Record-setting electric airplane exceeds
200-mph (w/ Video)
23 July 2012, by Nancy Owano
(FOTC), where Yates is CEO, as an R&D plane for
development of the company's "mid-air recharging
technology." The company team converted Burt
Rutan's Long-EZ airplane (Rutan is an aerospace
engineer) for the trial flight. In a two-month workup
at the FOTC site, the plane's gasoline power was
converted over to electric power.
Just how much can an electric plane achieve? So
far, engineers looking at the electric plane's future
in practical terms are concerned the most with
range rather than speed, and news of speed
records command less attention than longevity of
flight. In recognition, Yates hopes his speed runs
(Phys.org) -- Last week's record of the fastest ever will help develop the technology needed for longermanned electric aircraft was set by electric-vehicle endurance flights and more practical electric aircraft
.
record-setter Chip Yates. He already had
credentials as holding the world record for fastest
electric motorcycle going over 196 mph last year.
As a test pilot this time around, Yates flew an
electric airplane and achieved 202.6 mph in level
flight. This topped the previous record of 175 mph
last year by the electric aircraft Cri-Cri. The latter,
flown by French pilot Hugues Duval, broke the
record during the Paris Air Show. The aircraft was
powered by a pair of 35-horsepower electric
motors and a pair of lithium polymer batteries.
Yesterday's flight of the electric Long-ESA lasted
only 16 minutes. There was a hitch when Yates
realized that a battery had been run too low and he
had to land sooner than expected. Long-ESA will
be given a more capable battery pack as part of
subsequent work. The company expects a top
speed of 230 to 250 mph with the full-size battery
pack in place in September.
Yates, meanwhile, is bringing the Long-ESA to the
2012 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh event, which runs
Test pilot Yates is now the first person to ever fly
an electric aircraft faster than 200 miles per hour, July 23 to July 29, where the craft will go on display
in his test flight last week at the Inyokern Airport in and where he will present his flight data. FOTC
engineers worked on the test program to generate
California's Mojave Desert.
data, video and knowledge in time to share with
The plane that he flew is called the Long-ESA, (for attendees. After Oshkosh, the company intends to
equip the Long-ESA with a custom designed lithiumElectric Speed and Altitude). The aircraft is a
ion series of battery packs and a front-mounted
modified Long-EZ, serving as a development
recharging probe to test mid-air tethering and
platform for a new electric aircraft system which
battery jettison along with "rebalance"
will be utilized for a flight across the Atlantic later
technologies.
on. The transatlantic flight is scheduled for 2014.
The electric Long-ESA, powered by a 258
horsepower electric motor, is being worked on by
electric aerospace company Flight of the Century
Beyond this test flight, the core mission behind
FOTC is to extend the range and endurance of an
electric-powered aircraft by replacing battery packs
in flight using its mid-air refueling technique of
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"flying battery packs," drones full of batteries, for
various ground or ocean stations. A UAV would
detach from the "mothership" once the batteries are
depleted and fly down to a recharging station as a
freshly charged battery pack is launched to dock
with the aircraft.
More information: www.flightofthecentury.com/
© 2012 Phys.org
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June 2017 from https://phys.org/news/2012-07-record-setting-electric-airplane-mph-video.html
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