A Documentary about an Historic Electric Flight

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Saturday, April 22, from 2:00 PDT to 3:00 PDT, you will be able to view the world premier of a documentary by Remy Oktay about his  historic electric flight in a Pipistrel in 2022.  This would involve a flyover at his alma mater’s homecoming football game, giving his classmates an opportunity to see an electric airplane in action for the first time. The film will be shown at an event in San Francisco, but if you’re not in the neighborhood, you can register here to see it on line.  The event’s announcement should help you find the venue. ​”If this event has reached capacity or you would like to attend virtually, please register for the livestream here – https://lu.ma/7c8o06u9 ​”Silent Skies follows the groundbreaking journey of the college students who orchestrated and piloted the first-ever crewed electric airplane stadium flyover. Witness this milestone in America’s transition to electric aviation. “​This film premiere event features a presentation by students Remy Oktay ’24 and …

Heart Aerospace, BAE Collaborate on Batteries

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Heart Aerospace, a Swedish startup, has teamed with BAE Systems, a veteran British aerospace supplier, to help with powering its 30-seat, battery-powered airliner.  The four-motor craft will include a very large battery pack under the passenger compartment.  The need for safety should be obvious. Adding eleven seats to its original 19-seat platform, Heart also brings a turbo generator on board, enabling flights up to 400 kilometers (250 miles) with 30 passengers, or even 800 kilometers (500 miles) with 25.  These figures include normal airline range reserves. Partners include BAE Systems, Swedish aerospace group Saab, avionics supplier Garmin, and Aernnova, a Spanish airframe specialist. BAE’s UK-based group’s Controls and Avionics Solutions operation in upstate New York will oversee the batteries and their control and monitoring.   This fits BAE’s expertise, with more than 25 years of experience electrifying large, heavy-duty industrial vehicles with over 15,000 power and propulsion systems in service worldwide.  This will be critical considering the placement of the batteries. …

Electric Pterodactyl is a Blast from the Past

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Cory O’Neill recently test flew a special conversion of a classic ultralight, the Electric Pterodactyl Ascender.  Rising from the desert near Pahrump, Nevada, the light canard was propelled by an open-source power paraglider motor and battery pack – all neatly bundled in a back-pack-size unit. A True Cross-Country Trip An early flying wing version of what became the Pterodactyl, the Pfledge lacked a canard and relied on a combination of weight shift and aerodynamic controls.  Its designer, Jack McCornack and an early customer, Dave Froble, flew a pair of these craft from Monterrey, California to the 1979 Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  According to Ultralight News.com, “They made a big stir in Oshkosh that year – it is still referred to as ‘the year that ultralights really caught on’. At Oshkosh the editor of the Mother Earth News, an ecological publication, challenged the pair to fly on to Kitty Hawk, [North Carolina] on pure ethanol and offered to …

Amprius Announces 500 Watt-Hour per Kilogram Cell

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Amprius has announced a 500 Watt-hour per kilogram cell, essentially doubling the energy density available up to now.  Remember, though, that cell-levels of energy drop as the cells are incorporated into modules and packs, carrying the burdens of containment packaging, bus bars, and battery management systems (BMS) that lower total output.  Pack levels will be lower. Slow Progress This comes as the culmination of at least 14 year’s work, starting with Yi Cui’s work at Stanford University.  Your editor first saw him at a 2009 CAFE Foundation symposium at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California.  He was a proponent of the 10X battery, which at that time would have meant 10 times the energy storage of then typical cells, or around 10 times the 200 Watt-hours per kilogram then considered to be a respectable achievement. This blog reported in 2013, “According to Green Car Congress, ‘The company has also demonstrated greater than 650 and 700 Wh/L batteries with …

Nudging, Then Doubling an Electric Distance Record

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Suddenly, we’re seeing new electric aircraft nudging, then doubling an electric distance record.  First, Autoflight in China and then Beta in America achieve higher ranges than that previously achieved by Joby. Jules Verne Saw It Coming In two late 19th-century novels, Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World, Jules Verne chronicled the fictional adventurers of a mad inventor who thought he could dissuade world leaders from practicing war by bombing them from his Albatross flying warship.  A great deal like Captain Nemo of Nautilus fame, Robur uses violence to stop violence.  Both protagonists fail in their efforts. The Albatross, mistaken as its objectives were, is perhaps an inspiration for today’s eVTOLs, propellers spinning for lift and for forward motion.  Verne even prophesied fueling the Albatross with water, perhaps an early vision of today’s water-splitting to produce green hydrogen. Autoflight With far fewer rotors and propellers, Autoflight achieved a successful transition flight from vertical liftoff to forward flight.  This delicate …

Monash Makes Motors – and Fuel from Thin Air

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

Monash University announced a new type of electric aircraft motor and the promise of a fuel that could power everything from your smart watch to your airplane in the future.  Both rely on unique ways of seeing the physical world around us. The Kite Magnetic Motor Charles Alcock, writing for FutureFlight.com, discusses Kite Magnetics’ 120 kilowatt (160 horsepower) electric propulsion unit (EPU) intended for a variety of light aircraft applications.  part of a program at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, the motor could find applications in “conventional fixed-wing aircraft, as well as eVTOL and eSTOL designs, high-altitude satellites, and wing-in-ground craft,” according to the University. At its core, the motor relies on the University’s patented Aeroperm™ magnetic material.  This lightweight nanocrystalline substance is part of a soft amorphous metal matrix.  Unlike traditional iron materials in motors, however, Aeroperm does not exhibit iron’s normal “lossiness.”  Instead, it loses energy at “one-tenth the rate of existing magnetic materials used in current electrical …

Enovix BrakeFlow™ Stops Thermal Runaway

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Enovix battery architecture including its exclusive BrakeFlow™ system enables 100-percent silicon in their silicon/lithium electrodes and prevents battery fires.  Battery fires, particularly on or in an airplane, are potential disasters.  One such incident occurred recently on United Air Lines flight 2664 planned from San Diego International Airport to Newark New Jersey’s Liberty International Airport. Things went awry when a battery pack in the passenger compartment started to smoke and caught fire.  Seven passengers were injured, four of whom were hospitalized.  The Boeing 737 Max 8 was just starting its flight, turned around, and landed back at San Diego after only 10 minutes in the air.  Taxi times were greater than the flight time.  It was probably more than a bit scary for the passengers and crew. As explained in the NBC video, battery fires are increasing in number, probably because of the increasing number of electronic devices that use lithium batteries. Based in Fremont, California, Enovix, has developed an architecture …

NUNCATS’ Electric Zenith Flies

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NUNCATS: No Unnecessary Novelty Community Air Transport Services. A Mission NUNCATS, as your editor mused, is not a hip religious order, but a determined husband and wife team intent on doing good in the world with electric aeronautics.  They proclaim their mission as, “To provide a dependable lifeline for the world’s remote communities, to offer hands-on experience and STEM learning opportunities, and enable sports flyers to convert to cleaner, greener energy.” They add a practical approach to their mission.  “We deliver this by integrating the existing technologies of proven light aircraft, electric propulsion, and solar power generation, for maximum social and environmental impact. We are augmenting existing microgrid installations and providing the necessary infrastructure where needed.” Their All-electric Zenith “Sky Jeep” completed its first flight on January 20, 2023.  The group has plans “to transport doctors and medical supplies in remote areas of the world.”  The Sky Jeep, a Zenith CH 750 Cruzer has big tires and the ability to …

AeroDelft and ETH Cellsius’ Future Flies in Clean Skies

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

Two groups of students, AeroDelft in The Netherlands and ETH Cellsius in Switzerland, are making great progress on some extremely advanced aeronautical projects.  Each school’s ultimate goal seems to be flying with liquid hydrogen, and each has a slightly different approach to that goal. AeroDelft: Starting Small AeroDelft, the student-led project at Delft University of Technology, flew a 1/3 scale model that closely resembles e-Genius in July.  Its 1,500 Watt (two kilowatt) motor is powered by 40 grams (1.411 ounces) of gaseous hydrogen initially, but will transition to liquid H2 later in the program.  380 grams (13.4 ounces) of the more potent fuel will allow three hours endurance and a range of almost 300 kilometers (186 miles) Since that flight, the team has exhibited at various trade shows and advanced work on its Sling 4 two-seat light aircraft.   The 920 kilogram (2,024 pound) maximum takeoff weight aircraft, powered by a 110 kilowatt (147.4 horsepower) motor flies on battery power for …

Carbon and Oxygen and Dirt Cheap Batteries

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Carbon and oxygen comprise a big part of the universe, and are essential to life on earth. They may also be the answer for long-term energy storage in a promising battery development from Noon Energy.  “100 hours of storage at one-tenth the cost of lithium-ion batteries for long-duration storage.” It started on Mars According to Electrek, “Chris Graves, Noon Energy’s founder and CEO launched the company in 2018 After helping to develop NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover MOXIE device, which produces oxygen from the Martian carbon dioxide atmosphere.”  According to TechCrunch, “The device sucks in carbon dioxide and strips off an oxygen atom, which it stores on board. The remaining carbon monoxide is exhausted into the thin Martian atmosphere. MOXIE, by the way, is an acronym for “Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment. ISRU is another acronym, In Situ Resource Utilization,” or on-site use of available resources.  MOXIE was also the name of an early carbonated soft drink or  energy beverage. On Mars, MOXIE …