SolarStratos Returns to Service

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

SolarStratos, a mission envisioned by Raphaël  Domjan and an airplane designed by Calin Gologan,  returns to the skies after suffering a literal break in its program in 2018. During a series of tests that put increasingly heavy loads on the wings, its left wing broke with what was called a “technical damage.”  This type of breakage during stress testing is not uncommon, especially on what are special machines such as SolarStratos and Solar Impulse.  Solar Impulse 2 suffered a similar break when its newly-designed wing was being tested.  As noted, this type of setback takes the team back to the drawing board, but also besets them with new reflections on their ongoing decisions.  If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. “This pioneering spirit involves a real technological challenge, and takes us to unknown territories. Risks are an integral part of such a project, even if our objective is to anticipate them as well as possible; this is why …

Look What Fred To Started!

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Materials, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

forty years ago today, Fred To’s Solar One flew the length of the runway at Lasham Airfield in Hampshire, England, solely on the energy derived from the weak winter illumination and stored in a small set of ni-cad batteries.. With his partner David Williams, he had built the wooden, model-aircraft-like structure in a farm building, visited by the farm’s horses and pigs. The airplane went on to be displayed at various airshows, and Fred went on to build an inflatable 100-foot-span flying wing that was the first to use “fly-by-wire” technology.  His inventiveness and design skills have informed many projects, as we reported in our November 2018 report on the award ceremony Fred recently attended. In short form, much has happened since then.  Larry Mauro flew his Solar Riser ultralight at Flabob Airport, California on April 29, 1979.  Much like Fred, who had limited funds, Larry could could install only 350 Watts of solar panels on his wing, a limitation …

Fred To Receives a Well-Deserved Award

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Fred To (pronounced Toe) lives in England and was one of a small group who built and flew the world’s first solar-powered airplane in December 1978. They flew just a few months before Larry Mauro lofted his solar-riser in April 1979. Both airplanes were limited by the technology of the day, lithium-ion batteries still over a decade away, and the best solar cells achieving less than five-percent efficiency. Fred wrote to tell your editor of the award. “I was in Montreux Switzerland a few weeks ago, and on the 22nd of October I received an award from prince Albert II of Monaco for Solar One, which is now formally accepted as the first solar powered aircraft to fly. It was a great occasion and my family are so proud. All the great past pioneers were there and it was an honor to meet them; now I have new friends from all over the world. ” The occasion, described on Raphael …

A Light Twin in the Business Community

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Announced at Friedrichshafen’s Aero Expo and displayed (at least in model form) at the 2013 Paris Air Show, the Elektro E6 is the technology platform for a future, all electric transport aircraft. With low CO2 emissions, noise and vibration, the six-seat, two-motor airplane features full carbon composite structure.  Solar cells on its high wing could help extend the range for this machine to 500 kilometers (310 miles), predicted if battery developments continue at their current pace for the next six years.  The light twin would boast a payload of 480 kilograms (1,065 pounds). The E6 comes about as part of an Agreement of Cooperation between PC-Aero GmbH and EADCO GmbH.  Rosario De Luca’s EADCO (European Aerospace Design Consultants), capable of supporting new designs from conceptual review through manufacturing has worked on projects for Boeing, Airbus, Fokker and Fairchild Dornier, along with Eurofighter.  Calin Gologan’s PC-Aero has seen the inception and test flights of the Elektra One, Solar One and the creation …