aircraft. Boris was also awarded the PADA medal as he accepted the trophy and proceeded to deliver an inspiring speech about the history and successes of vehicle parachute systems.  He recounted that 326 lives have been saved by the BRS system thus …

2015 PADA Awards Dinner and Presentation

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

The CAFE Foundation’s announcement should capture our attention.  “The 2015 Personal Aircraft Design Academy will feature two excellent presentations: Burt Rutan on the SkiGull and Nick Borer on the LEAPTECH project. This will be followed by the ceremony to award the esteemed PADA Trophy to a surprise recipient. A reservations-only $20 hors d’oeuvre pre-reception at 6:15 PM on July 24 in the EAA Museum’s Fergus Plaza will provide an excellent opportunity to meet with aviation’s top personal aircraft designers. “The Personal Aircraft Design Academy (PADA) gathering for 2015 will begin with a special indoor hors d’oeuvre reception for $20 per person that begins at 6:15 PM on Friday, July 24 in the Fergus Plaza lobby of the EAA Museum. This will be followed by the PADA Program in the EAA Museum’s air-conditioned Vette Theatre at 7:30 PM. “In addition to a presentation by the 2015 PADA Trophy winner, the 2015 PADA program plans detailed presentations by Burt Rutan about his brand new …

HOMER and PEACE Offer Possibly Quieter Flight: Part Two

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Quieter, smoother, more fuel efficient – it sounds like the CAFE Foundation’s goals for its Sky Taxis.  ACHEON, a Euro-consortium of high-powered academic institutions, is working to bring together the Coanda effect with modern plasma technology to create a much-improved aerial travel experience. Having explored a few of the many aircraft that have attempted to use the Coanda effect, we now examine the work of the consortium of six organizations: four Universities, one Research and Tech Transfer Organization and one Research intensive SME (Small and Medium Enterprise – Nimbus S.r.l) from four European Countries (Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Belgium). The team, committed to exploring and demonstrating the benefits of ACHEON technology, is at work on possible applications for different craft. including: Traditional aerial vehicles architecture, which could include aircraft with wing-mounted engines. Innovative aerial vehicle designs with localized or distributed propulsion. Innovative aircraft optimized for thrust vectoring, even including airship configurations. One paper, “Investigating the Use of the Coanda …

Pikes Peak Bikers Are No Pikers

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

100-percent paved for the first time in the 91 year history of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last weekend,  maybe the road’s lack of flying gravel contributed to the extremely quick times. Chip Yates, who had set a world record for his electric motorcycle assault on the course, did not race this year, probably involved with his Flight of the Century program. This year, Carlin Dunne performed the honor of riding the fastest on an electric motorcycle – a Lightning with an IPM liquid cooled, 125kw+, 10,000 rpm motor, as used, according to Lightning’s CEO, in the Chevrolet Tahoe.   Telling Motorcycle.com, “If it can push a 6,000-plus pound truck, think of its performance in a 500-pound motorcycle.” CEO Hatfield says the motor units have been certified to last 900,000 miles. Maybe those specs made it the fastest of all motorcycles, even beating the Ducatis on which Dunne has set previous hill climb records   This year, the fastest Ducati came …

A “New” Electric Canard – Thirty Years Later

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Thirty years ago, Claude Chudznik developed a beautiful little canard that flew on a 25-horsepower two-stroke engine.  The elegantly tiny craft performed well enough on its noisy (“almost unbearable” according to the team’s blog) engine that the team of Chudzik, Frédéric Laude, Rémy Audebert, Eric Favereau, Patrick Quiertant and Gilles Aubin decided to take it out of mothballs, repower it with an Electravia GMPE-E 205 50-hp system (batteries, controller and motor), and take to the skies again.   They are close to that goal, having recently reassembled the wings and canard to the fuselage, fitted batteries, motor and an EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) and Electravia E-Screen ES-TX26RSD motor and battery monitoring screen.  The simple, mini-glass-cockpit fits well within the confines of the small craft. This high-performance instrumentation complement the potential of this electrified and resurrected airplane, now with a motor twice its original power.  It flew at more than 200 kilometers per hour (124 mph) on its two-stroker (the …

Anime, Electric Flight and Solar Airplanes

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

A Japanese entrepreneur and Salesian Polytechnic, a school near Tokyo, Japan are testing an ultralight glider with hopes of achieving solar-powered flight by early next year. Akira Yon-Ko is President of Olympos Limited, devoted to the “development of small aircraft, production and sale of technical support lectures various development projects, lectures, etc.” He has crafted several airplanes, including a Graham Lee Circa Reproductions WW-I Nieuport-11 replica for which he provided technical assistance, but go on to include an anime-inspired bird-like creation to two electric aircraft, one of which may become Japan’s first solar-powered airplane. Yon-Ko’s work with The OpenSky M-02 jet-powered glider was inspired, as explained in Wikipedia, ”by the Möwe aircraft flown by the protagonist in the Hayao Miyazaki anime, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.” It’s shown below in jet mode, attempting high-speed taxis, but seemingly a bit unstable. As Yon-Ko explains, “Currently, the work of Mr. Kazuhiko Hachiya, [the] M-02 is housed in the 21st Century …