Dornier DS-2C – a Hydrogen Hydroavian

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

What happens when a major aircraft company buys an interesting seaplane and repowers it with hydrogen?  Dornier, a long-time German producer of often brilliant aircraft, acquired the rights to a two-seat amphibian, the Flywhale FW650, as of January 1, 2022.  Originally powered with a Rotax engine, the craft will be repowered with an electric motor and a variety of possible battery, hydrogen, or hybrid power sources. Redesignated the Dornier DS-C2, it becomes part of the Seawings division and could live not only in the world of unlimited runways, but become a true eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) airplane, the DS-2C-X. The standard Light Sport Aircraft configuration can carry two at 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph), over a distance of 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) –  impressive enough. It can operate in sea states up to 2 (Sea state 2 includes waves of 0.6 to 0.9 feet and winds up to 8 to 10 knots, or 9.2 to 11.5 mph.) …

Eviation’s Alice Involved in Fire

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation 2 Comments

Time magazine lauded Eviation’s Alice last year, ranking it as one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2019.  Alex Fitzpatrick compared its green goodness to the GHG-loaded nature of commercial aviation.  “Flying is dirty work—the aviation industry emits nearly a quarter of total transportation-­related greenhouse-­gas emissions in the U.S., according to the EPA. One way to clean it up could be ­Eviation’s all-electric Alice, an Israeli-made nine-seater meant to convince the gas-­guzzling aviation world that electric power is ready for takeoff. “The real innovation is in the lightweight materials rather than the batteries and motors and controllers and all that,” says Eviation CEO Omer Bar-Yohay. If successful, the design could pave the way for larger electric commercial aircraft. Alice, which has a range of 650 miles and should be quieter than gas-­powered aircraft, begins flight testing in 2020.” The bright future for the tri-motored airplane, which shone at the Paris Air Show and a prototype of which was about to …

Avoiding Propeller Strikes on Electric Aircraft

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, GFC, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

At last year’s Electric Aircraft Symposium, Ron Gremban, developer of the Prius plug-in hybrid, shared several questions about promoting safety in electric aircraft.  One aspect that provoked deep thought was that of safety for those working around an electric airplane, whose propeller could start quietly and possibly strike an unaware bystander.  During the Green Flight Challenge, it was noteworthy that unlike their gasoline-powered counterparts which idled while awaiting takeoff, the Pipistrel G4 and e-Genius awaited their turn to launch with propellers at rest, only spinning when commanded – and very quietly at that. The question of avoiding prop strikes found at least one answer at EAS VII.  Karl Kaser demonstrated, in model form, his ePropeller Safety Device (eSD), noting “the risk to people, animals or objects in the propeller disk area and that they can be injured or damaged accidentally during the run-up of the propeller.”  He first noted that issue in the case of e-Genius, on which he was …