I'm always impressed with good turns of phrase and cleverly-worded presentations. Given that I am a writer, I suppose that doesn't surprise you. However, I am even more impressed when someone can present a concept in such clear language that everyone gets it right away. Following is such a story. My longtime friend and fellow board member, Tom Peghiny, participated in our annual Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association board of directors meeting at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, where EAA kindly provides a quiet, air-conditioned space for our group to meet. LAMA has four initiatives that the association is pursuing*. One of them is trying to break the logjam of electric propulsion In an FAA-organized gathering on this and other subjects at AirVenture 2014, industry experts observed that FAA never intended to block electric power. Agency rulewriters were intent on preventing use of turbine engines on LSA so the regulation specifies reciprocating engines only, effectively blocking electric power even if doing so was never the goal. While only a couple sentences in the preamble to the rule prevent electric — along with an important definition — FAA personnel replied that it is now a major challenge to change their rule, even though most appeared to agree it was never their intention to prevent electric power. Since the SP/LSA rule was released in 2004, lithium batteries have grabbed the attention of FAA officials in a very powerful way. The fires onboard Boeing's 787 Dreamliner made news all around the world after FAA had given their approval to the new design. Today, any talk of advancing electric propulsion on the lightest-of-all aircraft where the technology is currently quite viable brings an immediate response about lithium battery fires. The danger of an onboard fire is so scary that some authorities seem unable to see a solution beyond the hazard. As board members discussed how to move the needle on LAMA's electric propulsion initiative, board member Tom proposed a scenario that soon had everyone in the board meeting either laughing out loud or smiling broadly. He supposed ... "Imagine if all airplanes were currently powered by electric motors and someone came along with a great new idea to power airplanes with gasoline." Perhaps it would be best if I present Tom's hilarious lines using an imaginary dialogue between an inventor and FAA officials. INVENTOR: "FAA, I have an idea. I think we might be able to power airplanes with a fluid. It might prove to be very efficient." FAA: "Oh, what's that? We have to be very careful with new ideas, you know." INVENTOR: "We'll it's an explosive liquid ... really packs a punch. It could keep aircraft aloft for hours at a time." FAA: "Explosive! Oh, we don't like the sound of that very much." INVENTOR: "No, really. This stuff, called gasoline, has a very high energy density, is compact, can be easily loaded onto the aircraft, doesn't cost too much for the energy it delivers ..." FAA: "Don't try to snow us with all that technobabble. You said 'explosive,' didn't you? We're still trying to wrap our minds around that." INVENTOR: "Oh, it can be done without much danger. We'll put the fuel in the wings. We'll put a firewall between the engine and the occupants. Fuel lines will be carefully routed around the cockpit." FAA: "You mean you want to pump an explosive liquid near the occupants, put it into an engine compartment forward of the cockpit, make a spark many times per second, and explode this stuff in cylinders!?" INVENTOR: "Yeah, I think it can work really well. This gasoline stuff ... sure it's highly flammable, but we can handle it safely." FAA: "Flammable! Explosive! Sparks to ignite it! All with the occupants downwind of this stuff!?" INVENTOR: "Yeah, FAA. This gasoline thing is gonna be big. We might even use it automobiles, in lawn mowers, and in children's toys." FAA: "Hold on, wait a minute, stop right now. I can't see us approving such an energy source for perhaps years. This sounds crazy. Who would possibly think carrying around hundreds of pounds of explosive liquid in a three dimensional environment could be safe. We're going to have to examine this very carefully. It could take decades." INVENTOR: "Oh, man. I don't think I can stay in business that long. FAA: "Yeah, well, we have reliable electric-powered airplanes today. We honestly don't know what you are thinking with this half-baked idea to carry gasoline in airplanes. Plus, we're obliged to alert the automobile, lawn mower, and children's toy regulators since you mentioned those products as well. FAA: (walking away muttering under their breath...) "What on earth will these crackpots come up with next. Really, gasoline on airplanes. That's just nuts. We better form a new department to confront this possibility. What if Mr. Inventor is right and this gasoline-on-airplanes idea should take off. Crazy ..." INVENTOR: (sighing deeply...) "Dang it! I thought this was such a great idea, but man, convincing these government folks is going to be tough. Whew! Better join LAMA and see if they can help." OK, that last sentence is tongue-in-cheek, but that's the story. Hope you liked it. I'm still smiling from Tom's sharp-as-a-pin humor. Thanks, Tom! • LAMA's four initiatives are: (1) aerial work for LSA; (2) fully-built, SLSA gyroplanes; (3) electric propulsion; and, (4) simplifying the LODA process for training in sub-87 knot airplanes.

I was a little nervous, I admit. Oh, I wasn't worried about flying the eSpyder as an airplane. Many years ago I logged plenty of hours in a Flightstar single place ultralight and this was essentially the same airplane. Except it wasn't identical; this one was powered by an electric motor and it's funny how that changes everything. Like most of you, I only have experience with gasoline engines (though I have logged many hours of soaring time with no engine whatsoever). So, I have the usual set of knowledge and reflexes about fuel consumption, engine noise, power settings, climb rates ... and the sounds of all these things. It's all different on an electric airplane. Much as I had awaited this opportunity, I found myself apprehensive about the new experience. I've had three two-stroke engines go silent on me and I simply didn't know exactly what to expect from an electric motor. Spoiler alert: I needn't have worried. I have access to an electric golf cart. That's a good place to start as it's quite similar, in sound and smoothness. Yet as with the golf cart and like many who contemplate buying an electric car — not a hybrid, but a pure, plug-in electric — I found myself taxiing to the runway at Cable Airport in California experiencing what experts call "range anxiety." How long before the batteries run out and the engine ... 'er, motor, stops? The numbers are all different. Fuel, or better said, energy is measured in volts. I was starting out with full tanks ... 'er, a full charge, at 74 volts. I had a handy checklist strapped to my left leg (see below) and I was trying to wrap my brain around the unfamiliar numbers. A full charge was 74 volts but at 58 volts the motor would shut down thanks to energy management and maintenance software. So, 74 is full and 58 is empty. Power settings refer to a value expressed in KW. I was to climb at 25 KW (about 32 horsepower) for no more than two minutes, although my check-out pilot Tony Settember assured me test pilots had flown eSpyder for an hour with the throttle wide open. Cruise climb is done at 18-20 KW and cruising is done at 10-12 KW. You use a regular throttle, except it feels more like a lever-operated rheostat (a volume knob, basically) with little resistance throughout its range. So, I realized that the "language" of electric propulsion is different. Like most pilots I'm used to checklists and I willingly paid attention to the one strapped on my left leg. Following is verbatim from the checklist for eSpyder N12XW: 1. Switch on (Left side of panel) 2. Plug in EMERGENCY SHUT-OFF (Left side on floor) 3. Switch off (Left side of panel) 4. Turn key ON Right side of panel (wait one minute) 5. Turn on screen (Button center bottom of screen) 6. Unlock throttle (Push green button on throttle in) 7. Pull CHUTE SAFETY PIN (Stow in safe place) 8. Fasten Safety Harness 9. Run Up Minimums: 25 KW, 67 Volts — Take off 73 Volts (not below 72 Volts) — Return to field 62 Volts — Land by 60 Volts — Motor cuts off at 58 Volts — 25 KW for 2 Minutes (Take off power) — 18 - 20 KW Climb power — 10 - 12 KW Cruise power To understand more about eSpyder powered by Yuneec, check out the various power component parts. eSpyder carries two Lithium-Ion battery packs that weigh about 150 pounds, according to Tony. The airplane has to be certified as Experimental Amateur Built in the USA for now, though Germans and other Europeans can use the new DULV certification to buy a ready-to-fly model. The good news is build time is well under 100 hours; it's primarily a bolt-together kit. So, save a little and learn more about your new electric airplane. GreenWing will market a fully built aircraft when FAA figures out how they'll handle these "new" powerplants. You see, when the SP/LSA regulations were issued way back in 2004, FAA didn't want turbine engines making their way onto LSA, so they specified reciprocating engines only. However, that lack of foresight left out the electric development. ASTM hashed out and finally passed a standard for electric propulsion so the industry is ready. The likeliest outcome is that FAA may issue an exemption. The agency can learn about electric propulsion in this way and hopefully a rule change will later allow electric airplanes. You can read all the eSpyder tech specs and more at GreenWing International's recently completed website. Cable airport (KCCB), according to longtime resident and Foothills Flying Club operator Tony Settember, has for decades been a family owned airfield, the largest such public use airport in the world, with some 400 airplanes calling it home. As we drove in, the place seemed surrounded by quarry pits, not the friendliest-looking location to someone who was thinking about engine- ... 'er, motor-out landings. As Tony patiently explained, the area is actually quite accommodating as those big pits have immense wide roads running around them for an easy landing should the need arise. As soon as I went aloft, I saw what he meant and I relaxed into the flight. To begin, I went right around the pattern and made a landing, just to assure myself. With light, gusting winds only a shallow angle off the runway, my landing went well, even though I allowed a bit of drift to carry me off the centerline. On that second take off after a touch and go, the voltage supply read 60 plus a decimal. Since the checklist shows "Return to field at 62 volts" my concern returned. I forced myself to recall Tony's excellent briefing when he said not to worry about this, that when you back off full power the voltage would rise again. It did and so I set off for yonder dam, flying a few miles north across several open-pit rock quarries that also function as part of the water percolation system for the area. Sure enough the voltage came back up a bit. Twelve minutes into the flight, the voltage read 66.33 and I kept an eye on it to realize that voltage dropped very slowly. Twenty-five minutes into the flight I still had 64 and a decimal, so I further relaxed my range anxiety. The little eSpyder was the charming ultralight-type airplane I recalled from my past and I thoroughly enjoyed the flight. I banked around the foothills near the dam and kept pulling the earcup away from my head to easily hear ground traffic while the prop purred at an 11 KW power setting. A low-pitched whine — not remotely like the high-pitch scream of a two-stroke — proved to my ears that the motor was actually working. Otherwise, the near-silence is golden. At a field where no radio communication was necessary, I'd ditch the headset and enjoy that amazing quietness, second only to an unpowered sailplane or hang glider. Yet it was reassuring that with a flick of the throttle, the purring intensified every so slightly and up we went. In all, eSpyder proved an addicting experience. I want more! I think many pilots should experience electric flight and it's here now, in GreenWing's eSpyder powered by Yuneec. I hope you can go to Oshkosh and visit the GreenWing gang (main display in spaces 406 & 417 or flying display in Ultralight 938).

Once upon a time the light aircraft industry announced new manufacturers and models at the rate of two, three, or even more every month ...for several years. As with every maturing industry before, this torrid pace had to slow. Yet the party isn't over, far from it. Contrarily, I am aware of several new projects in the works and we all know of some (Icon, Terrafugia, Lisa among others) where companies have been working on their designs for some years but they have yet to secure FAA approval as a Light-Sport Aircraft. Neither has GreenWing International, a new company announced this week though that may change quickly enough. "Yuneec International, a world leader in electric power systems, is proud to announce the formation of GreenWing International, [which is] entirely focused on bringing the revolution of electric power to the global general aviation market," announced company CEO Tian Yu. Enthusiasts following electric powered aircraft development first saw Yuneec's e430 at AirVenture 2009. The Jiangsu-based company (just north of Shanghai) is very big in electric-powered radio controlled aircraft; their gyro-stabilized RC helicopters have sold in large numbers. Yuneec will continue to focus on developing technologies for electric motors and power systems, but GreenWing said it will handle production of the eSpyder and e430 electric aircraft. Since the first flights of its electric powered planes in 2009, Yuneec has been advancing its electric propulsion technologies, and all GreenWing aircraft will be powered by Yuneec electric propulsion systems. Since it showed the e430 four years ago, Yuneec acquired the design rights to the former Flightstar aircraft and has focused energy on the eSpyder, a pure electric light single seater. One and two seat varieties of Flightstar aircraft number about 1,000 aircraft and were sold all over the world. As GreenWing gears up to begin manufacturing the eSpyder its first major showing is this year's AirVenture Oshkosh. GreenWing said it will be bringing several eSpyder aircraft to AirVenture 2013 for ground and flight display. Both the single seat eSpyder and the two-seat e430 airplanes are nearing completion for initial production runs after undergoing extensive development and flight testing during the past year. GreenWing International can be found in spaces 406 & 417 at Oshkosh where the new company will provide additional news about their line of electric powered aircraft. A satellite booth in the Ultralight Area of AirVenture will be used for daily flying demonstrations of the eSpyder. "This week we continue to fly the eSpyders as the last details are completed to get the most efficiency out of these remarkable planes," wrote Eric Bartsch, an American assisting the Shanghai company. "Recently we have had flights of more than an hour during our test program in California. I was flying one of the planes this morning and it is remarkable how quiet the powerplant is, and how different it is to hear all of the sounds from the cars, trucks, and equipment on the ground as you fly silently overhead." Eric related that recently his team on the ground was able to hear one of their test pilots talking in the cockpit as he flew past us after taking off. "The quietness, efficiency, and eco-friendly benefits of electric aviation are becoming a reality and we are proud to be part of the revolution with the eSpyder," he finished.

You're probably aware of the auto industry's billion-dollar bet on electric cars. Skeptics are plentiful. Same for airplanes. Despite doubts, even Cessna and Bye Energy are teaming up on an electric 172. Other LSA electric projects are also underway and it's all good in my mind. *** Most e-powered aircraft remain in the future. Yet here today is the E-Spyder. You can place an order that'll set you back less than $30,000. Plus it's a true Part 103 ultralight meaning you don't need no stinkin' government license to fly it. *** I wish I lived closer to Woodstock Connecticut where co-developer Tom Peghiny is flying Yuneec's E-Spyder along with a few trusted friends. The one they're flying has longer wings and a battery-hiding compartment (top photo, circled). Tom wrote, "We have been flying a lot since finishing the plane in mid September." So far Tom and team have taken 15 flights on the upgraded version. This prototype (#3) has many changes over the original that was shown at Airventure in 2009. Tom elaborated, "The structure uses a good bit of thin (0.9 mm/.035 inch) 7075-T6 tubing to reduce weight, a carbon sandwich fairing to reduce weight, light weight Mylar laminate Dacron wing covering. He also noted span has been stretched to 33 feet with the addition of the sheared wing tips. *** E-Spyder is much cleaner looking than before. "The battery has been moved to the fuselage to reduce drag and is now housed in a single battery box which slides in and out like a dresser drawer on rollers," explained Tom. "The battery has additional capacity and uses fewer cells (18) which greatly simplifies the balancing during charging. Charging takes 2 to 2.5 hours depending on the discharge state." *** Yuneec — which bought the airframe rights from Flightstar to pursue the electric-power project — has developed the motor to further reduce the maximum RPM, increasing the torque which allows a larger and even quieter propeller. *** All cool! But how does it fly? "The lower drag installation and the other changes to the aerodynamics make the aircraft really perform," noted Tom. "We now have some performance numbers: top speed 52 mph; stall speed 22 mph; cruise speed 35 mph; climb 375 fpm; duration 20 to 35 minutes in calm air." But for longtime soaring pilots like Tom and me, he saved the best for last, "We've been able to soar it in light thermals as it really wants to go up." *** For green-tech enthusiasts he added one more comment: "We get our electricity from Community Energy which is 80% windmill and some hydroelectric, so we've been flying on windmill power." Huh! Giant windmills power a small windmill (the prop) and man flies. Cool! [Update 10/27/10: Since I wrote the article above, noted writer Jason Paur has also flown the E-Spyder — the lucky guy! — and has written an excellent review. Catherina Centanni took the photos and they are some of the best I've seen. I encourage you to go to Wired.com and read this story. —DJ]