To the Contrary, Propeller-Wise

Dean Sigler Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Sacramento, California based CR Flight is dedicated to building highly-efficient motor/propeller combinations based on contra-rotation – propellers turning contrary to one another.  Not to be confused with counter-rotation – two propellers driven by two different engines and turning in opposite directions – contra-rotating propellers are driven in tandem by the same engine.  In the case of CR Flight, they are driven by the same electric motor.  Their web site shows a simple animation of the result.  An instructive video provides details about the benefits and drawbacks of the concept.   The firm’s mission statement gives a hint of its character.  “CR Flight™ partners with established industry leaders to design, patent, license, manufacture and provide the industry’s only patented counter-rotating motors to UAV/drone commercial and consumer manufacturers and wholesale distributors.  When you see the CR Flight™ name, know that the CR motor™ is manufactured under tight scrutiny for the highest quality.” Their web site shows their three current offerings, the V-10, …

Comco Ikarus Flies on Electric Power

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

Relatively unknown to American pilots, Germany’s largest ultralight aircraft manufacturer, Comco Ikarus in Mengen, was able to announce the first flight of its successful two- seater C42 / CS as an electric version just before the start of AERO, the annual aircraft exposition in Friedrichshafen. Comco’s C42 CS forms the basis for the electric version.  The avgas-powered version flies with either an 80-horsepower or 100-horsepower Rotax engine, the electric version with a 32-kilowatt (50 horsepower) electric motor from Geiger Engineering.  Geiger’s power package includes their dedicated controller, control lever, and monitoring instrument.  Four battery packs, 15 kilograms (33 pounds) each, power the prototype, but production versions will have six packs, enabling flight times of up to 90 minutes. The first electric flight was completed by Comco Ikarus’ managing director Horst Lieb on April 15, 2018.  Comco notes, “The complete electrical unit with batteries is only marginally more expensive than the combustion version.” The aircraft, with a span of 8.71 meters (28.6 …

Larry Page and his Water-Skimming “Flying Car”

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

What’s the definition of a “flying car?”  Does it need four wheels and quick-deploying wings to meet the definition?  Engineers at Kitty Hawk, a Larry Page-funded company, showed some major sales points for what looks to be an easy-to-fly, somewhat whimsical electrically-driven octorotor.  The Verge reports that, “Kitty Hawk promises people will be able to learn to fly the Flyer “in minutes.” A consumer version will be available by the end of this year, the company says.” The New York Times was a bit whimsical in describing the machine.  “Kitty Hawk’s flying car, if you insisted on calling it a “car,” looked like something Luke Skywalker would have built out of spare parts. It was an open-seated, 220-pound contraption with room for one person, powered by eight battery-powered propellers that howled as loudly as a speedboat.” It’s also very much a ground effects machine, built to be used over water, but apparently without the necessary poop on the poop deck …

EMG-6 Takes First Hops

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Brian Carpenter of Adventure Aircraft Inc. (part of his Rainbow Aviation Company) must trust his engineering, since he acted as his own test pilot for the first flights of his EMG-6 ultralight glider, a craft with options of mounting one, two, three (or even four, as Brian suggests) electric motors.  As an ultralight motor glider it can carry a pilot, ballistic parachute, and a small powerpack with one motor, controller and batteries.  Depending on the pilot’s weight, the airplane might be able to self launch and reach soaring altitude, or for heavier payloads, use the motor as a sustainer unit after a ground or aircraft tow to seek out distant thermals. While waiting for this next development, look at the number three test flight, towed from the runway by a “quad” all-terrain vehicle (ATV) and on landing demonstrating a remarkably short landing roll into only a 9-mph wind. Currently favored, the Plettenberg Predator motor and a Schulze 400-Amp motor controller …