Jean-Luc Soullier, holder of Fédération Aéronautique Internationale records for speed and altitude in an aircraft almost lighter than its pilot, has a greater series of ambitions to expand the range and speed of electric aircraft. Having stretched the limits of his Colomban MC-30e with two different motors, he’s looking at a longer-spanned, cleaner aircraft – the Windward Performance Duckhawk – as a means of getting higher speed and much longer range for a truly formidable (tres formidable) crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, not once, but twice. The airplane, with a Rotex motor on the nose and a specially-designed Arplast three-bladed propeller, will weigh a mere 105 kilograms (231 pounds) empty – without batteries. This is considerably less than the lightest Duckhawk in standard form, and shows that designer Greg Cole and Jean-Luc are making room for the added weight of long-range energy storage. Since the original airplane manages +7.5/-5 g’s, the lighter version will be restricted to a never-exceed velocity …
EMG-6 Takes First Hops
Brian Carpenter of Adventure Aircraft Inc. (part of his Rainbow Aviation Company) must trust his engineering, since he acted as his own test pilot for the first flights of his EMG-6 ultralight glider, a craft with options of mounting one, two, three (or even four, as Brian suggests) electric motors. As an ultralight motor glider it can carry a pilot, ballistic parachute, and a small powerpack with one motor, controller and batteries. Depending on the pilot’s weight, the airplane might be able to self launch and reach soaring altitude, or for heavier payloads, use the motor as a sustainer unit after a ground or aircraft tow to seek out distant thermals. While waiting for this next development, look at the number three test flight, towed from the runway by a “quad” all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and on landing demonstrating a remarkably short landing roll into only a 9-mph wind. Currently favored, the Plettenberg Predator motor and a Schulze 400-Amp motor controller …