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Re: another electric airplane first flight
by Jamie K
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I'm really glad to see electric powered flying options in development,
especially those like this one actually becoming available.
It's not for everyone. But for anyone who wants to enjoy the thrill of
self-launched gliding without the complexity, maintenance, noise, gas
and exhaust of a combustion engine, this is a welcome option. Launch
with the electric motor and ride the thermals for a while. Whenever you
need a boost, use the motor again.
As far as the cost goes, the first of anything costs more. Prices come
down over time. It's already affordable enough and capable enough to
release to the early adopter market. The cost of operation is likely
very low. And it appears to be simple and upgradeable, so if you want
more electric time later you can take advantage of better and cheaper
batteries in the future.
Sure it can be criticized, but he created something cool with electrons
using and refining what's available now. An impressive first product.
Something worth celebrating, and another great step along the way. IMHO.
This list being what it is, maybe his glider will inspire some amazing
homebrew projects. If so, I'd love to read about them here (an electric
glider is an "EV" right?).
Cheers,
-Jamie
www.JamieKrutz.com
Neon John wrote:
> On Sat, 17 May 2008 08:04:21 -0500, gary <gkrysztopik@...> wrote:
>
>
>> The inventor also notes density altitude will never affect motor
>> performance... nor will high prices at the gas pumps.
>
> Ya gotta love that.
>
> http://www.electraflyer.com/prices.html
>
> $16,885.00 for the turnkey plane. That's about twice the price of a gas
> powered one. Add $3000 more for the long run time battery pack. I can buy a
> LOT of gas for almost $6500.
>
> Let's do some figuring.
>
> Run time. 16 hp motor is (assuming 100% efficiency) 746*16 = 12kw. The
> largest battery pack ($7500) is 5.6kwh. I see a little less than half an hour
> run time at 100% efficiency. He says the motor is 90% efficient and the
> Alltrax Axe controller I see in the photo is similarly efficient so the
> overall efficiency is 81%. Using that value, the run time reduces to 0.37
> hours or about 20 minutes. (Yeah, I see his 1 to 1.5 hour flight duration
> claims but like most EV range claims, I take that with a large grain of salt.)
>
> Strangely enough, he doesn't list a recharge time or the amperage capacity of
> the $895 charger, though for the price we can assume that it's a fairly high
> capacity unit. He does say that it can charge from an ordinary 120 volt
> outlet so we can do some figuring.
>
> Assume it's large enough to fully load a 15 amp branch. 15 amps at 120 volts
> is 1.8kW. Accounting for a bit of loss from efficiency, let's say 1.6kw. The
> biggest pack listed is 5.6kw. 5.6/1.6 = 3.5 hours assuming 100% charge
> efficiency. At 90% charge efficiency, that stretches out to 3.9 hours. Call
> it 4.
>
> To summarize, for the price of a fairly nice car, I can fly around 20 minutes
> out of approximately every 5 hours, assuming I have some source of electricity
> handy. At a flying field, that's probably a "smelly ole generator spewing
> fumes everywhere" (did I get that verbiage correct?) Or I suppose that I
> could drop the down payment on a nice house on a second battery pack and get
> almost 40 minutes of flying time between charges.
>
> Given that I can fly longer than I have the physical endurance for on 5
> gallons of gasoline, why is my enthusiator not perking up? Looks line just
> another media stunt/rich man's toy to me.
>
> John
> --
> John De Armond
> See my website for my current email address
> http://www.neon-john.com
> http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
> Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
> Give Blood. 8 Billion Mosquitoes can't be wrong.
>
> _______________________________________________
> For subscription options, see
> http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev
>
_______________________________________________
For subscription options, see
http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev
especially those like this one actually becoming available.
It's not for everyone. But for anyone who wants to enjoy the thrill of
self-launched gliding without the complexity, maintenance, noise, gas
and exhaust of a combustion engine, this is a welcome option. Launch
with the electric motor and ride the thermals for a while. Whenever you
need a boost, use the motor again.
As far as the cost goes, the first of anything costs more. Prices come
down over time. It's already affordable enough and capable enough to
release to the early adopter market. The cost of operation is likely
very low. And it appears to be simple and upgradeable, so if you want
more electric time later you can take advantage of better and cheaper
batteries in the future.
Sure it can be criticized, but he created something cool with electrons
using and refining what's available now. An impressive first product.
Something worth celebrating, and another great step along the way. IMHO.
This list being what it is, maybe his glider will inspire some amazing
homebrew projects. If so, I'd love to read about them here (an electric
glider is an "EV" right?).
Cheers,
-Jamie
www.JamieKrutz.com
Neon John wrote:
> On Sat, 17 May 2008 08:04:21 -0500, gary <gkrysztopik@...> wrote:
>
>
>> The inventor also notes density altitude will never affect motor
>> performance... nor will high prices at the gas pumps.
>
> Ya gotta love that.
>
> http://www.electraflyer.com/prices.html
>
> $16,885.00 for the turnkey plane. That's about twice the price of a gas
> powered one. Add $3000 more for the long run time battery pack. I can buy a
> LOT of gas for almost $6500.
>
> Let's do some figuring.
>
> Run time. 16 hp motor is (assuming 100% efficiency) 746*16 = 12kw. The
> largest battery pack ($7500) is 5.6kwh. I see a little less than half an hour
> run time at 100% efficiency. He says the motor is 90% efficient and the
> Alltrax Axe controller I see in the photo is similarly efficient so the
> overall efficiency is 81%. Using that value, the run time reduces to 0.37
> hours or about 20 minutes. (Yeah, I see his 1 to 1.5 hour flight duration
> claims but like most EV range claims, I take that with a large grain of salt.)
>
> Strangely enough, he doesn't list a recharge time or the amperage capacity of
> the $895 charger, though for the price we can assume that it's a fairly high
> capacity unit. He does say that it can charge from an ordinary 120 volt
> outlet so we can do some figuring.
>
> Assume it's large enough to fully load a 15 amp branch. 15 amps at 120 volts
> is 1.8kW. Accounting for a bit of loss from efficiency, let's say 1.6kw. The
> biggest pack listed is 5.6kw. 5.6/1.6 = 3.5 hours assuming 100% charge
> efficiency. At 90% charge efficiency, that stretches out to 3.9 hours. Call
> it 4.
>
> To summarize, for the price of a fairly nice car, I can fly around 20 minutes
> out of approximately every 5 hours, assuming I have some source of electricity
> handy. At a flying field, that's probably a "smelly ole generator spewing
> fumes everywhere" (did I get that verbiage correct?) Or I suppose that I
> could drop the down payment on a nice house on a second battery pack and get
> almost 40 minutes of flying time between charges.
>
> Given that I can fly longer than I have the physical endurance for on 5
> gallons of gasoline, why is my enthusiator not perking up? Looks line just
> another media stunt/rich man's toy to me.
>
> John
> --
> John De Armond
> See my website for my current email address
> http://www.neon-john.com
> http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
> Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
> Give Blood. 8 Billion Mosquitoes can't be wrong.
>
> _______________________________________________
> For subscription options, see
> http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev
>
_______________________________________________
For subscription options, see
http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev
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