What We’re Looking Forward to at AirVenture 2017

Dean Sigler Announcements, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Aircraft Materials, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

We’re looking forward to seeing progress in electric aircraft, and this year may be an opportunity to see real breakthroughs. Two from Pipistrel Besides its regular lineup of high-quality aircraft, Pipistel will have two Alpha Electro trainers on display in their display area.  This is the first time these aircraft will be seen in America, and they’ll be at the right of AirVenture’s main entrance gate in sites 86 and 87. In the Ultralight Area Mark Beierle will display and fly Bravo, Richard Steeves’ e-Gull.  This red, white and blue gem features a power system made from Zero Motorcycle components and boasts an impressive rate of climb and exceptional short field capabilities. Another ultralight, the EMG-6 developed over the last few years by Brian Carpenter of Rainbow Aviation/Adventure Aircraft, will show off the REX 30 MGM-Compro motor from the Czech Republic.  The units, with their matching controllers, power dozen of different types of aircraft in Europe, from paramotors to Light …

PhoEnix GFC Update

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

Jim Lee’s informative and beautifully illustrated blog features “PhoEnix with the capital E in the middle,” the motorglider he will fly in the CAFE Green Flight Challenge in July.  Electrically powered with a Krall 44 motor, it has a pointy nose and retractable gear to make it more slippery than the already high-performance Phoenix without the capital E and with a mere Rotax behind the propeller. According to Lee, the 14.5 meter (47.57 feet) modified Schempp-Hirth Discus wing is raised above the low position of the gas-powered version to make room for the electrically-retracted gear, which hides in what was originally a luggage compartment – another change from the standard Phoenix. The wing is configured to win the GFC, as is the rest of the airplane.  Lee, the U. S. distributor for Phoenix Air, says in his blog, that “the PhoEnix is purpose built for a race. A race that offers big bucks for the winner, but with a bar set so …