BrettShaffer
Member
Recently saw a video posted with an all electric Sonex. Has anyone done this with an RV?
Recently saw a video posted with an all electric Sonex. Has anyone done this with an RV?
Sonex has been working on this for about 15 years.
A brand new plane designed specifically around electric power might be the key?
This one makes a whole lot of sense.
Similar to hybrid cars, I'd expect that the gas engine would be for cruise (and recharging batteries). That way, you can size and tune the engine for maximum efficiency at cruise, and the required battery pack could be greatly shrunk to only the size needed for takeoff.I can see a hybrid system working.
2 power plants for takeoff, 1 for cruise.
Depending on mission, I'm not sure which power plant would be better for cruise.
Maybe just my flawed memory, but it seems that when electric motors came to model rc planes, there were a lot of attempts to fit them to existing designs. However, the existing designs were built around heavy, vibrating engines and the need to protect against oil exhaust and fuel proofing. A brand new plane designed specifically around electric power might be the key?
This one makes a whole lot of sense.
It does???
Range 25 miles.
Recharge time 5.5 to 7.4 hours for the most commonly found electrical source.
A hundred mile flight thus equates to 4 flight legs, with a minimum of 22 hours charging time to make the flight.
At the 62 mph listed, that is slightly over 1.5 hours flight time, 22 hours charging time. Toss in 10 minutes each charging session just to get hooked up , unhooked and misc.
So, your 100 mile flight has taken 24 hours to accomplish.
Sorry, this doesn't make much sense to me.
Yes, it is interesting tech, and a fun looking craft with an interesting flight capibility.
IMHO for electric flight to get to be more than just a novelty, you need to be close to the performance of gas powered aircraft in; load carrying ability, range, speed, refueling (charging) time and cost.
Dont get me wrong, I am not against electric flight, I am just trying to see the total picture and ignore the koolaid. I look forward to the time I can plug in my plane at night and then go fly out for an hour or two, at 150 mph. Then turn around and fly home and land with the same reserves my gas powered plane has. Plug it in again and be ready for the next flight tomorrow
Maybe someday.........
Take a look at the people behind this.
But Vern, I'm sure you still look good in shorts!...Here I am in 1978. ...
https://vansairforce.net/community/attachment.php?attachmentid=2184&stc=1&d=1599579303
I don’t have as much hair now.
It does???
Range 25 miles.
Recharge time 5.5 to 7.4 hours for the most commonly found electrical source.
A hundred mile flight thus equates to 4 flight legs, with a minimum of 22 hours charging time to make the flight.
At the 62 mph listed, that is slightly over 1.5 hours flight time, 22 hours charging time. Toss in 10 minutes each charging session just to get hooked up , unhooked and misc.
So, your 100 mile flight has taken 24 hours to accomplish.
Sorry, this doesn't make much sense to me.
My motivation is not environmental or political, but primarily economic - I still can’t swallow the concept of paying $30k for a new Lycoming and $5/gal for a fuel which will only go up in price and get harder to find..
The problem is, to have roughly half the range of your typical RV, you would need about 1800 lbs of batteries. Not feasible for an RV airframe, unless you are just building a science experiment.
Tim
Mike, you get First Prize for Missing the Big Picture!
Now look at the positives:
- One doesn't need an airport.
- One doesn't need a pilot's license nor a driver's license (it's Ultralight!).
- One doesn't need any flying skills nor specialized knowledge.
- Such a One won't be able to intrude into "precious" airspace and endanger others.
- If it annoys one's neighbors to zoom in/out of one's backyard, trailer it two blocks away and have it land itself back onto the trailer.
- Park it in the garage.
- Range/speed is limited by the aforementioned Ultralight constraint. Lift the constraint, range/speed increases accordingly.
- If one needs more range, make it a gasoline series hybrid with a tiny battery to supply the burst for vertical takeoff. (Oh, and provide a toilet for us young-at-heart.)
The whole point of this exercise isn't to make a better airplane; it is to make a flying thing fit in places where airplanes and helicopters don't, enabled by batteries and Neodymium. (Vacuum cleaners look nothing like brooms.) By that measure this is a smashing success, love-child of a quad-copter and a biplane. I want one!
Hi all,
As technology improves, I wonder if electricity will come into its own as the second plane. I do not know what percentage of pilots have multiple planes, but many that do have a "fun" plane as their second plane. Something you tool around the local area in for an hour fits the bill of an electric plane pretty well. I know Pipistrel made the argument for the Alpha electro that most training flights are an hour. Doing that multiple times a day, day in and day out, while cutting out the maintenance was a big driver for them actually getting the plane to the market. I guess time will tell if this comes to anything or not.
Blue skies,
Geoff
Supposedly the recharge time is 45 minutes. When I was doing training our club ran 2-3 sorties a day on each trainer, which would be very doable with this recharge time. The "refuel" cost for a flight was $3 for the electricity.
I am not saying this is the be-all and end-all, it just seems like they are getting closer to making this make sense, at least for some use cases.
Blue Skies
Geoff
Corrected the attribution of that quote. It wasn't me.I see no evidence that an electric motor and batteries will be any less to purchase than a Lycoming especially when they get the power density of the batteries up, they will probably require some exotic materials.TomAniello said:My motivation is not environmental or political, but primarily economic - I still can’t swallow the concept of paying $30k for a new Lycoming and $5/gal for a fuel which will only go up in price and get harder to find..
Oh, and electricity is not free. Nor is the overhaul, and or disposal of warn out batteries.