Search Results for : motorglider

Recovering from the mud soup floods that crippled arrivals a few days ago (so many airplanes typically park on the grass), things began to dry out enough yesterday to bring robust opening day attendance, helped in large part by the beautiful weather.  Humidity was manageable, temps were in the mid-80s. *** A great start for EAA (which reportedly draws 45% of its yearly revenue from Airventure), with lots to see and talk about. *** Highlights: *** Yuneec, (which seriously needs to update its website), is the Chinese electric aircraft company that blew open the hangar doors of everybody’s electric flight dreams last year with the debut of the beautiful E-430 all-electric S-LSA.  They’ve guarded some tasty secrets since, which came to light yesterday. *** I spent a half hour with Managing Director Clive Coote to get updated, here are some highlights (more details down the road, and in my electric flight article which will run in a P&P issue this fall).

More than 20 Top LSA You Can Buy
The light-sport aircraft industry hangs in there, although sales numbers, as with general aviation, still struggle to gain safe altitude in the stormy economic skies. Encouraging item: LSA sales in 2009 represented nearly 25% of all GA piston purchases. Another surprise: Most of the 107 models available for sale here and abroad are still in production with more new models in the pipeline! Nobody’s getting rich (this is aviation, remember?), but most makers believe the turnaround will come. That’s the spirit!
And with the Euro taking heat against the dollar lately as Europe goes through its own econoclysm, U.S. prices for foreign-produced LSA could drop. Many airframe makers lowered prices, but the industry still faces challenges: ongoing dyspepsia imbued by the sluggish recovery; market recognition… many people still aren’t aware of what an LSA is, maybe that’s why 20% of all U.S. sales in the U.S.

In the wake of its week long focus on electric-powered flight at the just-concluded Oshkosh AirVenture 2010, EAA just announced a $60,000 prize to “speed development of electric flight technology.” *** As I posted earlier here, during the World Symposium on Electric Aircraft, Erik Lindbergh awarded his LEAP prize to three companies for their contributions to the burgeoning technology: Yuneec International’s E430, Alex Lange’s in-production Antares 20E motorglider, and John Monett’s E-flight Initiative. *** Prize money will go to the individual or corporation that demonstrates the most promising level of achievement in electric-powered flight at AirVenture 2011. “Most promising” will be more fully detailed once EAA completes its “assessment of the status of electric flight”, according to the official release. *** EAA President Tom Poberezny praised the four companies that will make equal contributions to the $60,000 prize money: AeroLEDs, Aircraft Spruce & Specialty, Dynon Avionics, and Wicks Aircraft Supply.

Randall Fishman’s ElectraFlyer Trike pumped me up. As a trike enthusiast, my real interest is soaring. A lightweight trike with an electric motor offers real advantages (see my earlier SPLOG).
I want to climb high enough to find lift, shut off the power, and hop from thermal to thermal. To me, that’s pure flying! An electric motor starts up readily if you lose the lift. It doesn’t vibrate. It doesn’t have smelly fuel or oil. It’s quiet, other than a bit of prop noise. But was it powerful enough?
With his second project, Randall has again motivated me. The Moni he renamed ElectraFlyer C is a motor glider at heart. Again, an electric powerplant sounds perfect.
“You can fly for an hour and a half on less than $1.00 of power”…and that assumes you keep the power on. Randall and I will look each other up in Florida this winter and I’ll investigate for a further report.