New glider from students of Politechnika Warszawska

[RRK]

No plans for production.. Students exercise in design of electric gliders. Flays great. Sort of PW-7.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poy8OUohNKQ&feature=endscreen&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIpkwWF93vo
RRK

[RRK]

>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIpkwWF93vo
>
> RRK

Could be a glider like this be used as a trainer ? How many take-offs are you making on electric self-lunch before it give up ?

[waremark]

An electric self launch Arcus 2 seat glider has a quoted endurance of 2,000 m of climb, after which you need a long recharge. That amount of climb should use about 5 litres of petrol in a solo engined version, which has a fuel capacity of 41 litres. So the electric version is heavier, costs a lot more and has far less endurance. Much as I like the quietness and simplicity of electric operation, battery technology has a way to go before electric self launching could be viable for a trainer.


On Tuesday, 12 February 2013 03:55:37 UTC, RRK wrote:
> >
>
> > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIpkwWF93vo
>
> >
>
> > RRK
>
>
>
> Could be a glider like this be used as a trainer ? How many take-offs are you making on electric self-lunch before it give up ?

[Dave Nadler]

On Tuesday, February 12, 2013 9:10:16 AM UTC-5, waremark wrote:
> An electric self launch Arcus 2 seat glider has a quoted endurance
> of 2,000 m of climb, after which you need a long recharge.

The new "Charge+" feature increases that ~18% IIRC.
Also climb is proportional to weight; I don't remember at what
weight they quoted the figure above.

> ...So the electric version is heavier, costs a lot more and has
> far less endurance. Much as I like the quietness and simplicity
> of electric operation, battery technology has a way to go before
> electric self launching could be viable for a trainer.

Absolutely. Its great for a launch and some saves, but absolutely
not for repeated take-offs as required in basic training. Antares
20E gets quite a bit more altitude as its lower weight than Arcus
(same motor and battery).

The Chinese trainer showed a few years back had hoped to include
quick-swap battery packs, but they've gone quiet after the structural
failure accident that killed Martin Wetzel (?sp). And the battery
packs are not cheap.

Electric trainers aren't going to happen until we see much better
cells (capacity per weight/volume and cost)...

Hope that's clear,
Best Regards, Dave