Jean-Baptiste’s Disruptive Electrifly-in Win

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Jean-Baptiste Loiselet is a disruptive force seemingly immune to conventional thinking.  Funding what he calls a “hybrid” aircraft from his life savings, he has flown his solar sailplane around France, set a world altitude record for electric microlight aircraft, demonstrated its airworthiness at the 2024 Paris Air Show, and recently won his third Electrifly-in award at Bern, Switzerland. The term “disruptive” is one of esteem in high-tech America, but translated into French, the hashtag “rupture” leads to Jean-Baptiste’s LinkedIn site or even to his Des Ailes pour la Planète (Wings for the Planet) website.  The following, a translation of the original French, shows how words can be misapprehended. “⚡️ Rupture or not rupture?  (disruption or not disruption?  Your editor’s interpretation.) “🏆 For the third year in a row, I’m at the top of the podium in Electrifly-In Switzerland for the sole reason that I’m the only one in my category: hybrid. “🌱 Hybrid because the Sol.Ex. is a bit of …

H55 Does a Grand Tour of America

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

H55, the Swiss electric light aircraft spin-off of the Solar Impulse Foundation under Andre’ Borschberg’s leadership, has toured America from sunny Florida to sunny California and back to New York’s Hamptons. H55’s Tour of America While Beta’s Alia is making the Grand Tour of Europe, the H55-powered Bristel B25 Energic has made its own Grand Tour of the New World. Completing a “landmark tour” of America, H55’s Bristell B23 Energic went literally from sea to shining sea, visited eight states, and proved its Electric Propulsion System (EPS) to be reliable and trouble-free.  According to H55, the small craft “completed 192 all-electric passenger flights, and [visited] 25 airports across Florida, Alabama, Arizona, Nevada, California, Colorado, Wisconsin, and New York. In Florida alone, the little Energic managed 14 Airport-to-airport flights, 36 demonstration flights, and 12 Static events.  H55 hosted 30 Certified Flight Instructors (CFI and CFII), aeronautical and aviation professors at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Liberty University, and Florida Institute of Technology, two aerospace …

Solarstratos’ New Altitude Record

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Raphael Domjan’s SolarStratos set a new world altitude record for solar-powered aircraft, 9,521 meters, or 31,237 feet, on August 12, 2025. That CBS News and other press outlets saw fit to cover the event is a significant change in coverage from just having the normal technical details explained in the aviation press. The network explained, “The SolarStratos plane made the landmark flight from Sion airport in southwest Switzerland on Tuesday, taking advantage of warm air thermals to go beyond the record that has stood for 15 years.  (That record was held by Andre’ Borschberg in the Solar Impulse.) “The certified altitude record for a solar plane stands at 9,235 meters, or 30,298 feet. “The achievement is ‘one of those unforgettable peaks that define great human and technological adventures,’ the SolarStratos mission said in a statement.” CBS noted the moment when Solarstratos crossed paths with a commercial airliner, “a powerful symbol of what the decarbonized aviation of tomorrow might look like.” …

Getting Battery Materials Without China or Child Labor

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, hydrogen, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Imagine finding essential battery materials in a common mineral and reducing atmospheric CO2 as a side benefit.  Imagine finding a source of these necessary materials without the need to negotiate with China or enrich those who employ child labor for their wealth.  Good News Network (not as Pollyanish as it may sound) featured a picture of a young woman working in a laboratory and the headline, “Chemical Process Produces Critical Battery Metals From This Unloved Mineral With No Waste.” Often, material other than the sought-for material is the largest amount of stuff removed from a mine.  Its worth is usually low because the labor and time involved in extracting any usable minerals is too great for the profits that might be realized.  This seems to be changing with a New Zealand firm called Aspiring Materials. Good News took its lead from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which featured Aspiring Materials in its journal, IEEE Spectrum.   That journal …

Pivotal Helix Becomes Fire Department Volunteer

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The Pivotal Helix eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) Aircraft “Gains Warm Response from California Fire Agencies in Multi-Agency Demonstration Series.”  That’s the headline for a Pivotal press release on its recent demonstration for three southern California fire departments.  Seeming to be almost a response to Dr. Brien Seeley’s recent front-page opinion section editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle, Pivotal’s live show helped emergency responders see how rapid aerial response could aid their missions.   Dropping in on stations at the San Bernardino County Fire Department, Southern Marin Fire District (SMFD), and Cosumnes Fire Department, Pivotal personnel gave flight demonstrations and let firefighters try their hand at simulator flying. As Pivotal’s press release notes, “Each demo showcased the potential of Pivotal’s single-seat aircraft to dramatically improve emergency response capabilities, especially in locations where time, terrain and traffic can mean the difference between life and death.” Ken Karklin, CEO of Pivotal, added, “Our aircraft offers a cost-effective, rapidly deployable solution …

Toyota – Solid State or Aluminum?

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Toyota has been coy with the idea of battery-powered cars, avoiding discussion of their presence in the world for several years, and now springing dual surprises in solid-state and aluminum cells. For several years, Toyota had been promoting a hydrogen fuel system, even developing a hydrogen-based trucking program from its San Diego docks.  and at an Ontario, California location.  They’ve been campaigning a sub-compact Yaris sedan which burns H2 directly, rather than using a fuel-cell electric approach.  Those efforts seem ongoing, perhaps camouflaging their very real battery efforts, which must have been underway for at least a few years.  Proof of that, Toyota has over 8,000 patents for solid-state energy storage. Toyota has been working, “With Japanese petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan to mass produce solid-state batteries. The collaboration will focus on sulfide solid electrolytes, a promising material for EV batteries.”  This partnership has been ongoing since 2013. The chart below, though, shows a renewed and current (no pun intended) interest …

VoltAero Unveils Production Cassio 330 at Paris Air Show

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

VoltAero has unveiled its production Cassio 330 hybrid electric aircraft at the Paris Air Show 2025, revealing a new look and revised, simplified technology.  Aerotime explains the craft is a result of VoltAero working with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness certification agency. The original twin-boom configuration has been replaced with a T-tail, and its original parallel-hybrid power train with an internal combustion (thermal) engine inside the fuselage and two aft-fuselage-mounted Safran ENGINeUS smart electric motors on each side of the fuselage under the T-tail.  The internal combustion engine drives a generator that recharges the airplane’s onboard batteries in a serial hookup. Changing to a single fuselage eliminates the potential of damage to the twin booms if a propeller blade fails.  VoltAero explains, “The new configuration has a fully redundant architecture for operational safety. This begins with the two aft-fuselage-mounted Safran ENGINeUS smart electric motors, placing the Cassio 330 in the multi-engine aircraft category and opening its potential use in commercial …

Beta Does New York, and Ireland Too

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

Beta Technologies, having flown its Alia from coast-to-coast and back, extebds its reach to New York City and even Shannon, Ireland. Beta Lands in New York Having completed an epic cross-country tour of the United States, a Beta Alia made a triumphant return to its Vermont home accompanied by two of its stable-mates.  Flying magazine pointed out some significant features of the long cross-country trip that preceded this homecoming.  “The trip was more than a public relations exercise, though. N916LF flew in VFR (Visual Flight Rules), IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), day, and night conditions through snowstorms and scorching heat—an impressive validation of its systems considering Beta registered the model with the FAA less than six months ago.” The First Electric Aircraft Landing at JFK A little more than two months after that return, Beta staged its next demonstration of Alia’s versatility. by performing the first all-electric aircraft landing at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. Reuters reported, “Beta Technologies …

Pyka, a Potential Fire Supression Vehicle

Dean Sigler Autonomous Aircraft, Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Pyka is an innovative company that’s been flying autonomously for over seven years.  Currently used in agricultural crop spraying and dusting operations, it seems to this editor that it could be a superb fire suppression vehicle.  Pyka’s youthful and exuberant crew would certainly be up to the task. Pyka’s latest product is a four-motor variant of their crop-spraying agricultural aircraft.  Holding 70 gallons of crop-fertilizing or bug-fighting liquid, the Cub-size craft can treat crops autonously, Because it’s autonomous with no pilot, Pyka is not risking anyone on board and can still fly after dark on its LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)-based guidance. Interesting Engineering.com explains, “this technology utilizes pulsed lasers to accurately and constantly measure distances to a given target or area. LiDAR sensors are essentially light-based measurement and mapping tools that are incredibly useful in a variety of sectors.” Besides that, it has the coolest position lights of anything in the air. Pyka announced a partnership with Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft company, five …

CATL Gets Salty with Batteries

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CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) in China is promoting a different battery technology that promises lower costs and a greater life span than lithium cells.  This is another way to soften the demand for lithium, which often seems in short supply.  We reported on another approach, recycling used EV battery packs, last month.  This time, we’ll look at using sodium as an active ingredient in battery cells, starting with this three-minute primer on the difference between iithium and sodium batteries. Note that lithium batteries can use NMC (nickel, manganese, and cobalt) in their cathodes.  Like lithium, nickel and cobalt are hard to find, and cobalt often comes with the curse of being mined by children in slave conditions.  LFP, or lithium iron phosphate batteries have the advantage of having more readily available materials and being somewhat safer than lithium/NMC cells. CATL’s NAXTRA Battery CATL recently presented us with several offerings in new battery technology, but NAXTRA is probably of …