According to FlightGlobal.com, two Yuneec International E430’s will attempt to fly in formation over Mt. Everest next January or February. This will be the first flight over the 29,029ft (8,848m) peak by electric aircraft, and will highlight, “The viability of electric-powered flight and Yuneec’s designs,” according to FlightGlobal, the web-based outlet for Flight International magazine. Their report includes this video interview with Pierre Hallet, the French distributor for Yuneec, and one of the pilots slated for the expedition. According to Hallet , the only modification to the aircraft will be the addition of a DUC variable-pitch propeller, presumably to provide optimized climb in the thin atmosphere. Aircraft will be shipped to Katmandu, where they will be assembled, then flown to a base camp about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the base of the mountain. Once weather conditions are favorable, the two E430’s will climb over the mountain and glide back to base camp.
The Future is Electric, and Attracting Attention
FlightGlobal.com, the online version of Flight International Magazine, has an overview of the electric aircraft scene in its April 6, 2010 release. Among the many producers and proponents of electric flight noted in the article, Dr. Brien Seeley of the CAFE Foundation is quoted extensively, as is Calin Gologan of PC-Aero in Germany, both to present at the fourth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium, at Rohnert Park, California on April 23 and 24. The article ponders the hopes of two hybrid electric aircraft powerplant developers, George Bye, featured in a February 21 entry in this blog, and Flight Design’s Oliver Reinhardt, the firm’s technical director. Both face the issue of retrofitting existing light planes with their new engines, and the challenge of obtaining supplemental type certification for such modifications. Highlighted is the 2011 Green Flight Challenge, in which an airplane achieving 200 seat miles per gallon at 100 mph (or an alternative energy equivalent mileage) can earn the CAFE Foundation’s $1.5 …