Green Flight Challenge + 15

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

15 years ago, the Green Flight Challenge (GFC) Sponsored by Google took to the shies over Santa Rosa, California.  It featured the richest prize in aviation history at that time, $1.65 million to be awarded for different achievements.  Our of 13 teams that qualified for the actual airborne event, only for made it to the Charles M. Schulz Airport.  Two were battery-powered, one a hybrid, and was powered by the ubiquitous Rotax internal combustion engine. Although only three of the entrants qualified as fully electric or hybrid vehicles, the Challenge became a series of chances to see aviation’s future. Day One was devoted to technical inspections and weighing the aircraft.  (Original Report) Your editor was privileged to meet and interview the project leaders, designers, and pilots of these aircraft.  That was a short course in beyond belief thinking.  We will be sharing more videos from the event over the next few days. NASA contributed a top-notch media team to document …

Elektra Trainer’s Great Flight North

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Elektra Trainer D-MESO was slated to make a 5.200 kilometer (3,231 mile) flight arranged with Oulu University of Applied Sciences (OAMK), “In order to demonstrate the capabilities of especially designed aircraft for pure electric flying.” “The special challenge for e-aircraft is the abAs withsence and/or often non functioning of charging infrastructure. Therefore D-MESO will carry all necessary cables, adapters and a mobile wallbox 11kW on board to connect it to the standard CEE-3-phase plugs, which are mostly available in hangars or at lighting masts of aerodromes.” So part of the challenge of the flight was. to adhere as closely as possible to the planned schedule while navigating through several countries’ airspace and managing sometimes uncooperative weather. As Raphael Giesecke reported on his LinkedIn page, “The #North–#Circuit Tour has proceeded like planned. Really? Let’s see. Dodging Lightning “After roughly 1600 km (994.2 miles), pilot Uwe (Uwe N.) landed right in front of a Thundercloud. And immediately plugged it, started charging. Well, …

Flynow eCopter Has Missions

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Flynow started in Austria and is now headquartered in Saudi Arabia.  Several years in development, the small, coaxial helicopter has an ambitious planned future Flynow eCopter’s two counter-rotating rotors atop a short pod allow small dimensions and negate the need for a conventional tail rotor.  Simplification extends to eliminating complex cyclic controls and relying on fixed-pitch propellers counteracting each other’s torque to help maintain direction and yaw stability. One Platform for Many Missions Flynow explains the simple design can be adapted to many uses.  “The eCopter family is built around a shared technical platform. The core architecture stays the same while the fuselage and mission equipment adapt to each use case.” To enable certification for autonomous transport of humans, Flynow projects one million kilometers of cargo flights before entrusting it with its first human passenger.  our editor is not aware if similar constraints were applied to eHang’s tourist flights in China. In any case, the simple design has a low …

Regent Seaglider Lifts Off

Dean Sigler Announcements, Autonomous Aircraft, Batteries, Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

According to its makers, sea gliders could be “The future of maritime mobility.”  The Regent Seaglider is a 12-electric motor, 12 passenger (and two crew members) WIG – Wing In Ground effect machine. “The first flight took place at REGENT’s headquarters on Narragansett Bay, R.I., with a crew of two captains aboard. The Seaglider flew a distance of 1,956 ft (596 m) at a height of 33 ft (10m) above the water for 30 seconds.” The company explains, “Viceroy is REGENT’s flagship Seaglider vessel, a 12 passenger vehicle that operates exclusively over water, traversing the sea in one of three modes: hull, hydrofoil, or flight in ground effect. Seagliders have 160 nautical mile range with existing battery technology (upgradeable to over 400 nautical mile range with next generation battery technology). Billy Thalheimer Explains It All Tri-modal travel in smooth transitions is a different way to see the world, but one which Seaglider passengers should enjoy.  Billy Thalheimer, co-founder of the …

Icare’ 2’s 30th Anniversary

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As  Icare’ 2 continues exploration of advanced aerodynamics, Karl Kaeser, CEO of Kasaero GmbH, reminds us of an important event in electric aviation, the 30th anniversary of Icare’ 2. Editor’s note.  Karl Kaeser made the following clarification (Seprember 3): “I have never been really involved with the Icaré aircraft. I’d rather see the name of Professor Vot-Nitschmann there or Werner “micro” Scholz.  As for the e-Genius Professor Voit-Nitschmann was also for the Icaré the leader of the design group. And micro was the research assistant who brought the Icaré to reality.”   “Exactly 30 years ago today (July 1), electric flight took off at the University of Stuttgart! “On 1 July 1996, the Icaré 2 successfully completed its maiden flight – a solar-electric motor glider developed at the University of Stuttgart – Institute of Aircraft Design (IFB). What may have seemed visionary at the time has since become part of a much larger story: three decades of research into electric flight. …

Swift 3 Flies on Two Whispers

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Thomas Sleightholm, writing in eVTOL Insights, reports, “Whisper Aero has completed the first piloted flights of its eQ250 electric ducted-fan propulsion system aboard a modified Swift 3 glider, marking a move from ground testing to flight testing for the company’s electric propulsion technology.” Whisper chose the Swift because its 26:1 lift-to-drag ratio allowed evaluation of, “Propulsion performance and aircraft integration under FAA special airworthiness conditions.”   The light weight and low drag of the craft ensured good performance on the twin propulsors.  With a gross weight of  “over 600 pounds,” the Swift is no ultralight.  But wifh 170 pounds of thrust push it quietly along, performance is sprightly, including a 1,200 foot-per-minure rate of climb. Taking a bit of editorial license, we’ll assume a gross weight of 650 pounds for the Whisper Swift, including 16 pounds each for the propulsors, more for batteries, and additional for the five Electrical Power Systems Epic 1.0 Energy Modules.  Even with the added weight, the …

Take Heart: the X1 Flies

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Heart Aerospace, a swedish firm with great aspirations, can breathe a little easier following the first flight of its X1, 30-passenger electric airliner. The Biggest Electric Aircaft So Far Its 30-passenger fuselage 76 feet long under a 106-foot span wing, the X1 is the largest electric airplane to fly, if you don’t count Solar Impulse with its 236-foot wingspan (but 5,100 pound weight — lower than that of the passengers on the X1, perhaps). At 25,000 pounds, the Heart X1 outdoes Solar Impulse five to one, carrying that mass on half the wingspan,  How did Heart’s designers enable landings on short regional runways? Nacelle Patents One would normally consider enlarging the wing to lower landing speeds and allow landings on shorter regional runways.  Heart designers chose to concentrate on nacelle design instead. A September 11, 2024 press release revealed Heart’s thinking on improving flight and landing characteristics.  “Heart Aerospace, the Swedish hybrid-electric airplane maker, has filed two EU design applications …

1comet Microlift Sailplane

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1comet is a recent member of the ultralight sailplane community, and one with outstanding performance in the refined arena of microlift.  Its makers proclaim its mission: “1comet AG was founded on the belief that pure flight is one of the most beautiful forms of freedom ever created.” Since microlift combines a craft’s ability to circle tightly in small thermals (columns of warm, rising air), 1comet is designed to exploit even such weak “updrafts” and return extended flights.  Wikipedia informs us, “A microlift glider is a recreational glider that is able to exploit microlift, which is lift weaker than a conventional glider would require to stay airborne.” Wikipedia lists nine such craft: Advanced Aeromarine Sierra Aériane Swift Bailey-Moyes Tempest EEL ULF 1 Glidersport LightHawk Maupin Carbon Dragon Ruppert Archaeopteryx Neutrino 1comet All fall, nzturally, into the ultralight class, a great accomplishment for machines with greater wingspans than most in that class. An interview with Donat Bösch helps highlight the lightweight sailplane’s salient features.  Initial design by Martin Hepperle …

Beta Flies at Oshkosh, Farnborough

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A Hit on Two Continrnts Beta Technologies’ Alia CX-300 displayed its form and function at AirVenture 2026 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and at the Farnborough International Air Show in England.  The static and aerial exhibitions marked Beta’s ongoing devolopment of its aircraft, charging technology and network, and partnerships throughout America and Europe, and in much of the rest of the world. Beta at AirVenture The Beta Alia was on display outside the Innovation Pavillion and in the air during the evening air shows, its quiet passes in marked contrast to the raucous noise from other aircraft. A bit long at 17 minutes, and a demonstration of Flight Chops’ aerial photography acumen, the video manages to highlight Alia’s economy of operation.  $2.40 for the six-minure air show routine would not cover the cost of taxiing even an ultralight from the flight line to the runway.  That Kyle Clark could perform a full-power sequence,  return to Appleton (about 25 miles north) and land …

The Blanik Urfin: Electric and Self-Launching

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The Blanik Urfin is a 120-kilogram (264.5 pounds) categopry self-launchig sailplane, its 22 kilowatt (29.4 horsepower motor and five-blade  1,26 meter (4.13 feet)-diameter propeller, capable of lofting it to soaring altitude at 4.5 meters per second (787 feet per minute).   The little Urfin (named after a playful Czech folk character) was shown at this year’s Aero Friedrichshafen, and takes its place amoug severual ultralight soaring machines, all self launching. The airplane’s 13.5-meter ( 44.3 feet)wingspan enables a 29:1 glide ratio, meaning a pilot can perform modest cross-country flights in a reasonable time.  One advantage of having a readily-called-upon motor and instantly-reactive propeller is the ability to avoid outlandings in potentially hazardous terrain.  The thrust from the propeller centered on the aircraft’s boom reduces the need for any major trim changes, an advantage for novice pilots.  One could even us lower throttle settings to emulate higher performance sailplanes, extending the glide ration and overalo performance.  This would also consume the 5.4 …