Search Results for : Electric

The Creative Solutions Alliance (CSA) is a nonprofit organization, founded by Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh, that just announced his creation of the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP). *** In stirring language as quoted to AOPA’s Alton K. Marsh, Lindbergh says, “We are literally teaching the next generation to imagine and create their future.” *** The idea, as we’ve seen in the past with similar contests such as the Orteig Prize (1st Atlantic crossing won by Lindbergh) Kremer Prize (human powered flight – Gossamer Condor), and the X-Prize (1st private suborbital space flight), is to “promote the practical development of electric aircraft by recognizing specific advances in this emerging cleantech (sic) industry.” *** Prizes will be awarded for: ** Best Electric Aircraft:  keyword in this category is practical, and it can be an Experimental, LSA or Certified aircraft. ** Best Electric Aircraft Sub-System: component systems that advance the field of electric aircraft ** Best Electric Aircraft Component Technology:  Individual components such as batteries, motors, power electronics, etc.

A couple quick items today to keep the props spinnin’ and the wings liftin’. *** A few weeks back I posted here about the Yuneec e430 all-electric LSA and its entry as a finalist in the Brit Insurance Design Museum Award. I know; sounds kind of doofy, but in fact is a very prestigious affair. *** Anyway, word comes today that Yuneec won the top prize for transportation, beating out, among others, Mercedes Benz, Honda and Nissan! *** Congratulations to Yuneec for this unexpected accolade, which can only help enhance LSA awareness around the world. *** Companion item: EAA posted some info on its upcoming AirVenture program and electric aircraft are going to play a key role. *** Guess where I’ll be at least part of the time? Hitting the electric showcase flights as well as display booths relating to the new technology.

One of my favorite designs of 2009 for sheer mouth-watering beauty was the Yuneec E430 Electric two-seat LSA. *** Now, Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, based at its internationally-renowned Design Museum in London, has given LSA recognition a fresh charge by nominating the design for its top award. *** The org looks worldwide for “the most innovative, interesting and forward-looking new work in design”. *** It’s hard not to argue the E430 is one of the most graceful pieces of winged eye-candy to come along in many years. *** The exhibition presents around 100 projects, nominated by a group of *** internationally respected design experts, curators, critics, practitioners and enthusiasts. *** The nominated designs fall into seven categories – architecture, fashion, furniture, graphics, interactive, product and transport. *** A winner for each category will be selected by an international jury and one overall winner will be awarded the Brit Insurance Design of the Year 2010 at an awards dinner in March.

Hungry for something new about electric flight, I swapped emails with Tom Peghiny yesterday. Tom’s the majordomo of Flight Design USA (top-selling CTLS LSA) and Flightstar (longtime maker of 3-axis control ultralights.) *** e-Spyder, the electric-powered single-seat ultralight he’s developing in congress with Yuneec, the powerhouse electric aircraft manufacturer that recently opened a 250,000 sq. ft. plant in China. *** Tom filled me in on the evolution of the production prototype. Denny Franklin, the Gyro Gearloose (i.e. intuitively brilliant) engineer and designer behind venerable designs such as the Drifter ultralight, is working up a longer wing with a sheared tip. *** Equally legendary hang glider sailmaker Steve Pearson of Wills Wing (top hang glider mfg.) is making a pattern for the new wing that will use a higher-camber airfoil than the first prototype. *** Wills will make the envelopes for the e-Spyder from a laminate covering material that’s 35% lighter than the 4 oz.

More haps on the electric flight front: At Yuneec Aircraft’s new 250K sq. foot factory airfield in Shanghai, China, Gerard Thevenot, the pioneering French hang glider designer and pilot who blazed foot-launched trails starting in the 1970s, set an electric-flight endurance record in a Yuneec-powered hang glider. *** Flying his own trike design, the go-juice came from a new “longer version” of Yuneec’s Power Drive 10Kw motor system. The flight lasted 1 hour 16 minutes. *** The news here for LSA followers is the ongoing commitment Yuneec has to powering all types of light sport aircraft, from hang gliders, paragliders and trikes like Thevenot’s to the ongoing development of the e-430 two-seat LSA we’ve talked about this year in Plane & Pilot. *** According to Yuneec’s website, Thevenot reportedly made just a couple test flights, then jumped up and set the record. He’s hoping to increase the duration to 1 1/2 hours any day now.

Two Chinese delegates attended ASTM meetings in Freidrichshafen Germany in April, the first time the nation has been represented. Those reps indicated they believed ASTM acceptance in China may not be far off. Meanwhile, Shanghai-based Yuneec company is moving forward, and upward. *** Yuneec’s E430 will be featured at AirVenture along with a distinctly American design: the Flightstar Spyder (single place, Part 103-capable ultralight) fitted with a Yuneec electric motor. *** Using a 6-battery setup on their two seater, E430 expects 1.5-2 hours of flight and with such an installation, payload is a respectable 400 pounds even with a 45-foot wing span. A 10-battery setup may fly 2.25-2.5 hours. A video gives a hint to the sound level (turn your speakers up loud). *** Yuneec International announced, “The E430 is a twin seat, single engine, LSA class aircraft designed to be simple to use, easy to fly and with virtually zero vibration.

OK, so it’s a variation of hot air balloon with steering capability. It isn’t a LSA. But, given my fascination with airships, I see Dan Nachbar’s and Mike Kuehlmuss’ Skyacht effort as a neat project. *** Named after the aviation pioneer, Alberto (Santos-Dumont) is not a pure hot air balloon as it uses aluminum tubes and a tension line to add rigidity. Twin burners create hot air as the lifting medium. Presently a gas engine drives and maneuvers Alberto, but a quieter electric motor is planned. Alberto first flew in October 2006 and has logged more than 10 hours. It can be folded something like an umbrella so the 102-foot long, 70-foot wide envelope plus its gondola fit in a 24-foot car trailer. Cost: somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000 which is tons less than the cheapest helium blimp at about $2 million. *** I thought this a light hearted topic with which to end 2006.