Appearing before attendees at the 2013 Electric Aircraft Symposium, Randall Fishman’s spoke of great accomplishments and grander visions. “ElectraFlyer ULS & Electric Ultralight Airplanes, the path to approval for all electric aircraft?” showed ElectraFlyer’s history and the ambitions Randall would like to play out. A pioneer in ultralights, Randall has been flying hang gliders since 1972, produced the first continuously powered electric aircraft, flew the first electric airplane at Oshkosh’s AirVenture and claims a primary interest of bringing practical, user-friendly electric flight to as many people as possible. Between 2005 and 2007, he designed, built and test flew his first electrically-powered trike. Making its first take-off on April 29, 2007, by May 2 it had made a one-hour flight. Ever more venturesome, Randall modified a Moni motorglider with an electric motor and flew that at AirVenture in 2008, for which he won both the Stan Dzik Memorial Award for innovation and the Dr. August Raspet Memorial Award for “outstanding contribution to …
Summer Flights for Electraflyer X
According to AVweb.com, Randall Fisher of Electraflyer had his two-seat Electraflyer X on view all week at Sun ‘n Fun in the Greenspace display area, devoted to environmental consciousness and green products. Fishman flew the single-seat Electraflyer C – a modified Moni ultralight – daily, and a team member flew the company’s electric trike regularly. Most exciting, Fishman is projecting motor testing and test flights of the X this summer, with series production of a kit version to follow, and release of a light sport aircraft, factory-built version as soon as permission can be granted by the FAA. From earlier discussions with Fishman, this airplane should be competitive in performance and cost with the Yuneec E-430. As icing on the cake, Fishman displayed a small, half-coffee-can size motor, reputed to put out 20 horsepower. This motor can be paired or tripled in an in-line configuration to generate 40 or 60 horsepower, a select-a-size boon to potential electric aircraft designers. Fishman holds …