Will the commercial deluxe version be called the ElectroLux!
Posted on 03/29/2011 10:17:49 AM PDT by smokingfrog
Electric airplanes are getting more numerous, with the latest making its initial flight in Augsburg, Germany. The Elektra One, developed by Calin Gologan of PC-Aero, was flown by test pilot Jon Karkow.
Since that flight, the aircraft has completed an additional three flights for up to 30 minutes. It will next be upgraded with a variable pitch prop and retractable landing gear.
Karkow was the project leader and test pilot for the around-the-world Virgin Global Flyer, and more recently served as technical program manager for the Virgin Galactic commercial space program at Scaled Composites in California.
The single-seat Elektra One is claimed to have a three-hour endurance using rechargeable batteries and a range of more than 216 nm. The aircraft has a payload of 220 pounds and claimed to cruise at 86 knots.
It is the first of a family of airplanes. The Elektra Two will carry two passengers, while the Elektra Four will carry four. Half of the design work is completed for the two-seat model.
Every electric airplane needs a solar-powered hangar, right? After all, there is a lot of battery recharging to do between flights. Elektra One comes with its own solar-powered hangar. The complete system, airplane and hangar, will enter the market at a goal price of $141,300, a variable price based on the Euro.
The aircraft will first be offered in Germany in the Ultralight class, or it can be sold in the US as Experimental when it comes to market. Eventually it will be sold as a U.S. light sport aircraft, when ASTM standards are completed for electric aircraft. That could take one to two years, designer Gologan said in a telephone interview from Germany. Gologan will complete German and ASTM certification, and then sell the project to Neo Wings for serious production.
(Excerpt) Read more at aopa.org ...
Just fly into a thunderstorm and recharge the batteries.
I’d rather bring back the “Gossamer Albatross” Totally enviro ANd cardio friendly..
It isn’t going to be a cross country machine, that’s for sure.
People talk about “range anxiety” associated with all-electric cars; when this baby runs out of juice, you can’t just coast over to the side of the road.
There is no way it could do without the retractable gear. It wouldn’t be able to get as good a range with the gear out all the time. But maybe such things are human powered.
The chief danger would be unanticipated flight delays. An electric car that’s about to fizzle can at least usually be pulled to the shoulder. What would occupants have to do here, bail with parachutes and let the craft crash?
I’d bring some swim gear in case a headwind shows up unexpectedly.
Would you get in a glider?
That’s all any aircraft is when the engine stops functioning.
Let’s see how popular these things are when the left shuts down more nuclear power plants.
I don't know if I'd want to get into one of these things at all, let alone over a body of water.
That’s what you call “no runway” anxiety - or “landing on a public highway” anxiety.
Down to Home Depot to buy a few pallets of power cords . . .
No different than any other kind of short range airplane. I flew a small fighter in the Navy that didn’t have “real” IFR reserves. You pretty much had to check weather on the way in a lot of cases and make a decision before you got to your intended destination.
Its innovators like this that have always moved things forward, unlike GM ...
I have a feeling the builder/flier of an electric airplane is more up to speed with reality..than the GM Volt crowd is.
Great.......A ground power unit with a propeller. I guess they can fly it to your plane parked on the ramp for auxiliary power until you’re ready to fly.
“You wouldn’t need $650 dollar Bose headsets.”
LOL Excellent point!
I could see this as a type of UAV, very silent.
Imagine filing VFR on top? Hoping that the ceiling of 600feet becomes thin-scattered at your destination? At night? I’m not a user of landing lights on purpose, but this is a lawsuit waiting for a litigant.
Cessna is looking to do this with one of their smaller aircraft, as well. They seem to think that the majority of instructional flights are about an hour. Not sure what the turn around time to charge would be.
Will the commercial deluxe version be called the ElectroLux!
That thing looks like it will float real good.
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