Jean-Baptiste’s Disruptive Electrifly-in Win

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Jean-Baptiste Loiselet is a disruptive force seemingly immune to conventional thinking.  Funding what he calls a “hybrid” aircraft from his life savings, he has flown his solar sailplane around France, set a world altitude record for electric microlight aircraft, demonstrated its airworthiness at the 2024 Paris Air Show, and recently won his third Electrifly-in award at Bern, Switzerland. The term “disruptive” is one of esteem in high-tech America, but translated into French, the hashtag “rupture” leads to Jean-Baptiste’s LinkedIn site or even to his Des Ailes pour la Planète (Wings for the Planet) website.  The following, a translation of the original French, shows how words can be misapprehended. “⚡️ Rupture or not rupture?  (disruption or not disruption?  Your editor’s interpretation.) “🏆 For the third year in a row, I’m at the top of the podium in Electrifly-In Switzerland for the sole reason that I’m the only one in my category: hybrid. “🌱 Hybrid because the Sol.Ex. is a bit of …

Solar Altitude Record and Tour de France

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Electric Aircraft Materials, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Une Homme of Accomplishment Jean Baptiste Loiselet is an accomplished person,  setting a recent ultralight solar altitude record in his own ultralight sailplane. That is only one of his many exploits.  He has been part of a small crew on the remote Kerguelen Islands, between the southern tip of Africa and Australia, and north of Antarctica.  With supply ships only four times a year, Jean Baptiste had to be well organized and resourceful to maintain the equipment necessary for life at the IPEV (French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor).  His work with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) required full responsibility for everything from preparing requests for equipment, recruiting a team, and purchasing the needed equipment including ROVs.  Administratively, he wrote operational procedures, managed the site and and remote operations, and created reports and oversaw invoicing.  These became important elements in crafting his own solar aircraft. Beyond his duties on Antarctic expeditions, he works with young people as part of The AJD – …