Aussies Attempt Electric Aircraft World Endurance Record

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An Australian flying school and a flight planning software enterprise are in the middle of a series of flights that attempt to break an electric aircraft world endurance record. The cleverly-named Eyre to There Aviation announces that, “In partnership with platinum sponsor AvPlan EFB will aim to break a world endurance record for an electric aircraft with a 7-day, 18-stop flight around South Australia.” According to the organizers, “The proposed route will include flying across to the Lower Eyre Peninsula and inland back to Port Augusta for flight sectors around the Yorke Peninsula before arriving back in Adelaide, subject to aircraft performance and weather.” A 1,150 kilometer (714.6 mile) trek, the flight would “shatter the previous record of 750 km (466 miles) flown in September 2020 in [Switzerland and] Germany.”  The Europeans needed 11 stops for recharging on their trip, so the 18 planned by the Australians is comparable for the planned distance. Aviation vlogger Stefan Drury hopped a ride …

Two Similar eSTOLs

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Two different but very similar electric Short Take Off and Landing (eSTOL) aircraft from two different companies are making progress toward realization.  Both are products of teams originally committed to electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) designs, so the shift to different configurations is of interest.  eVTOLs are limited in range by the need to lift their entire weight on their rotors – some for the totality of the flight.  eSTOLs use aerodynamics to enable longer range, and with high-lift devices, can use small fields from which to operate. Dr. Brien Seeley, head of the Sustainable Aviation Foundation, has been a long-time proponent of what he called “pocket airparks.”  These neighborhood or urban sites would be contained within roughly one-block perimeters, use aircraft capable of extremely short takeoffs and landings, low noise, and quick turnarounds.  Electric aircraft and their quiet operation would allow placing such airparks in more areas and could make access to air travel as common as …

Oxis Battery Lost, Other Batteries Found?

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Announcing pending bankruptcy last week, Oxis Energy surprised those of us who did not see the impending problem.  One major supporter of Oxis is George Bye, because his eFlyer line of aircraft were all slated to fly on their power.  Contacted through company Vice President Diane Simard, Bye issued the following statement: “Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer 800 program remains on track,” said George E. Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace. “We continue to support Oxis Energy, their lithium-sulfur cell technology, leadership, team and owners. These types of transitions occur in every industry.”  Other batteries may wait in the wings, so to speak. Oxis prefaced its web site with the following announcement: “OXIS Energy Limited is in administration.  Simon Girling and Christopher Marsden were appointed Joint Administrators of the Company on 19 May 2021. Simon Girling is authorized to act in the UK as an Insolvency Practitioners by the Insolvency Practitioners Association. Christopher Marsden is authorized to act in the UK as an …

Spark Solo Gets ZeroAvia Sponsorship

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Mike Friend, retired Technology Director for Boeing Aircraft, and Gabriel DeVault, head of drivetrain development for ZeroAvia, are putting a Zero motorcycle motor into Mike’s Spark Solo.  There are perhaps dozens of Zero motors flying today, and the 42-pound unit has evolved to powering even two-seat motorgliders like Gabriel’s Sonex Xenos. An Ambitious Project Mike came up with the Spark Solo design as a way to, “Encompass the design process” as well as the “piloting and fabricating” aspects of a project.  He wanted to, “Define an airplane uniquely designed around electric propulsion,” noting that, “Past efforts have almost always been adaptations of internal-combustion powered airplanes.”  To help forward his design, Mike has been working with his local EAA chapter, for which he is past president. Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) chapter 406, “Is creating BACE (Bremerton Aviation Center for Education), a place where people can come to learn hands-on skills in airplane design, construction, and maintenance. Our shop area and flight …

The Media Are Finally Catching On

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The media are catching on.  CBS News this morning and Public Broadcasting next week are presenting reports on electric aircraft.  Your editor became aware of CBS’s report this morning at 3:00 a. m., being awakened after falling asleep earlier mid-joke during Stephen Colbert’s show.  It was a pleasant way to face the day. CBS explains, “Of all the major industries that spew out planet-warming greenhouse gasses, one stands out as unfixable – so far. Fossil fuel power plants can be replaced with wind and solar power. One can switch to electric cars. But as Mark Phillips reports from the British Aviation History Museum for the ‘CBS This Morning’ series Eye on Earth, the one thing aircraft have had in common down through the ages is aviation fuel. A commercially viable electric airplane cannot yet be made, aviation fuel is too powerful to replace with batteries.”  The tone seemed somewhat negative, even though the report showed several examples of electric aircraft …

Two Cutting Edge Batteries – How Soon?

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Hope reigns eternal for those tracking battery developments.  But for once, or even twice, there may be a glimmer of hope with two cutting edge batteries.  Researchers at Zhejiang University in China and Harvard University in America report promising numbers for very approaches, as divergent as their geographical locations.  Ultrafast All-climate Aluminum-graphene Battery with Quarter-million Cycle Life Researchers at the verbosely named MOE Key Laboratory of Macromolecular Synthesis and Functionalization, Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, Key Laboratory of Adsorption and Separation Materials and Technologies of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University, announced their extreme long-life battery under the almost equally verbose title shown above. The journal Science Advances published the research team’s paper in its December 15, 2017 issue, making one wonder why it’s only now being noted in publications here. The abstract for the paper reports remarkably high charge retention after a quarter million cycles and what would seem abusive “folding.”  “Rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries are promising in high-power density but …

Air Race E: Three Classes, 18 Teams

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Air Race E is gathering momentum, now comprising two airplane classes and one eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft) class.  Seven teams are officially entered and 11 “registered and confidential.”  Teams hail from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Malaysia, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic.  This worldwide interest stems from a Dubai-based headquarters and intellectual centers in Europe, America and the Far East. Your editor knows, for instance, that Richard Glassock is working at the University of Nottingham on a Cassutt racer intended for e-racing. That is likely just one of two British teams and one of several fielding modified cassutts, a well-proven design with a fifty-year history. A Pair of Introductions Two videos highlight the excitement of the proposed events, but spare the more technical aspects of the sport.  They’re selling the matches to prospective spectators. In this longer video, Jeff Zaltman talks about the technical challenges and provides some insight …

That’s the eSpirit!

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We reported in the blog four years ago that Embry Riddle Aeronautical University not only displayed their eSpirit of St. Louis at AirVenture that year, but ran the motor for the crowd.  The crowd included Federal Aviation Administrator Michael Huerta, who sat in the cockpit during the runup. The eSpirit of St. Louis A product of Embry-Riddle, eSpirit is finally making its presence on the taxiway known.  Kelly Pratt, writing in the Embry Riddle Aeronautical News, reports, “After nearly four years of perseverance, the Eagle Flight Research Center (EFRC) team at Embry-Riddle is celebrating a milestone in its electric propulsion research: its Diamond HK-36 completed a successful taxi test exclusively on electrical power at the Daytona Beach International Airport.” Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles, has been a guiding factor in eSpirit’s development, and the airplane reflects his grandfather’s “notion of balance between aviation and the environment.” The quarter-mile on the taxiway may seem like a short trip, but student Sanay …

Harbor Air’s eBeaver, MagniX’s Motor, H55’s Batteries

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In our last blog entry, we discussed a three-partner enterprise with an American airframe propelled by a French motor powered by British batteries.  In this round, we have a Canadian airframe powered by an Australian/American motor driven by Swiss batteries.  These international collaborations may pay off in big ways. Datelined Vancouver, B.C., Everett, WA, and Sion, Switzerland, the joint press release shows a strong and well-organized partnership in action.  “Harbour Air, North America’s largest seaplane airline; magniX the company powering the electric aviation revolution; and H55, the spin off from Solar Impulse, producing highly efficient certified battery packs, announced a partnership to certify the world’s first electric Beaver (eBeaver) commuter airplane through a supplemental type certificate (STC) program.”  H55 is a part, also, of the Solar Impulse Foundation, organized to promote “1000+ efficient and profitable solutions to protect the environment.”  Their collaboration with Harbour Air and magniX is one of those solutions. Even though a small airline (40 aircraft) flying …

Bye, Oxis, Safran Create Electric Business Liner

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Bye Aerospace, Oxis Energy and the Safran Group have introduced an, “Eight-seat all-electric twin turbo-prop class airplane, the eFlyer 800™.”  It’s a fascinating combination of new airframe, new batteries, and new motors.  An American airplane powered by English batteries and propelled by French motors will be an international accomplishment, to say the least. The Airplane Maybe not coincidentally with Earth Day, Forbes magazine ran the following introduction.  “Bye Aerospace has announced an eight-seat all-electric twin turbo-prop class airplane, the eFlyer 800™, in response to growing demands for regional all-electric airplanes with significantly reduced operating costs, plus increased capacity and utility.” The craft, roughly equivalent to a Beechcraft King Air 260 in every respect except range, will be a fully-electric luxury machine capable of carrying one or two pilots and up to seven passengers.  Cruising at up to 320 knots (368 mph) at 35,000 feet would make quick business of its 500 nautical mile (575 statute mile) range.  It will have …