Whisper Aero – Ultralight to Heavy

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Whisper Aero, Mark Moore’s startup in Crossville, Tennessee, fields devices to move air, ranging from leaf blowers to fairly large airplanes.  The company recently showed a lineup of three aircraft, starting with a dual-motor powered flying wing hang glider to a nine-passenger silent medium-range carrier.  Each benefits from the quiet propulsion system developed by Moore and his team. The Whisper Lineup Whisper Aero plans a range of craft from a single-seat ultralight sailplane to a small lightplane-size cargo carrier to a nine-passenger transport.  All are capable of flying autonomously, and all will be powered by from two to 30 Whisper Aero eQ250 propulsors, each capable of 80 pounds of thrust.  In this video, Manfred Ruhmer, seven-time world Class 2 ultralight soaring champion among other honors, shows off his Aeriane Swift 3, taken aloft by an Eck-Geiger electric motor, and then elevated by its light weight and Manfred’s piloting skills.  It will be fascinating to see how The ship will perform …

A Good Friend, Richard Steeves, Passes

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Richard Steeves, a good and dear friend has passed, known for his achievements in medicine and among his friends for leading a long-term aviation club and even constructing a Coot Amphibian and electric ultralight airplane. Many will know him from his leadership of the Coot Builder’s Club, a group of enthusiasts who build and fly Molt Taylor’s design.  The organization publishes a newsletter that Richard edited for an astonishing 50 years.  He became great friends with Moulton (Molt) Taylor, the designer of the Coot, and wrote books and articles about the amphibian.  Now, with Richard’s passing, Andrew Wayne will take over running the organization and publishing the newsletter, which promotes the continued building and flying of this craft. In the early days of aircraft home-building, enthusiasts had to find plans for their intended craft, materials, and if possible, supportive local help.  This made building a Coot especially challenging.  Managing construction of a complex airplane with retractable landing gear, and mastering …

Sustainability at AeroExpo2025: Alphafrog

Dean Sigler Batteries, Biofuels, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hybrid Aircraft, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

This year’s AeroExpo was particularly supportive of sustainability, with green balloons over “green” displays, a series of seminars on electric, hydrogen, and other clean skies aspirants, and flight demonstrations showing how far the industry and the Friedrichshafen exhibit have come. Alphafrog’s Illustrious Ancestor Alphafrog is a reintroduced and wildly updated ultralight from the 1970s, the Sirocco.  Its high wing, pusher engine, and forward cockpit made for a comfortable way to cruise at leisurely speeds while avoiding the rigors of more open aviating.  Even the original 1983 version, a wire-braced monoplane with three-axis control, had a polyester fiber-glass fuselage and fiber-glass leading edges on wings and tail surfaces.  Spars were “bidirectional stratified” composite construction.  (Burger-Burr’s Ultralight Aircraft of the World, 1983, a Foulis Aviation Book) The original, even with a partially-open cockpit, was capable of an around-the-world tour.  As Alphafrog relates, “Forty years ago, on September 29, 1984, Patrice Franceschi embarked on the first circumnavigation of the world with an ultralight …

Beta Barnstorms America

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Chris Stoner of eVTOL Insights reported that a Beta (Technologies) aircraft [completed] a “stunning” 3,064 nautical mile flight across America on March 4, the Beta Barnstorm.  Its headline-provoking journey gave many their first glimpse of a “mature” electric aviation product – one that could have great consequences in many areas. The Beta Alia CX300’s flight was charged along the eastern part of its route with an established network of charging and pilot rest stations built over the last several years by Beta.  Westward, the flight was assisted by a ground crew that brought Beta’s portable chargers to each destination airport.  Beta’s diverse and talented workforce is building a formidable network that will enhance electric aviation and its support structure through the next several decades. Nate Dubie and Noah Ranallo piloted the aircraft on a rotating basis while a small ground crew leapfrogged their efforts to provide backup and data capture. A Growing Network Beta’s network can be a precursor for …

Pipistel NUUVA V300 Lifts Off

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Pipistrel’s LinkedIn page features a happy headline and the culmination of a long development process. “Reaching new heights! ✈️ We’re thrilled to share that the Nuuva V300 – our long-range, large-capacity hybrid-electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) unmanned aircraft – successfully completed its first hover flight. 👏” Pipistrel, a division of Textron eAviation, announced that its new NUUVA V300 hybrid-electric unmanned VTOL aircraft successfully completed its first flight on January 31, 2025, in Gorizia, northeastern Italy, next to the Slovenian border. The page continues, “With a 600-pound payload and a range of up to 300 nautical miles, the aircraft’s unique capabilities and robust design will not only transform logistics, but also play a crucial role in commercial and defense missions such as search and rescue, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and ship-to-shore deliveries.” AeroTime reports that the newly flown heavy lifter can haul up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds or three Euro pallets) up to 300  kiilometers (186 miles).  Reporter Miquel Ros …

Beta from Norway to New Zealand

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Beta Technologies, Kyle Clark’s electric flight dream, is making inroads promoting clean aviation.  It’s impressive enough an effort the Today Show called.  Beta is not only capturing the attention of mainstream media in the U.S., but overseas with projects in Norway and New Zealand. The two countries are at extreme ends of the earth, but both share often cold climates, supposedly anethema to battery-powered vehicles. Electric Flight in a Country Courting EVs Despite its frigid northern latitude, Norway is on an electric roll.  CNBC headlines, “Norway is set to become the first country to fully transition to electric vehicles.”  The report shows a dramatic increase in EV acceptance.  “The country’s electric vehicle sales have increased from less than 1% of total auto sales in 2010 to a whopping 88.9% last year.”   CNBC notes, “Despite its vast oil and gas reserves, the Nordic country has long been recognized as a global leader in sustainable transportation.” Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian …

RX4E Certified

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The Rhyxeon RX4E has become the first passenger-carrying electric aircraft to be certified in China.  After a five-year development program, the four-seat airplane will join flight lines across the country, and perhaps in other nations.  Slated for use in less-developed countries, the craft could provide transport in Asia, Africa, and other areas lacking extensive road networks or facing challenging terrain.  Flying magazing reports, “FLYING interviewed Volar CEO Henry Hooi in April in Abu Dhabi, one of several locations worldwide it aims to fly the zero-emission aircraft. Hooi said the company will initially target RX4E operations in Southeast Asia before expanding to Africa and the Middle East, honing in on regions with traditionally poor aviation access. Use cases for the design, he said, might include private aviation, island hopping, tourism, agriculture, aerial photography, and even medical evacuations.” Having flown the battery-powered RX4E for at least the last five years, and even developing a hydrogen-powered version, the factory is turning to mass production …

Donuts with Incredible Power and Torque

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Out of Stealth Mode Donut Lab, according to Green Car Reports, is a Finnish firm and outgrowth of Verge Motorcycles.  The Lab came out of “stealth mode”  with a surprise announcement at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  Here, CEO and co-founder of the lab, Marko Lehtimaki discusses the significance of his company’s electric donuts. It’s a bit hard describing this type of motor.  It’s not radial or axial flux, but maybe toroidal flux.  Wikipedia goes into a short, but challenging description of a toroid, which is, in short, “The torus is an example of a toroid, which is the surface of a doughnut. Doughnuts are an example of a solid torus created by rotating a disk, and are not toroids.” On a more practical level, motors created in this shape have the advantage of having the active elements at a distance from the geometric center of the motor.  On the large automotive and truck motors, this distance is 21 …

ElFly Looks to the Future

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Elfly, the recently-formed Norwegian aircraft company, looks to a future of responsible, emission-free flight with its nine-to-thirteen passenger amphibians.  Three partners, Eric Lithun (Chief Executive Officer), Tomas Brødreskift (Chief Technology Officer), and Eirik Sandal (Chief Financial Officer), are dedicated to making electric flight along the seaside an everyday occurrence. Lithun was interviewed about the new machine and explained its benefits. Note the humility of the team’s vision and their willingness to learn during the development process.  As Lithun explains, they can save funds by staying in the nine-passenger mode and expanding with market opportunities.  That market may be imminent, with recent announcements of letters of intent Recent interest jumped after a “dry spell” during which Lithun had difficulty finding interest in his “niche” seaplane.  That now seems over with Danish operator Nordic Seaplanes signing an agreement for 15 Noemis.     This would make Nordic, the only European operator of scheduled seaplane operations, as Elfly’s first customer.  Contingent on Noemi’s certification …

zepp.solutions has an Aeronautical Solution

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

Working With the NLR zepp.solutions is a multi-faceted Dutch firm intent on finding ways to apply hydrogen propulsion systems to sea, land, and aeronautical applications.  Their ultimate product will be the conversion of an eighty-passenger fossil-fuel powered commuter liner into a zero-emission vehicle that loses a few paying passenger to the goal of flying in clean air.  Working with the The Netherlands Aerospace Center (NLR), zepp will start with a Pipistrel Electro Velis as a proof-of-concept machine that will test new fuel cells and associated gear. zepp describes the large-scale partnership of which it is a part.  “This major Dutch partnership aims at building a hydrogen system for aircraft, completely green, from fuel to propulsion. The system will be scalable to larger aircraft. And it is entirely of Dutch origin. This will make the Netherlands the world’s leading supplier of hydrogen-powered aircraft,” according to zepp. “Hydrogen Aircraft Powertrain and Storage System (HAPSS)* is an entirely Dutch public-private partnership, set up …