FlyBoy1960

I got a press release on this this morning. http://sendy.pipistrel-usa.com/uploads/1595285590.jpg PRESS RELEASE – JUNE 2021 Saturday 19 June, 2021 WORLD ENDURANCE RECORD ATTEMPT FOR ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT TO DEPART AUSTRALIA'S ADELAIDE-PARAFIELD AIRPORT TOMORROW Adelaide-based Eyre to There Aviation in partnership with platinum sponsor AvPlan EFB will aim to break a world endurance record for an electric aircraft with a 7-day, 18-stop flight around South Australia, starting tomorrow. The record attempt, flying a Pipistrel Alpha Electro plane, will start at Parafield Airport at 7.00am on Saturday June 19 with the first leg to Balaklava and the first overnight stop in Whyalla. The total distance will be 1,150km, which will shatter the previous record of 750km flown in September 2020 in Germany. The proposed route will include flying across to the Lower Eyre Peninsula and inland back to Port Augusta for flight sectors around the Yorke Peninsula before arriving back in Adelaide, subject to aircraft performance and weather. The world record attempt is being led by Eyre to There Aviation Managing Director, Barrie Rogers, who undertook the first ever electric flight in South Australia in 2020. Additional in-flight footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMrLHeKJA80&t=7s – with special thanks to (and permission from) aviation vlogger Stefan Drury. The flight team and support crew will include three pilots, five on-the-ground support crew, a second support (petrol-powered) plane, and two vehicles carrying recharging equipment for the aircraft. “The world record we’re seeking to break is basically an endurance record to push the durability and reliability of the aircraft. We’re also hoping to break a couple of other records including fastest point-to-point single flight and fastest climb rate,” Barrie says. “The Pipistrel Alpha Electro - dubbed the ‘Tesla of flying’ - currently has a flight time range of about 1 hour and cruising speed of 85 knots (157km/h) so we’ve had to very carefully plan each stop and build in contingencies for weather such as strong head winds.” “Barrie says the Pipistrel Alpha Electro is the world’s first and only serially produced electric aircraft currently LSA approved in Australia for flight training by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority” “This record attempt will further demonstrate the overall viability of this aircraft, with a view to one day setting up an assembly line in Adelaide producing up to 40 aircraft per year” “Electric aircraft are cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, are significantly quieter than conventional aircraft and don’t rely on fossil fuels. And they are ideally suited for short range flight training activities,” Barrie says. “The flight will also investigate suitable airfields along the route for the introduction of electric aircraft charging infrastructure into the future. Eyre to There Aviation plans to prepare a report for the State Government outlining the regional potential for upgraded charging infrastructure in support of current and emerging electric aircraft capabilities. This includes a combination of plane and electric vehicle charging where applicable. “Electric aircraft don’t yet have the range of other aircraft, but they’re perfect for short flights such as flight training and particularly circuit training, which is a core activity in obtaining a private pilot licence. “There are more than 250 registered flight schools in Australia using more than 3,400 training aircraft. Roughly 25 per cent of flight training covers the beginner phase which involves circuit training for take-offs and landings as well as training in close proximity to an airfield. Electric aircraft are perfectly suited for this task. “The average age of small single engine aeroplanes in Australia is 36.4 years, so many of these are reaching the end of their lifespan. We see a clear market opportunity to provide brand new, low-cost aircraft that have zero emissions.” MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Barrie Rogers (Eyre to There Aviation) – 0475 693 348 Mark Williams (Hughes PR) – 0401 147 558 ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT PROPOSED FLIGHT PATH: Parafield Airport - Balaklava - Snowtown - Port Pirie - Whyalla - Cleve - Tumby Bay - Port Lincoln - Cummins - Lock - Kimba - Port Augusta - Wallaroo - Maitland - Ardrossan - Kadina - Jamestown - Gawler - Adelaide Airport OVERNIGHT STOPS: Whyalla - Port Lincoln - Kimba - Ardrossan - Jamestown - Gawler TOTAL DISTANCE: 1,150km PILOTS: Barrie Rogers, Catherine Conway OAM, David Bradshaw OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS: Platinum (Naming rights): AvPlan EFB Gold: Aerometrex Silver: West Coast Bitumen Silver: RA-Aus (Recreational Aviation Australia) KEY AIRCRAFT FACTS: Aircraft type: Pipistrel Alpha Electro Weight: 368kg (empty); max take-off weight 550kg; Wingspan: 10.5 metres Length: 6.5 metres Cruising speed: 85 Knots Indicated Air Speed (157km/h) Cruise range: 75 Nautical Miles (139km) Time Range: 1 hour plus 30-minute reserve Max climb rate: 1,220 feet per minute Energy costs: $6.00 per hour Running costs: $26.70 per hour (inc. battery replacement, maintenance & overhaul) Pipistrel ALPHA Electro Information Pack: >> DOWNLOAD HERE << End

this looks like a great idea, now if you could make the mirrors that they are using also solar panels you could get double bang for your buck. You could harvest the electricity coming through the solar panels and the reflection would do everything else needed for the system. 2 underground insulated pits the size of 9 Olympic swimming pools each is a pretty big operation!

I didn't see these before, but AGAIN (as is so common in aviation) operator error led to a failure in the system. "NSIA finds it most likely that the LN-ELA motor failure was caused by the power controller interrupting power to the motor. This is likely to have been caused by overheating due to low fluid level and air in the cooling system. The investigation indicate that an insufficient quantity of coolant was added in connection with a motor replacement that was conducted by the aircraft's maintenance organization in Norway"

It's a Pipistrel trainer aircraft, I only know of 2 that have crashed that i have read about. One ran out of power because the guy flew until the batteries were completely flat (somewhere in Norway) and another crashed because the pilot spun in on turning final. Apparently (I'm just repeating exactly what I was told) they had set the aircraft up for very high regeneration in the circuit but this also slowed the aircraft significantly and during the turn from base to final the aircraft just got too slow and stalled when turning because of the propeller regeneration. If my memory serves me correctly this was in the Netherlands I was told that the manufacturer has now limited regeneration so that the aircraft will never fall from the sky again and that the owner has no control over boosting the amount of regeneration and therefore slowing the aircraft down, nothing comes free

The one at our airfield runs 100% off solar. The panels charge some large storage batteries in the hanger and the plane gets charged off those batteries DC to DC. When the plane is out flying the batteries are still charging in the hanger for the next recharge. Simples

PBS in the USA just ran a fantastic Electric Aircraft Doco. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/great-electric-airplane-race/ The feature Doco is blocked outside of the US due to geographical restrictions so you can only access it using a VPN located in the US, a TOR browser etc. if you are watching outside of the USA. This Doco is really an accurate snapshot on the state of the industry from what I can work out, it was very well done and has lots of really interesting information

Use your drone in the back of the plane, just turn it on and leave on as many have adsb out. That should do it. They will blame some new drone doing 120 kts at 8,000 feet !

the only reason the Rotax will use oil and have it go bad after 25 hours is if you have the engine over propped. Running it over propped will destroy the oil and destroy the engine really quickly. They are designed to rev to 5800 rpm on takeoff and then sit 5200 rpm or above during cruise. Rotax recommend 5500 rpm as the best RPM setting for cruise. I prefer to around 5200 rpm when I am flying

I know a couple of dealers at our airfield that have them in stock for immediate delivery.

So, what's it worth ? How much ?

There was a guy at our airport who probably had the very best thing to say about these light helicopters that I have ever heard. "Have you ever been to a vintage helicopter meeting ?" Ahh, NO Even all the ones at Oshkosh turn up on trailers in the ultralight area

there is a huge difference between a commercial aircraft and an LSA aircraft. Most LSA aircraft barely clear your stomach/chest when the stick is pulled back all the way. If the child was in fact sitting on someone's lap then it is illegal. If the child was in the back of the aircraft it is again illegal. You are not allowed to carry a child in ANY RA-Aus aircraft as third person. I am flabbergasted as to why you would think that comparing information for commercial airlines in any way closely aligns with RA-Aus aircraft. This pilot has broken the rules, there is no excuse because everybody knows that an RA-Aus aircraft is limited to 2 seats, one seat for the pilot and the other seat for the passenger unless it is a Jabiru and then you call the passenger a victim. >> Ha Ha. << let's move on, the pilot should and will face reprimand. Probably from CASA because all that the RA-Aus can do is suspend or terminate his flying privileges. Was something this public, I would say he deserves everything he gets.

Remember this ALSO includes the 2-Stroke engines

I imagine he would be pushing very hard to get that baby back to where it came from to avoid The CASA !

Interesting aircraft with strutless wing. Love the Zebra stripes !

unusual wingtip shape makes guessing the aircraft type difficult.

This is not Hurricane Katrina (the top image). These photographs (with the exception of the last photograph) were taken about 8 years before Hurricane Katrina. The original photograph (number one) was taken around 1995, and the others not much afterwards. I have not seen the last image that I can remember

just go with nitrous and your problems are solved

Forgot to mention, the last I heard they were trying to sell the project about 4 or 5 years ago to some sort of "entrepreneur from PNG" who was going to sell dozens of them in PNG. He was lobbying the government to invest millions in the Terrier, the Sapphire (from memory) and a Chinese copy of the 172 as well as some helicopter from somewhere that eludes me. He did quite a bit of what you on pprune to try and get people to write to the group and say what a good idea it was so he can take it to the PNG government and show support for the project. As far as I know nothing ever happened and everything just disappeared 6 months after it was released with the fanfare

I heard a long time ago they were advertising themselves as LSA and got taken to the ringer by CASA because the Subaru engine doesn't meet the ASTM standards, and the aircraft is not built by a company that could ever comply with the LSA requirements (ASTM standards) for engineering or production (so I was told during and RA-Aus meet the people event). There was one at our airfield for many years and it was out of the sky for a long time getting converted from factory built registration (for which it never ever complied, but was registered by the RA-Aus by mistake) and then it went to the 19 category which is amateur built, non-factory built or certified. The Subaru engine was far from reliable and gave the owner so much trouble that he eventually sold everything for about 20 grand and gave up flying forever. The new owner that purchased it was from Perth and he got as far as Goondiwindi before the engine destroyed itself for about the 4th time and the last I heard it had been tied down there and abandoned with the new owner deciding the aircraft was not going to do what he wanted so he caught the bus to Brisbane and flew back to Perth and then took legal action against the owner. I was never told the outcome. The best thing to do in my opinion would be to contact the RA-Aus technical people and ask them about the aircraft, problems, reliability, how many were made, how many hours flown and from there you can make an informed and considered decision. It might take a week or 2 but they said that they had access to all of this information at the latest meet and greet.

Agree, EXCEPT all those drones are now hanging around at those altitudes.

Yeeeep, that would do me !

talk about thread drift !

All of this gets significantly worse, I was at the airfield yesterday talking to a couple of importers of aircraft, and because of Bristell falsifying documents and some of their aircraft being 60 kg more than what they claimed, all new aircraft regardless, of being factory built or amateur built, now require a weight and balance by a CASA appointed weight and balance control officer ! The factory weight and balance supplied by manufacturers is no longer acceptable one you do yourself on the new plane you just finished is no longer acceptable.. A weight and balance done on certified scales by your Lame, or anyone else from the RA-Aus is not acceptable. Cost is about $700 plus travel. Apparently there are not many CASA appointed weight and balance control officers in Australia. It's completely out of control ! Rather than punish the industry, punish the importer that caused the problems to start with. What do you have to say Mr Anderson ? Not so popular up our way !

Just love the fact the first thing he did was tear off the rego numbers !