Friedrichshafen is the place to be for new aircraft announcements, with PC-Aero yesterday and Pipistrel today showing off new aircraft. Pipistrel, having won the Green Flight Challenge in September, could not rest on its laurels, today sharing the news that, “The revolutionary 4-seat all composite design, featuring retractable undercarriage, 200 kts cruising speed, 1000 NM range, comfortable cabin and a choice of three powerplants – conventional/hybrid/electric – is presented to the World for the very first time.” Those lucky enough to be at Aero 2012 , hall A5, will doubtless flock to see the Pantera, a graceful design that does 200 knots (230 miles per hour) on its 200-hp, Lycoming IO-390 engine while burning 10 US gallons per hour. This relative fuel economy (a recent Mooney ride saw the airplane consuming 16 gallons per hour at a lower speed) allows Pantera to carry four people 1,000 nautical miles (1,150 statute miles). CEO Ivo Boscarol is obviously proud of his new …
Paint Me – Win 1,000 Euros
Tine Tomazic sends the following invitation. Pipistrel has published a unique design contest for Design of Livery for the Panthera, our brand new aeroplane to be presented in 2012. Anybody can participate! Prize is 1000 EUR ($1,350) and author’s signature on the aeroplane itself! The recognition may well be worth more than the prize money for the budding artist. The airplane will be featured at major airshows worldwide and in masses of mass media. All an aspiring illustrator has to do is capture the spirit of the sleek craft and create a livery “which will enhance Pantera’s unique lines and characteristics.” Connect with Pipistrel’s Facebook page to get all the particulars. There, you’ll learn about the luxury, sportiness, speed, efficiency/environmental friendliness and safety of Pantera, and doubtless be inspired to get out the magic markers. Here are some inspirational warmups.
Green Flight Challenge Final Results
Steve Williams, CAFE Foundation board member and e-totalizer guru, released the final results for the NASA Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google, held at the Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport from September 25 through October 1, 2011. Figures show a profound difference between the two electric winners and the two gas-powered and hybrid runners-up. All competitors flew extremely clean motorgliders with demonstrated lift-to-drag ratios between 25:1 and 35:1. Possible explanations for the large differences in energy use include low cooling drag for electric aircraft and the efficiency of electric motors – but the differences are still surprising. Note that a little over 11 US gallons of gasoline (energy equivalent) were used to fly seven people (Embry Riddle’s Eco-Eagle flew with only one pilot) over a total of 725.5 miles (Embry Riddle flew a shorter total distance on both “runs”). This is an enormous achievement for all concerned and a significant increase in efficiency over even the best general aviation craft available today. Congratulations are …
Pipistrel Preparing for Green Flight Challenge
Michael Coates, American distributor for Pipistrel, shares some pictures and videos of the G4, four-seat, twin-fuselage electric motorglider a “technology demonstrator” for the company and its entry in the Google/NASA/CAFE Foundation Green Flight Challenge, which starts Sunday, September 25 in Santa Rosa, California. The Pipistrel team, headed by Jack Langelann of Pennsylvania State University, is working out Hollister, California’s airport, about 70 miles south of San Francisco and 150 miles from Santa Rosa. The team expects to fly to Charles M. Schulz field on “Friday or Saturday of the this week” for the competition. Pilot Robin Reid guided the big bi-fuselage craft through its paces and brought back this in-flight video, which shows the visibility is better than one would expect – except of the other fuselage, the nose of which can be seen just under the central propeller. Coates reports, “Hollister airport has been our base for the last four weeks as we continue to extend the flight envelope …
PC-Aero Wins Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Vision Award
A Green Flight Challenge entrant, PC-Aero’s Elektra One, has won the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Vision Award at AirVenture 2011 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, becoming the latest winner of this important award for innovation in the pursuit of “green” aviation. Past winners of the Lindbergh Prize for Electric Aircraft include: Pipistrel: 2011 Aero-Friedrichshafen Best Electric Aircraft LZ Design: 2011 Aero-Friedrichshafen Best Electric Propulsion System Solar Impulse: 2011 Aero-Friedrichshafen Outstanding Achievement Award Yuneec International: 2010 AirVenture Best Electric Aircraft Sonex: 2010 AirVenture Best Electric Aircraft Subsystem Lange Aviation: 2010 AirVenture Individual Achievement Award According to Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles Lindbergh and founder of LEAP, the organization’s, “Programs recognize, inspire and incentivize the innovation that drives our culture, economy and future. The LEAP Electric Flight Program is accelerating the development of the electric aircraft industry through a range of activities, from prizes to advocacy.” This year’s award, “Focuses on innovation with a “vision” for integrated electric power for an aircraft and its supporting …
Paris-Madrid Air Race 1911-2011
100 years ago, the idea of flying an 800-mile cross-country anywhere was a grand and dangerous adventure. With aerodynamics not yet a science and aircraft powered by the self-destructive engines of that day, it took a brave pilot to even make the attempt. The Paris-Madrid race of 1911 was a disaster from the start, and yet one man managed to achieve triumph despite the tragedy. 21 aviators were motivated to sign up in hopes of winning the 200,000 franc prize, but between May 21 and May 26, 1911, only six actually started, and only one flew the entire course. According to Transpress, a New Zealand blog, “After a full year of airshows, advertisers had become bored with seeing flying machines going in circles on a racetrack: they wanted city to city races, as was happening with automobiles. Funded and supported by the newspaper Le Petit Parisien, the international aviation race Paris-Madrid, despite the risks, attracted twenty-one competitors. The announcement of a …
Ingenious e-Genius
At the third annual Electric Aircraft Symposium in San Carlos, California in 2009, designers from Germany and Slovenia showed their plan for a hydrogen-powered aircraft called Hydrogenius. Today, a newly constructed, battery-powered “e-Genius” (developed along parallel lines with Hydrogenius) will be Eric Raymond’s mount for the July 10-17 Green Flight Challenge in Santa Rosa, California. Eric writes that “e-Genius is now flying, and has reached the required 100 mph.” Hydrogenius’s original layout, replaced for the Green Flight Challenge with a simpler lithium-polymer battery-only system. 1 – Hydrogen tank 2 – Radiator 3 – Stack Module (Hydrogen Fuel Cell) 4 – System Module (Hydrogen Fuel Cell) 5 – Power Distribution Unit 6 – LiPoly Battery to start the fuel cell system 7 – Total Rescue System e-Genius’s 60 kilowatt (80.4 horsepower) motor is claimed to be able to fly 100 kilometers (62 miles) on the electrical equivalent of a mere 0.6 liters (0.16 gallons) of gasoline, or about 392 miles per gallon. As …
A Trio of Winners at Friedrichshafen
Erik Lindbergh, as part of his Lindbergh Foundation, has instituted a suite of prizes to recognize and , “Accelerate development of practical electric flight, and stimulate meaningful advances in the emerging electric aircraft industry.” Having presented four prizes at last year’s Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, Lindbergh followed up at Aero-Friedrichshafen 2011 as part of the Berblinger Competition – which drew 24 entrants and eight aircraft that actually completed the Friedrichshafen-Ulm-Friedrichshafen out-and-return course. With sponsors including Sergei Sikorsky, son of Igor Sikorsky, a competitor for the original Orteig Prize that prompted Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 New York to Paris flight; His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, who backs LEAP; and Messe-Friedrichshafen, hosts to the Aero 2011 and to the First Families of Flight gathering, LEAP garners a great deal of recognition for its prize winners. LEAP gave three awards at Aero 2011. In the best electric airplane category, the judges chose three finalists: • The Hugues Duval Electric Cri-Cri with …
A Second Slovenian Self-Launching Sailplane – With a Solar-Powered Trailer
Tine Tomazic of Pipistrel alerted the blog that his firm started series production of their Taurus Electro G2, a first for a two-seat electric aircraft, according to Pipistrel, claiming 20 customers who will receive their G2’s by year’s end. Improvements over the prototype led to the “rev.2” series version of the self-launching sailplane, which also is the first electrically-powered craft to exceed the performance of its two-stroke Rotax-powered alternative, according to Tomazic. Pipistrel expands on this. “Taurus Electro G2 can use a shorter runway, climbs faster and performs much better than the gasoline-powered version when it comes to high altitude operations. All this is possible thanks to the specially-developed emission-free Pipistrel 40kilowatt electric power-train.” The clean sailplane design (40:1 glide ratio) allows full exploitation of the system. Improvements in the motor and batteries contribute to this performance boost. The new motor weighs 11 kilograms (23.2 pounds), five less than the prototype’s unit, and generates 10 kW more power. Pipistrel notes, “Due to this …
Pipistrel’s Hybrid Cruiser
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 …