How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel: The ElectraFlyer-C

How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

Randall Fishman, president of Electric Aircraft Corp., flew his
ultralight trike at EAA Airventure 2007, Oshkosh. "I flew the trike
in front of the crowds, and the trike was mobbed with people every
day. The EAA folks really loved the idea." The ElectraFlyer won the
Grand Champion Ultralight and Innovation awards.

This year Fishman hopes to fly his new ElectraFlyer-C (a re-engined
Moni motorglider with an 18-horsepower electric motor) at EAA
Airventure 2008. The ElectraFlyer-C cruises at 70 mph, stalls at 45
mph, and has a top speed of 90 mph and a flight duration of ~1-1/2
hours. The electric motor directly drives a 45-inch ground
adjustable, two-blade PowerFin carbon fiber propeller, which lifts the
aircraft at a climb rate of 500 to 600 fpm. The experimental
amateur-built airplane is currently in its required 40-hour flight
testing phase.
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinqu...cmndfin d.y=5

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.

More information:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2722498...56704/sizes/o/

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

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2722498...7605355156982/

Video: http://www.electraflyer.com/news.html


http://www.aero-news.net/news/sport....e-f146a285a148

On Jun 16, 7:37 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:
How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.

1 horsepower = .75kw. So 5.6 kilowatt hours is only 7.51 horsepower
hours. Good enough for a short burst to get you to altitude and soar
the thermals, bu you aren't going anywhere cross country.

Compare it to a really inefficient 2 stroke, burning .6 lb/hp-hr.
Your battery is equal to .75 gallons of gas.

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:42:12 -0700 (PDT), Richard Riley
wrote in
:

On Jun 16, 7:37 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:
How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.

1 horsepower = .75kw. So 5.6 kilowatt hours is only 7.51 horsepower
hours. Good enough for a short burst to get you to altitude and soar
the thermals, bu you aren't going anywhere cross country.

I would say that depends on how much power the aircraft requires for
sustained level flight. If that can be achieved on 5 hp, the battery
will theoretically provide 1.5 hours run time (assuming 100%
efficiency).

Compare it to a really inefficient 2 stroke, burning .6 lb/hp-hr.
Your battery is equal to .75 gallons of gas.

What is the difference in cost between that amount of fuel and the
cost to charger the battery? Noise? Vibration? Reliability? ...

I give Mr. Fishman credit for the success his project has achieved to
date considering its funding and staff.

On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:26:06 GMT, Larry Dighera
wrote:

On Sat, 21 Jun 2008 20:42:12 -0700 (PDT), Richard Riley
wrote in
:

On Jun 16, 7:37 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:
How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.

1 horsepower = .75kw. So 5.6 kilowatt hours is only 7.51 horsepower
hours. Good enough for a short burst to get you to altitude and soar
the thermals, bu you aren't going anywhere cross country.

I would say that depends on how much power the aircraft requires for
sustained level flight. If that can be achieved on 5 hp, the battery
will theoretically provide 1.5 hours run time (assuming 100%
efficiency).

Compare it to a really inefficient 2 stroke, burning .6 lb/hp-hr.
Your battery is equal to .75 gallons of gas.

What is the difference in cost between that amount of fuel and the
cost to charger the battery? Noise? Vibration? Reliability? ...

I give Mr. Fishman credit for the success his project has achieved to
date considering its funding and staff.

Larry
the technology does have a way to go.
my tailwind requires 74hp to cruise at 120 knots.
it takes me two days to fly across australia.
when the boy's efforts can achieve that he'll have a market.
I'd suggest not before.

he is on one of the right tracks though. we need a carbon free fuel
into the future and that means hydrogen or electrons at the moment.
Stealth Pilot

Richard Riley wrote:

On Jun 16, 7:37 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:

How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.


1 horsepower = .75kw. So 5.6 kilowatt hours is only 7.51 horsepower
hours. Good enough for a short burst to get you to altitude and soar
the thermals, bu you aren't going anywhere cross country.

Compare it to a really inefficient 2 stroke, burning .6 lb/hp-hr.
Your battery is equal to .75 gallons of gas.

Wait a second...5.6 KWH doesn't really tell you how much HP it is, does
it? All it says is that it consumes 5.6KW in an hour. If you only ran
the motor for 5 minutes per hours, the HP would be 12 times that or
approx. 90 HP. Using KW HOURS doesn't tell the whole story. Running a
100W light bulb 10 hours uses 1 KWH and so does running a 500W bulb for
2 hours but the 500W bulb does more work at any instant in time (it's a
lot brighter!). Now, if that motor was rated at 5.6KW, then yes, I'd
agree it is about 7.5 HP.

Scott

"Stealth Pilot" wrote in message ...

he is on one of the right tracks though. we need a carbon free fuel
into the future and that means hydrogen or electrons at the moment.
Stealth Pilot

This, or similar, is key to flying 'green':
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...80403a_nr.html

"Stealth Pilot" wrote in message
...
my tailwind requires 74hp to cruise at 120 knots.
it takes me two days to fly across australia.

Of course, the typical light airplane flight probably does not even involve
X-country flight. A 2-hour electric airplane would be just fine for the typical
1 to 1.5 hour training mission. Of course, that same plane would need to be
ready to fly the next training student/renter within 20 or 30 minutes. Given
what we know about today's battery technology, time required for recharging may
be a big problem.

Vaughn

On Jun 22, 9:20 am, Scott wrote:
Richard Riley wrote:
On Jun 16, 7:37 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:

How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.

1 horsepower = .75kw. So 5.6 kilowatt hours is only 7.51 horsepower
hours. Good enough for a short burst to get you to altitude and soar
the thermals, bu you aren't going anywhere cross country.

Compare it to a really inefficient 2 stroke, burning .6 lb/hp-hr.
Your battery is equal to .75 gallons of gas.

Wait a second...5.6 KWH doesn't really tell you how much HP it is, does
it? All it says is that it consumes 5.6KW in an hour. If you only ran
the motor for 5 minutes per hours, the HP would be 12 times that or
approx. 90 HP. Using KW HOURS doesn't tell the whole story. Running a
100W light bulb 10 hours uses 1 KWH and so does running a 500W bulb for
2 hours but the 500W bulb does more work at any instant in time (it's a
lot brighter!). Now, if that motor was rated at 5.6KW, then yes, I'd
agree it is about 7.5 HP.

Scott

True, KWH is a measure of energy, whereas HP (and KW) is a measure of
power. Of course, this makes me wonder why the OP said the battery has
a "power output" of 5.6KWH; that statement doesn't make any sense.
Granted, he was obviously talking about the capacity of the battery,
not the power output, but if somebody is making an electric plane one
would hope they would know their terminology

Scott wrote:
Richard Riley wrote:

On Jun 16, 7:37 pm, Larry Dighera wrote:

How Beat The High Cost Of Fuel

The motor is powered by a 78 pound, custom-built lithium-ion polymer
battery with a power output of "5.6 kilowatt hours"; projected life is
300 to 500 full discharge cycles or more than 1,000 partial cycles.
The battery can be recharged in as little as two hours using a
220-volt charger (or six hours with a 110-volt charger). The cost for
a full recharge is 70 cents with the 110-volt charger. Fishman says
it's feasible to carry a small 110-volt charger as baggage on
cross-country flights.


1 horsepower = .75kw. So 5.6 kilowatt hours is only 7.51 horsepower
hours. Good enough for a short burst to get you to altitude and soar
the thermals, bu you aren't going anywhere cross country.

Compare it to a really inefficient 2 stroke, burning .6 lb/hp-hr.
Your battery is equal to .75 gallons of gas.

Wait a second...5.6 KWH doesn't really tell you how much HP it is, does
it? All it says is that it consumes 5.6KW in an hour. If you only ran
the motor for 5 minutes per hours, the HP would be 12 times that or
approx. 90 HP. Using KW HOURS doesn't tell the whole story. Running a
100W light bulb 10 hours uses 1 KWH and so does running a 500W bulb for
2 hours but the 500W bulb does more work at any instant in time (it's a
lot brighter!). Now, if that motor was rated at 5.6KW, then yes, I'd
agree it is about 7.5 HP.

Scott



The OP stated the motor was 18 H.P. "This year Fishman hopes to fly his
new ElectraFlyer-C (a re-engined Moni motorglider with an 18-horsepower
electric motor)..."

On Sun, 22 Jun 2008 14:52:16 GMT, "Vaughn Simon"
wrote in
:


"Stealth Pilot" wrote in message
.. .
my tailwind requires 74hp to cruise at 120 knots.
it takes me two days to fly across australia.

Of course, the typical light airplane flight probably does not even involve
X-country flight. A 2-hour electric airplane would be just fine for the typical
1 to 1.5 hour training mission. Of course, that same plane would need to be
ready to fly the next training student/renter within 20 or 30 minutes. Given
what we know about today's battery technology, time required for recharging may
be a big problem.

Vaughn


Fortunately, in that service multiple battery packs could be used to
overcome down time due to recharging.