Wonder if it can tow?

With a few extra battery packs sitting on the charger... maybe, just
maybe...

http://www.gizmag.com/yuneec-e430-el...ircraft/12036/ made in
China... (Chiner if your in the UK If it's successful, I bet
bigger/more powerful ones will follow, which WILL be up for towing.

-P

A colleague involved in the development of electric cars many years
ago described the performance as:

1. Take the smallest engine you can find (the Fiat 500 was often
mentioned)

2. Install a one liter gas tank.

3. Load a ton of lead in the trunk

4. Drive away slowly and don't go too far!

Modern batteries may have improved that to a two liter gas tank and
half a ton of lead, but it's still hard to get the energy density you
find in oil products.

The only positive benefit is the electric motor still puts out full
power at higher density altitudes (even if the prop doesn't).

Mike

Modern batteries may have improved that to a two liter gas tank and
half a ton of lead, but it's still hard to get the energy density you
find in oil products.

True that, but with efficiency ratings in the neighborhood of 18-22%
common for IC engines compared to 85-98% common for electric motors
(not to mention the flat torque polar...), the difference is not quite
as drastic as dry energy density numbers elude to...

One could use a suitable reynolds number prop for the average altitude
of operation. A sea level prop, a half mile prop and a mile prop ought
to cover 90% of operations in the world.

With electric motors in the wheels (much more efficient for getting up
to flying speed than a prop, especially tugging dead weight...) and
regen braking, one wouldn't need as many battery packs sitting on the
charger. Maybe not today... maybe not tomorrow... but maybe someday.

Oil can't be generated, electricity can.

-P

On Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:28:56 -0700, sisu1a wrote:

With a few extra battery packs sitting on the charger... maybe, just
maybe...

http://www.gizmag.com/yuneec-e430-el...ircraft/12036/ made in
China... (Chiner if your in the UK If it's successful, I bet
bigger/more powerful ones will follow, which WILL be up for towing.

Personally, I think Solar Impulse, which is linked from the referenced
page or he http://www.solar-impulse.com/ , is a rather more
interesting project.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

Hmmm...

I'll buy an electric drill from Harbor Freight but I'm not going to
strap my butt to one of them.

Zero One




"sisu1a" wrote in message
:

With a few extra battery packs sitting on the charger... maybe, just
maybe...

http://www.gizmag.com/yuneec-e430-el...ircraft/12036/ made in
China... (Chiner if your in the UK If it's successful, I bet
bigger/more powerful ones will follow, which WILL be up for towing.

-P

Here's a better write up, complete with a video of the plane flying:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/06/26/yuneec_e430/



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

On Jun 26, 7:27*am, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
Here's a better write up, complete with a video of the plane flying:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/06/26/yuneec_e430/

--
martin@ * | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org * * * |

Anyone know if there are any sites with technical details of the
batteries, control circuits, and motor?

On Jun 26, 8:50*am, Uncle Fuzzy wrote:
On Jun 26, 7:27*am, Martin Gregorie
wrote:

Here's a better write up, complete with a video of the plane flying:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2009/06/26/yuneec_e430/

--
martin@ * | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org * * * |

Anyone know if there are any sites with technical details of the
batteries, control circuits, and motor?

Don't know but the USA test pilot for the Yuneec is Dave Morss (http://
www.davemorss.com).

And note the Yuneec will be at Oshkosh.

Skip all that junk about Dave being a Reno air racer, test pilot,
warbird pilot, DAR, DE, blah, blah. More importantly Dave is a glider
pilot. It will be interesting to see how the Yuneec goes in his
capable hands.

Darryl