Anybody see the electric ultralight planes at OSH?

GAZOO

GAZOO

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GAZOO
They are orange, white, and grey. Just curious if anyone saw them?

They have been developing those at my home airport for the last year or so. Got FAA approval and are going to sell them. Really neat planes. They are starting on a cool looking two seater that took its first test flight on thursday morning.
 
What was the Electric one that looked like a Titan Tornado?
Yellow, Tri-gear pusher.
I was really impressed with it!
Dave
 
no, they look just like ultra lights. Motor is on the front of the wing. I wish I had a picture. My friends are out there flying them, I was just curious what if anyone saw them and what they thought
 
I found a couple of old pics. Little hard to see, they were taken as we transported the airplanes.
they changed the wings color from orange to a yellow

IMAG0839.jpg

IMAG0844.jpg
 
They must be LSA or motorgliders you're referring to. ULs don't need no steenking FAA approval.

It's an interesting idea, though, and one that I've been passively following.

Given the five-gallon limit, a gasoline-fueled UL carries 30 pounds of fuel wet. Plus the weight of the tank and fuel system, which are trivial. I wonder how much juice could be packed by a 30-pound battery, perhaps solar-supplemented. Also, if the electric motor is lighter in weight than a gasoline engine, that allows for more battery / solar panel weight while still staying within the 103 limits.

-Rich
 
RJM62 said:
They must be LSA or motorgliders you're referring to. ULs don't need no steenking FAA approval.

It's an interesting idea, though, and one that I've been passively following.

Given the five-gallon limit, a gasoline-fueled UL carries 30 pounds of fuel wet. Plus the weight of the tank and fuel system, which are trivial. I wonder how much juice could be packed by a 30-pound battery, perhaps solar-supplemented. Also, if the electric motor is lighter in weight than a gasoline engine, that allows for more battery / solar panel weight while still staying within the 103 limits.

-Rich
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I know they have been doing one hour test flights. They had to do a ton of hours to get faa approval (they are trying to put them into production) and flew them multiple hours per day. I think it took an hour to charge them. The battery is under the seat. It is basically as big as the floor. The test pilots are right at the 200 pound range.
 
RJM62 said:
They must be LSA or motorgliders you're referring to. ULs don't need no steenking FAA approval.

It's an interesting idea, though, and one that I've been passively following.

Given the five-gallon limit, a gasoline-fueled UL carries 30 pounds of fuel wet. Plus the weight of the tank and fuel system, which are trivial. I wonder how much juice could be packed by a 30-pound battery, perhaps solar-supplemented. Also, if the electric motor is lighter in weight than a gasoline engine, that allows for more battery / solar panel weight while still staying within the 103 limits.

-Rich
Click to expand...

30 pounds of lithium ion could probably get you in the air at least, enough to catch a thermal.

Oh, those aren't gliders. Oh well. I'd like to see a link on that though.
 
Sac Arrow said:
30 pounds of lithium ion could probably get you in the air at least, enough to catch a thermal.

Oh, those aren't gliders. Oh well. I'd like to see a link on that though.
Click to expand...

They do use thermals to help them. I heard one of the guys say he hit 10,600. Had a day with great lift
 
What FAA approval do they need or is this not actually an ultralight?
 
Skylane81E said:
What FAA approval do they need or is this not actually an ultralight?
Click to expand...

To be honest Idunno. It is not an ultra light. It just looks like one. They are going to produce it for sale. I'm not involved in the project, just have friends that are. I was just curious of people reaction if they saw it out there. When they get back from OSH I will find out more info:)
 
I was on the UL flight line when they were flying, but I didn't really notice them much. Very quiet for sure.

Sorry, didn't pay too much attention to them. :redface:
 
GAZOO said:
They are orange, white, and grey. Just curious if anyone saw them?

They have been developing those at my home airport for the last year or so. Got FAA approval and are going to sell them. Really neat planes. They are starting on a cool looking two seater that took its first test flight on thursday morning.
Click to expand...

Were they iPlanes?
 
Article said:
The eSpyder is expected to fly daily in the ultralight area at AirVenture. It spans just over 19 feet and weighs 262 pounds, empty (without batteries), and 402 pounds with its lithium ion battery pack on board.
Click to expand...

If they shed eight pounds, a case could probably be made for it falling under Part 103. (It might already, actually, if the model in question has a BRS.)

Part 103 specifies a maximum empty weight of 254 pounds, and empty weight, by definition, excludes the fuel. So a case could be made for the 140-pound battery being the "fuel" in the case of the eSpyder.

I'm not sure how well it would sell, however. It doesn't add any range compared to what's out there now. Even for local flying, it's a lot easier to carry a gas can in the car than to find a source of electricity; and using a generator or car inverter would defeat the purpose of the electric powerplant. The only real advantage would be cost of operation, and that depends on where the break-even point lies and assumes a ready source of electricity.

I think the current state of the art of electric propulsion is best suited to self-launching motorgliders rather than to LSA or ULVs. I don't think there's a huge market for powered aircraft in either group that have to charge on the ground for twice as long as they fly. It has more promise for motorgliders.

-Rich
 
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The problem is that an LSA-like electric aircraft is NOT LSA because according to the FAA all LSAs must have a reciprocating engine. I suppose that condition was placed on them to prevent jet powered LSAs. But it also eliminated (so far) electric powered LSAs.

In other words, if they exceed the ultralight specs, the pilot of an electric aircraft must have a PPL and current medical.

The electrics are a lot quieter than other aircraft, so that might be a reason to have one. It would probably make neighbors more agreeable to an "electric only" landing strip in the neighborhood.
 
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Are you eliminating overhaul costs by not using a recip? A second battery would solve the flight time issue, especially if you could wire it in series. 1.5 hrs would be a pretty long flight in a UL type aircraft (especially if you could augment it with some thermaling). SILENT! Allow you to sneak around without disturbing anyone/thing. 1.5 hr recharge time would allow you a chance to eat a sandwich, take a whizz, and plan your next flight! It's a lot of the same benefits as electric RC was to that group. Less noise, less hassle (tuning), more dependable, less messy, etc.

I can see the benefit to this. Sounds like a hoot!
 
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