Pathfinder-Plus is now on display at the
kind of aircraft. Its longest flight was Center at Dulles Airport.
Seeking the Sun
power, and the batteries 970 pounds, In 1990, Eric Raymond flew the Sun-
giving the La France 108 pounds/hp. seeker across the United States much
Krebs was the technologist for the La as the Wright VinFiz was flown across
France, and is a fascinating man with in 1911, that is, in short hops. The
Little happened in electric airplane motorglider that could take off and
technology until the late 1970s when climb under power and then soar while The SkySpark design is a fuel-cell hybrid
Larry Mauro built a solar-powered hang recharging. It could fly up to 150 miles that reached 155 mph in testing.
glider called the Solar Riser. The solar on solar and batteries, and Raymond
energy stored in its battery could power also logged flights of 250 miles with minutes. The design team has also been
it for 3 to 5 minutes, enough to launch additional thermal hopping. It was pow-
it to gliding altitude. In 1981, the Solar ered by an 8-hp brushless DC motor. In power inputs for a new system.
Challenger, built by Paul MacCready’s 2002, Sunseeker II was launched with
AeroVironment Company, successfully many improvements. It is now on a tour New Designs
completed a 163-mile man-carrying and of Europe, and earlier this year it became In June 2009, the SkySpark made its
record-breaking flight from France to the first solar-powered aircraft to cross first public appearance. The SkySpark is
England. The Solar Challenger had an the Alps, 99 years after the Peruvian a Turin Polytechnic University project
empty weight of 200 pounds, and the pilot Georges Chavez did so in a Bleriot. aided by many technical sponsors. The
16,128 cells powered two 3-hp motors Sunseeker II has a gross weight of 506 SkySpark team’s goal is to design and
using solely photovoltaic cells that cov-
At AirVenture 2008, two hits were able to fly at 186 mph for more than 2
batteries onboard and would slow down based on John Monnett airplanes: Ran-
hours. In the June 2009 flights, the air-
MacCready also developed unmanned tric Moni) and the E-Flight Initiative’s but it is designed as a fuel-cell powered
electric aircraft such as the Pathfinder Waiex. The ElectraFlyer-C was designed airplane with batteries only for auxiliary
and Helios for NASA during this as a prototype and based on a con-
power. During these test flights it reached
period. These aircraft (there were five verted Moni motorglider. Fishman has a top speed of 155 mph, a record (so they
of them) were powered by from six to founded the Electric Aircraft Corpora-
14 2-hp motors mounted in pods on a tion to develop and sell power systems aircraft. It is powered by a 75-kW elec-
single flying wing. They were designed for electric aircraft.
The ElectraFlyer-C is powered by an and lithium polymer batteries.
solar cells collecting energy during the 18-hp (13.5 kW) electric motor, a pulse
day to run the motors and recharge the width modulation controller, and a 5.6 cell system, designed to produce 60 kW
lithium-ion batteries for uninterrupted kWh lithium ion battery pack. It flies of power from 5.8 gallons of stored liq-
flight at night. This series culminated for 1 to 1.5 hours at a cruise speed of 70 uid hydrogen. Hydrogen is stored in a
with the Helios, which had a wingspan mph with a max speed of 90 mph. Empty tank behind the pilot. The fuel cells are
of 247 feet and flew to 95,000 feet. The weight (with batteries) is 380 pounds, in the copilot position, and batteries are
and max takeoff weight is 625 pounds. under the cowling, alongside the motor.
In a future issue, we’ll explore the mean-
ing and interrelationship of these values. 54-hp two-seat Chinese electric airplane
The E-Flight Initiative is focused on made its first public appearance. What
developing motors and controllers for makes it unique (pun intended) is that it
electric aircraft. Working with John is the first electric aircraft designed to be
Monnett, the E-Flight Initiative folks are commercially produced. The E430 is a
developing an electric Waiex, powered Light Sport Aircraft that seats two and is
by a 270-volt, 200-amp, brushless DC made with lightweight composites. The
motor. It carries 200 pounds of lithium 230-volt powerplant charges in 3 hours,
ion batteries and is designed to cruise and the manufacturer claims the plane
Paul MacCready’s Pathfinder ran its eight
electric motors from lithium ion batteries
at 70 mph using 30% power (4.5 kW) will be able to fly for about 2.5 hours on
recharged by solar cells atop the wing.
for an hour or to do acrobatics for 15 a single charge. It will sell for $89,000.
KITPLANES November 2009 Electric Planes at AirVenture As author David Ul man says in the main story, battery-powered, electric-motor-propel ed airplanes have flown at recent AirVenture fly-ins. But the pace quickened in 2009 with demon- strations by Flight Design’s Tom Peghiny, who flew the nearly silent single-seat Yuneec ESpyder ultralight frequently at the ultralight/rotorcraft strip, making many circuits on its recharge- able batteries. About a mile north of the ultralight activity, much of the Education Center building space showcased electric planes, some
Tom Peghiny shows the Yuneec ESpyder in multiple trips
of which have logged considerable e-flight time. Dominating the electric flight exhibit was the 20-meter-span German Antares 20E power-assisted production sailplane. Owner Dave Nadler demon- strated extending and retracting the large-diameter (2-meter) motor-driven pusher prop unit that substitutes for a towplane. He said that a battery charge is good for an altitude gain of about 10,000 feet, which might equate to four or five standard airplane tows. The Antares is said to cost about $350,000. On a considerably lower budget but also flying on electrons was Mark Beierle’s eGul 2000—a modified Beierle Earthstar Aircraft Gul ultralight. Beierle says he has flown a total of about 6 hours for as long as an hour per charge with his 18-hp EMG pancake-style, high-torque brushed motor. Two boxes of lithium poly 4900-mil iamp-hour model airplane batteries supply the power. Cel s are in series and paral el to provide 72 volts at 25 amps. “Once you experience how smooth and quiet electric power is,” he said, “you really don’t want to fly anything else.”
Dave Nader’s 20-meter self-launching electric Antares sail-
Two years ago Sonex unveiled the mockup of an electric power
plane is in commercial production in Germany.
system on one of its Waiex homebuilt kits. This year the mockup parts have been replaced by a flightworthy brushless motor, sensorless motor control er and big lithium poly battery packs. Jeremy Monnett and Pete Buck of Sonex roped off their area in the Education Center for a low-speed demo windup of the system. They say first flights will occur soon. Back at AirVenture 2007, Randal Fishman demonstrated his electric trike (powered hang glider), and in 2008 his modified electric Monnett Moni was flown for the Oshkosh crowd by Joe Bennes a few days after Fishman received the August Raspet award for aviation innovation. All along, Fishman said, his objec- tive was to develop a practical two-seat electric airplane for quiet local flying. His al -composite ElectraFlyer-X was on display last summer with the other electrics, but it had not yet flown. The air- plane uses a 50-hp, three-phase, liquid-cooled brushless motor. Like the electric Waiex, Fishman’s ElectraFlyer-X is expected to launch soon.
Mark Beierle’s eGul 2000, when equipped with its PowerFin
—Dave Martin
propel er, has lofted him more than an hour on a battery
KITPLANES November 2009
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Dipartimento di Anatomia, Farmacologia e Medicina Legale Tel +39 011 670 7747 Fax +39 011 6707732 Principal Investigator Crepaldi / Assistant Professor Co-workers INTRODUCTION Animal models with conditional expression of a transgene of interest can be generated. This permits spatial and temporal control of the transgene expression. A successful strategy is based on th