Richard Steeves is an oncologist in Madison, Wisconsin, on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and has hosted your editor’s visits to AirVenture in 2013 and 2014. He recently took delivery of the e-Gull he helped finish at Mark Beierle’s airport workshop near Santa Margarita, California. The airplane was a pre-owned craft that was rebuilt for electric power in Mark’s shop. Richard had been a speaker at a symposium on thorium reactors, a subject important to this cancer-fighting radiation specialist, and then vectored over to Mark’s field to see his “new” airplane. Multiply skilled, Richard previously built a beautiful example of Molt Taylor’s Coot amphibian, and spent many happy hours flying along the Wisconsin River near his home. He writes and edits the Coot-Builders’ Newsletter, and has published three books intended to help newcomers to the Coot family – The Coot Story, The Coot in a Nutshell and The Essential Coot. His interest in electric aircraft …
The Third Electric Airplane to Fly in Oregon
Martin Koxxy, a mechanical designer for a micro-electronics firm in Beaverton, Oregon, has crafted his e-Gull, a design by Mark Beierle, over the last two years. The airplane reflects Martin’s care and skills, with simplicity and attention to detail that makes it an airworthy jewel. The paint lines on the fuselage roll neatly into the door flanges, both on the fuselage and on the door, for instance. Showing his expertise with electronics, Martin’s all-glass cockpit includes a moving map via a Samsung tablet, a miniature EFIS (Electronic Flight Instrument System) by GRT Avionics, and a Cycle-Analyst, a device normally used by bicyclists with electric motor assist. It monitors battery, motor and controller status among other things. The latest version is priced at $159.95, making it an economical way to keep track of your powerplant. Mark showed a battered smartphone (must have been a Timex®, since it obviously took a licking and kept on …ticking) that displayed the motor, battery, and controller temperatures …