John McClintock, co-founder of eUP Aviation in Lumby, British Columbia, recently spoke with your editor on changes he and Randy Rauck are making to their Electravia-powered hang-glider trike. They’ve recently campaigned Green1 up and down the Pacific Coast, demonstrating its self-launching and soaring capabilities over California deserts, at Torrey Pines, and in the mountains of Oregon. John was pleased to report that the trike came through that 7,700 kilometer (4,774 mile) bouncing trailer torture test with a perfect bill of health for the e-drive system and its installation. Not content to just enjoy their flights (which they did) the entrepreneur-engineers kept careful records of the details of each flight using an on-board Flytec 5030 hang gliding instrument to collect flying data, and their custom-specified Electravia data display and recording option to capture information for the e-drive system. eUP Aviation Inc. have expanded the raw data into a Digital Journey Log, which will allow customers to demonstrate the care and use …
eUP Makes First Canadian Electric Flight
John McClintock and Randy Rauck have been developing an electrically-powered hang-glider “trike” for the last year, and Saturday, December 8, Rauck took their Green1 battery-powered hang-glider skyward – Canada’s first electric flight. Taking off at approximately 10:00 a. m., Rauck flew a smooth circuit of the Pitt Meadows airport, southwest of Vancouver, B. C. The pair have been bench and ground testing their Electravia motor, controller and battery pack as part of their creation of eUP, a firm dedicated to making electric flight possible in ultralight aircraft. In eUP’s press release, McClintock says, “This is a very exciting day in Canadian aviation history. While eUP will offer this system on other aircraft, right now the state-of-the-art in electric flight is a perfect match for self-launch soaring gliders such as hang gliders and paragliders. eUP is proud to be the first to fly on battery-power in the country.” While technically not the first electric flight in Canada, that honor taken by …