Green Flight Challenge: New Schedule and Rules

Dean Sigler Diesel Powerplants, Electric Powerplants, GFC, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

CAFE announced June 30 that the CAFE Green Flight Challenge has been officially rescheduled for Sunday, September 25 through Monday October 3, 2011.   It will still take place in Santa Rosa, California. A revised prize structure for the event has been approved and is detailed on the organization’s web site. Originally scheduled to run between July 10 and 17, 2011, various factors led to the decision to reschedule.  The restructured prize schedule changes the orginal “winner takes all” approach to a distribution of awards, with the winner still taking a substantial $1.3 million.   A series of formulas have been added to determine distribution of awards if more than one teams exceeds the 100 miles per hour, 200 passenger miles per gallon criteria.  Another formula redistributes the $150,000 prize for best bio-fuel powered craft  if no bio-fuel entry achieves the GFC criteria of 80 mph and 160 passenger miles per gallon.

Green Flight Challenge, AirVenture Electric Contest Postponed

Dean Sigler Diesel Powerplants, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Both the CAFE Foundation’s Green Flight Challenge and the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture Electric Flight Prize are being postponed: CAFE’s for at least a few months and EAA’s until next year’s AirVenture. The CAFE Foundation’s announcement reads simply, “Circumstances have required that the Green Flight Challenge be postponed for at least 2 months. Its new dates will be posted here very soon.”  The GFC was to have been held between July 10 and July 17 at Santa Rosa, California’s Charles M. Schulz field. The EAA is holding off because of delays in ensuring that all entrants will be certified and properly registered for the competiton. Their news item reads, in part, “‘As with any new, emerging technology, time is an essential element to ensure advancements are made effectively,’ said Tom Poberezny, EAA and AirVenture chairman. ‘After discussions with the prize candidates, it was evident most would not be able to meet the FAA requirement by AirVenture 2011. Let’s be clear that the era of …

The Joby Monarch – Rising Above It All

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

JoeBen Bevirt is an extraordinary individual – and that’s no hyperbole.  Creating a lucrative underpinning with his line of knobby, infinitely-adjustable tripods, cell-phone and iPad™ holders, and LED lights, he has expanded into designing giant kites to fly into upper-atmosphere winds and generate high-output electricity.  To loft these kites, he has created a line of motors with the aid of Diederik Marius, shown on the Joby Motors web site, and so far include two versions each of the JM1S and JM2S.  Each can be configured with different windings for different applications.  The JM1S weighs 1.8 kilograms (3.96 pounds) and can put out 12 kilowatts peak (16 horsepower) at 6,000 rpm.  Diminutive, it is only154 millimeters in diameter (6.06 inches) and 53 mm (2.08 inches) thick.  Although recommended usage includes radio-controlled models, one can see electric ultralight aircraft being designed in enthusiasts’ heads.  Prices are $895 and $955 for the two configurations of the motor. The larger JM2S weighs 3.35 kg …

Elektra One Has First Flight

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

The brief press release and single photograph from PC-Aero says it all: “ELEKTRA ONE from PC-Aero performed successfully its First Flight for about 30 minutes. Using only 3 kWh of energy. “The internal First Flight was performed by the well known testpilot Jon Karkow.  He did the first check for the flight performance and characteristics of the electric aircraft and briefed the german testpilot Norbert Lorenzen for the next official First Flight.” Although static tests were completed late last year, speculation that Germany’s tough certification laws held up test flights ran through some of the aviation press.   The angle of the photograph makes it difficult to tell whether the center-line landing gear was retracted or not, but the low energy use indicates the gear might have been tucked up.  Energy use certainly reflects designer Calin Gologan’s assertion that “Elektra One needs only about 6.5 kW/h at 100 MPH. This will be equivalent with about 500 passenger MPG.”  Elektra One is …

Are Wind Turbines Bad for Aviation?

Dean Sigler Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

It would be a supreme irony if a part of environmentally-positive power production halted the possibility of “green” aviation by making it unsafe to be in the skies.  Luckily, this might not be the major problem some perceive, and solutions are in place or being developed.   For a brief time last April the United States Air Force held up construction of an eastern Oregon wind farm that will be the largest in America.  Concerned with the possible interference that 300 new giant wind turbines might cause for radar station transmissions in an otherwise remote part of the state, the Air Force stepped in.  That was a short-lived interruption, with Oregon’s Senators countering with concerns about the 706 jobs, $130 million in taxes to local counties over two decades and $2.7 million in royalty payments to farmers and ranchers that would be lost by shutting down the project, even though the Federal Aviation Administration issued a “notice of presumed hazard” that halted construction of towers …

CAFE News: Comparing Apples, Bananas, Oranges and Doughnuts

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, GFC, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

One of the problems facing judges in the July Green Flight Challenge the CAFE Foundation is managing for NASA is that of determining fairly who gets the best fuel mileage.  Since “fuel” in this case can be traditional aviation gasoline, bio-diesel, electricity from batteries or solar panels, or some other energy storage medium, wildly different energy densities have to be taken into account. If TSA “freedom feels” seem intrusive, the scrutiny applied to GFC entrants and their craft will be even more onerous.  Aircraft will be impounded once inspected and registered, and the only contact pilots may have with their planes before taking off will be to “top off” their fuel tanks or batteries just before the start of their flight – all under constant monitoring. The widely and wildly differing energy densities for the different forms of motive power require careful definition of energy equivalencies.  One pound of gasoline, for instance, equals about 20,000 BTU, or 5.8 kilowatt hours, …

Pipistrel’s Hybrid Cruiser

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 3 Comments

The Pipistrel folks in Slovenia have been producing some suprising aircraft with surprising names for the last two decades.  Their Virus and Sinus motorgliders are well-traveled and well regarded, having won honors in the 2007 Centennial and 2008  General Aviation Technology Challenges sponsored by NASA and managed by the CAFE Foundation.   The firm recently announced that it won the European Business Awards prize as the Most Innovative Company in Europe – out of 15,000 entrants.  Indeed, their real-time posting of their solar-powered factory’s electrical output is a strong reminder of that drive to create new paths to the future. Another reminder of Pipistrel’s creative juices is the picture of their four-seat hybrid aircraft, which should be flying in the new year, according to Tine Tomazic, part of the company’s research and development team.  Tine confirms that the aircraft will cruise on 160 horsepower at 200 knots (230.4 mph), is a hybrid – although not a parallel hybrid, and that its “performance will definitely …

A Sweet Look Into the Future

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Zach Hoisington, an engineer with Boeing Research and Development, proposes an electric airliner concept through the Subsonic Ultra Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) program.   During the CAFE Foundation’s fourth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium in Rohnert Park, California in April this year, he shared an amazing array of alternatives.   Making airliners viable in an era of disappearing fossil fuel has caused NASA and aircraft producers to explore different design approaches, including joined wing aircraft, strut-braced wings, and hybrid wing-body configurations. Strategies for doing more with less may include aerial refueling for extended range flight with larger payloads, and formation flights on common routes like those of migrating birds to reduce induced drag.  New sources of power may include hydrogen fuel cells and podded or integral batteries. Although the last option filled most of the talk, it came with the caveat that given current levels of battery development, it would take 5.5 million pounds of cells to produce the same energy derived from 60,200 pounds of …

Dr. Stephen H. Schneider: 1945 – 2010

Dean Sigler Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Dr. Stephen Schneider, Stanford University climate scientist, early advocate of climate change and a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the U.N. organization that with former Vice President Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, died Monday of a heart attack while on a flight to London from a science meeting in Stockholm, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.  He held many post-doctoral degrees and was a scientific advisor for every president from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama.  He was awarded several post-doctoral fellowships and won the prestigious MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” in 1972.  He and his wife,  Dr. Terry Root, shared the national Conservation Achievement Award in 1993 from the National Wildlife Federation. His web site provides an insight into this “climate warrior’s” outlook and approach.  Battling the forces arrayed against even acknowledging the serious threat climate change poses to life on earth, he explained the issues in his book, Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to …

CAFE News: Become a Part of Aviation History – Help Fund the Green Flight Challenge

Dean Sigler GFC Leave a Comment

The CAFE Foundation is a small, all volunteer, and remarkably effective group based at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa, California.  Consider that the Foundation Board members, eight strong, planned and executed all aspects of the fourth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium. This world-class gathering was the product of tight organization, shared goals, and truly remarkable, dedicated people. CAFE Foundation has also documented the performance and flying characteristics of over 25 popular light aircraft, providing scientifically accurate verification or rejection of the sometimes extravagant claims of builders and manufacturers.  They have created scientific instruments and techniques that have enhanced the collection of accurate data.  Hard work and honesty has provided a touchstone for the evaluation of modern light aircraft and earned the Foundation a reputation for reliability and credibility. CAFE’s reputation has led to its being chosen to be an Allied Organization with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to manage the Green Flight Challenge.  The …