I know there are electric powered sailplanes but

[YouHelpBuild.com]

How about 100% electric powered ultralights?

What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
(aside from air traffic issues... it IS a big sky after all)? I
understand the average commute is less than 30 miles in land based
vehicles which would generally mean less than a 30 minute flight for
most people. Of course, ultralights are currently restricted from
flying over neighborhoods, so there would have to be some changes in
regulations for the average person to take off & land an aircraft from
their front drive, but wouldn't it be a reasonable idea?

And, by the way... does anyone know of a decent 100% electric
ultralight aircraft with plans available for homebuilders?

[Scott[_1_]]

I think one of the hardships of designing an electric ultralight would
be keeping the weight below limits (which is an empty weight of 254
pounds in the USA)...

YouHelpBuild.com wrote:
> How about 100% electric powered ultralights?
>
> What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
> aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
> (aside from air traffic issues... it IS a big sky after all)? I
> understand the average commute is less than 30 miles in land based
> vehicles which would generally mean less than a 30 minute flight for
> most people. Of course, ultralights are currently restricted from
> flying over neighborhoods, so there would have to be some changes in
> regulations for the average person to take off & land an aircraft from
> their front drive, but wouldn't it be a reasonable idea?
>
> And, by the way... does anyone know of a decent 100% electric
> ultralight aircraft with plans available for homebuilders?

--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

[Vaughn Simon]

"YouHelpBuild.com" > wrote in message
...
> What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
> aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work

You could try your question on rec.aviation.ultralights for a much better
answer. But first, please take a look around you. How many people do you know
who commute with ultralight aircraft? I can count all of the ultralight
commuters I have ever seen on the fingers of no hands. There are many good
reasons why few folks commute in small aircraft, any kind of small aircraft.

Vaughn

[Wayne Paul]

"Vaughn Simon" > wrote in message
...
>
> "YouHelpBuild.com" > wrote in message
> ...
>> What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
>> aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
>
> You could try your question on rec.aviation.ultralights for a much
> better answer. But first, please take a look around you. How many people
> do you know who commute with ultralight aircraft? I can count all of the
> ultralight commuters I have ever seen on the fingers of no hands. There
> are many good reasons why few folks commute in small aircraft, any kind of
> small aircraft.
>
> Vaughn

rec.aviation.homebuilt might be another appropriate place for the first post
in this thread.

Wayne
HP-14 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/

[Mike the Strike]

To keep under the weight limit, you'll have about as much available
electrical energy as a large flashlight.

Human power would be more feasible.

Mike

[[email protected]]

On Nov 16, 6:17�am, Mike the Strike > wrote:
> To keep under the weight limit, you'll have about as much available
> electrical energy as a large flashlight.
>
> Human power would be more feasible.
>
> Mike

See www.solar-flight.com

[Ron Blum]

Although weight is a factor (254#), the ElectricFlyer
is doing well. Has any
one looked into an FAA ELOS (Equivalent Level of Safety)
or Exemption?
The LSA category opens up a whole new world, too.

[Scott[_1_]]

What is the Sunseeker empty weight? Top Speed? Does it in fact meet
the requirements for an ultralight aircraft? That was the original
question (is it a legal ultralight?)...


wrote:

> See www.solar-flight.com

--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

[gfoster07k]

On Nov 16, 12:39 am, "YouHelpBuild.com" >
wrote:
> How about 100% electric powered ultralights?
>
> What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
> aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
> (aside from air traffic issues... it IS a big sky after all)?

While not quite on the subject, a fellow built a very light (Benson-
type) helicopter to commute to a company I use to work for. He landed
it on the corporate helipad. By the time people were through beating
him on the head for such an act, he finally was allowed to truck it
away with an escort. I'm glad he was at ground level or he would have
had to dismantle it. Personally I thought it made perfect sense. It
was a very well built machine and he was an expert pilot with about an
18 mile commute over a typically jammed freeway. The fire marshals
and the insurance companies were the main attackers, not the FAA.

Greg

[Scott[_1_]]

Isn't a Benson a gyrocopter, not a helicopter? Gyrocopters can't hover,
they rely on airspeed to spin the rotor, correct?

Scott


gfoster07k wrote:
> On Nov 16, 12:39 am, "YouHelpBuild.com" >
> wrote:
>
>>How about 100% electric powered ultralights?
>>
>>What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
>>aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
>>(aside from air traffic issues... it IS a big sky after all)?
>
>
> While not quite on the subject, a fellow built a very light (Benson-
> type) helicopter to commute to a company I use to work for. He landed
> it on the corporate helipad. By the time people were through beating
> him on the head for such an act, he finally was allowed to truck it
> away with an escort. I'm glad he was at ground level or he would have
> had to dismantle it. Personally I thought it made perfect sense. It
> was a very well built machine and he was an expert pilot with about an
> 18 mile commute over a typically jammed freeway. The fire marshals
> and the insurance companies were the main attackers, not the FAA.
>
> Greg

--
Scott
http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)

[gfoster07k]

On Nov 17, 10:58 am, Scott > wrote:
> Isn't a Benson a gyrocopter, not a helicopter? Gyrocopters can't hover,
> they rely on airspeed to spin the rotor, correct?
>
> Scott

You are probably quite right. All the Benson's I know of are
gyrocopters. My intent was to convey the very light weight design.
This was a true helicopter powered by an water cooled outboard engine
of some sort. It was about 30 years ago so I don't remember the
details.

Greg

[Adam]

On Nov 16, 2:39 am, "YouHelpBuild.com" > wrote:
> How about 100% electric powered ultralights?
>
> What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
> aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
> (aside from air traffic issues... it IS a big sky after all)? I
> understand the average commute is less than 30 miles in land based
> vehicles which would generally mean less than a 30 minute flight for
> most people. Of course, ultralights are currently restricted from
> flying over neighborhoods, so there would have to be some changes in
> regulations for the average person to take off & land an aircraft from
> their front drive, but wouldn't it be a reasonable idea?
>
> And, by the way... does anyone know of a decent 100% electric
> ultralight aircraft with plans available for homebuilders?

They already exists as prototypes, in both trike and paraglider form.
And both are FAR 103 legal ultralights. You can buy the trike today.

http://www.electraflyer.com/index.html

http://www.electricppg.com/

If you have not played with R/C electrics in the last 3 years, you
have no idea how far battery technology has come!

/Adam

[Ron Blum]

Scott:

Yes; gyrocopters need forward airspeed for the rotors to lift. Gyrocopters were/are known as autogryos (for the auto-rotation of a helicopter). The rotors of a gyrocopter are not powered (except some that have a little drive off the engine/propeller to get it turning a few RPM to make a shorter takeoff.

Ron

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: Glider Pilot Network >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Newsgroup: rec.aviation.soaring
> Subject: Re: I know there are electric powered sailplanes but
> Author: Scott >
> Date/Time: 19:00 17 November 2007
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> Isn't a Benson a gyrocopter, not a helicopter? Gyrocopters can't hover,
>
> they rely on airspeed to spin the rotor, correct?
>
> Scott
>
>
> gfoster07k wrote:
> > On Nov 16, 12:39 am, "YouHelpBuild.com"
> > wrote:
> >
> >>How about 100% electric powered ultralights?
> >>
> >>What problems can anyone forsee to building a 100% electric ultralight
> >>aircraft for short & mid-range commuters to get back & forth to work
> >>(aside from air traffic issues... it IS a big sky after all)?
> >
> >
> > While not quite on the subject, a fellow built a very light (Benson-
> > type) helicopter to commute to a company I use to work for. He landed
> > it on the corporate helipad. By the time people were through beating
> > him on the head for such an act, he finally was allowed to truck it
> > away with an escort. I'm glad he was at ground level or he would have
> > had to dismantle it. Personally I thought it made perfect sense. It
> > was a very well built machine and he was an expert pilot with about an
> > 18 mile commute over a typically jammed freeway. The fire marshals
> > and the insurance companies were the main attackers, not the FAA.
> >
> > Greg
>
> --
> Scott
> http://corbenflyer.tripod.com/
> Gotta Fly or Gonna Die
> Building RV-4 (Super Slow Build Version)
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------