Eric Raymond is a real pioneer in electric aviation. Decades before Solar Impulse made its epic flights Eric navigated his solar-powered Sunseeker I across the United States in 21 hops, traveling from Desert Center, California to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. He flew over the Matterhorn on his way from Germany to Italy in Sunseeker II. He and his wife Irena build the world’s first two-seat solar-powered airplane, the Duo, which they regularly fly over Italy and Switzerland. He shared the promise and mystique of such flight with the readers of Travel Forward recently. The Future is Electric: Exploring the World in a Two Seat Solar Powered Airplane MAY 18, 2020 BY TRAVEL FORWARD While Tesla and other car manufacturers are changing the way we commute, prototype electric airplanes are set to change the way we fly in the future. Aviation has become the last frontier to become more environmentally friendly, even though technology devolved for electric vehicles can be adapted for …
A Joyous Boxing Day Electrified
Boxing Day is a holiday unique to the British Empire, a day-after Christmas gift-giving celebration in which the well-off gave gifts to their servants. Yahoo Entertainment explains, “While there is some dispute over what the name actually means, it’s commonly believed that Boxing Day refers to the habit of aristocratic employees gifting their servants or tradesman on Dec. 26 as a thank you for their work throughout the year. The employers would give them each a box to take home to their family with gifts, bonuses and leftover food. “Samuel Pepys, a naval administrator and Member of Parliament, is famous for writing in his diary in 1663: ‘Thence by coach to my shoemaker’s and paid all there, and gave something to the boys’ box against Christmas.’” Certainly some regifting was in action, a chance for the upper class to get rid of fruitcakes sent by maiden aunts, or to reward particularly meritorious servants. In the spirit of Boxing Day, your …
Solar Flight Calendar: Just in Time for the Holidays
A Glorious Calendar Eric and Irina Raymond, besides being skilled solar-powered airplane builders, designers, and pilots are also professional photographers. Their 2020 Solar Flight calendar highlights all those skills and provides historical background for their work. Besides that – it’s gorgeous. With a baker’s dozen stunning color photos, and historical black-and-white archival images on the back of each month’s offering, the calendar is a nice blend of modern artistry and the chronicle of an eventful past. Did you know, for instance, that Eric flew the first solar-powered aircraft across America in 1990 – 23 years before Solar Impulse’s journey? One episode on Eric’s blog is worthy of attention. “At my slow flying speed, I often flew in formation with flocks of birds. Nearing the Appalachian Mountains, I flew with the same three black birds two days in a row. They were still following me when I reached the highest part of the mountain range that I needed to cross. I …
Sunseeker Duo – The Uniquely Big Picture
Unique People Eric Raymond was the first person to fly across the United States on solar power in 1990 in Sunseeker 1. He was the first to fly on the sun’s rays over the Matterhorn in 2009 in Sunseeker 2. He and his wife Irena built the Sunseeker Duo and routinely fly it around northern Italy and over the Alps into Switzerland. Eric has more hours piloting a solar-powered airplane than anyone, and Irena is probably the most experienced female solar pilot. Only Bertrand Piccard and Andre’ Borschberg in the Solar Impulse would have anywhere need as much time at the controls. Janice Brown, “a…former elementary school teacher” flew Paul MacCready’s Gossamer Penguin and Solar Challenger, even achieving a record altitude of 15,300 feet in 1981. But Irena has by now easily exceeded Ms. Brown’s total solar flight time. Eric and Irena are professional photographers, and all of Eric’s designs have sliding canopies or large openings to allow use …
Fred To Receives a Well-Deserved Award
Fred To (pronounced Toe) lives in England and was one of a small group who built and flew the world’s first solar-powered airplane in December 1978. They flew just a few months before Larry Mauro lofted his solar-riser in April 1979. Both airplanes were limited by the technology of the day, lithium-ion batteries still over a decade away, and the best solar cells achieving less than five-percent efficiency. Fred wrote to tell your editor of the award. “I was in Montreux Switzerland a few weeks ago, and on the 22nd of October I received an award from prince Albert II of Monaco for Solar One, which is now formally accepted as the first solar powered aircraft to fly. It was a great occasion and my family are so proud. All the great past pioneers were there and it was an honor to meet them; now I have new friends from all over the world. ” The occasion, described on Raphael …
Exciting News from Eric Raymond and Dr. Van Helsing
We are excited to share this press release from Eric Raymond at Solar Flight. Being in on things at the beginning of an extraordinary new technology is something that we strive for in this blog. We were alerted to this by Dr. Abraham Van Helsing from the Transcendental Aerodynamics Department of the University of Transylvania. He has been advising Eric on some arcane aspects of what most will agree are nearly unbelievable propulsion techniques. For immediate Release April 1, 2017 Today Solar Flight Inc. is proud to announce the roll out of its newest electric aircraft, the Monarch. In secret development for the last 2 years, it breaks new ground for this small aircraft development firm. The most revolutionary aspect of the new aircraft is its lack of a propeller, or any other visible means of propulsion. The work began when Solar Flight’s founder, Eric Raymond, became interested in research being done on boundary layer propulsion for submarines. While this …
Smartflyerchallenge – Europe’s First Fly-In for Electric Powered Aircraft
Air meets have been an important part of aviation history, bringing pilots, planes nad the public together in a symbiotic gathering. This was true in aviation’s genesis; things gaining a tremendous impetus with air meets throughout Europe and America following Wilbur Wright’s 1908 public demonstrations near Le Mans, France. René Maier, ex-Colonel of the Swiss Army and current President of the newly formed organization team for an annual event organized at the Grenchen Regional Airport, has announced the SmartFlyer Challenge, touted as the first fly-in for electric aircraft. The event, to be held September 9 and 10, 2017, will make Grenchen “the center of electric flight,” according to the organizers. Static and air displays of electric and hybrid-electric powered aircraft will help drive that message home. Organizers advertise at least four aircraft scheduled to appear, including an electrified Votec 221 being prepared by a group of university students at Innocampus Biel at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, Hangar 55’s Hamilton …
How Cheaply Can One Fly?
How low(cost) can you go and still fly? That question forms one of the pursuits of the Minimalist Airplane Study Group, hosted by William Rich on Yahoo Groups. He may have found an answer that leads to several intriguing alternative uses for the type of electric powerplant described below. Use of model aircraft components leads to a low-cost build, and judicious use of off-the-shelf parts from other hobbies keeps costs low and speeds up the development process. He points to a hack from Laserhacker.com, which uses a motor, controller, propeller batteries and connectors one might find at the local hobby shop. This assemblage manages to fly a paramotor despite the small size of the motor and the relatively small size of the propeller. The Laserhacker link shows not only several videos (this has to be the most fun per dollar flying machine), but includes the parts list and pricing for everything but the final battery pack. Components include 3D-printed items …
Eric Raymond: Skyping from the Sky
Eric Raymond and his wife Irena fly their Sunseeker Duo from the Aeroporto Voghera Rivanazzano near their home in Voghera, Italy. The Provincia di Pavia provides wonderful architectural and scenic backdrops for their flights, something captured briefly in a video they filmed last year for Skype and Microsoft. To Eric’s surprise, the commercial was finally released this month. The Raymonds and their collaborators are part of a larger advertising campaign for Skype and Microsoft, with their high-tech offerings complementing the wireless communications tools and the ad’s graphics. Eric and Irena, John Lynch, and Jason Rohr perform well for the cameras, but Eric had an extra challenge in the aerial filming. “I was flying in formation with a Phantom drone!” Microsoft also featured the team in a tutorial showing how to set up Skype meetings. Eric explained that, “John Lynch is one of my CAD designers, and master machinist. He made my nose gear, and is a specialist for propeller molds. …
Solar Impulse Makes it to Mountain View
At 11:44 PDT, April 22, Solar Impulse 2, expertly piloted by Bertrand Piccard through tricky winds above Moffett Airfield, made its second landing in the United State, almost three years after Solar Impulse 1 had left on its flight eastward* and just in time to close out Earth Day. HB-SIA (Solar Impulse 1) made its trip across America in six hops, none lasting more than 21 hours and 22 minutes. HB-SIB (Solar Impulse 2) flew six hops between Abu Dhabi and Nanjing, China emulating the stages of the American crossing in distance and duration. Things reached record-setting levels after that. The 44-hour trip from Nanjing to Nagoya, Japan gave pilot Andre’ Borschberg a real workout, followed by his record-setting 117-hour epic voyage from Nagoya to Kalaeloa, Hawaii. Fellow pilot Bertrand Piccard finished the trans-pacific flights with a 62-hour flight to San Francisco. The pilots could not do this without a large ground crew, seemingly perpetually busy with preparations, maintenance, and …