25 July 2007
<b>News from <a href=”http://www.airventure.org”><img src=”images/airventure.gif” border=”0″>Oshkosh</a></b>
Sonex Aircraft has unveiled a proof-of-concept version of a Waiex airframe, fitted with an electric motor.
The package was unveiled yesterday at AirVenture at Oshkosh, when Sonex announced its E-Flight Initiative. The Initiative (started last year) is ‘a push to explore viable alternative energies for powering sport aircraft and improve the efficiency and performance of current products and technologies to keep aviation affordable for the average pilot.’
There are, says Sonex, three major areas of focus: electric power, ehtanol fuel and efficiency enhancement.
The company’s research into electric power currently involves the proof-of-concept powerplant, controller, battery pack and charging system, with the aim of bringing a line of such products to market. On the ethanol front, there’s research being put into converting the AeroVee 2.0 powerplant for ethanol-based fuels to accommodate either ethanol blend or pure ethanol fuels.
Development has so far been largely weighted towards the electric motor, which, says the company, uses nwere Lithium Polymer (Li-Poly) batteries. This technology is inherently more ‘volatile’ than older technologies, and therefore much of the work has been done on shoring up the installation.
The engine itself develops 80 hp and weighs about 50 lb. The company says that it is expecting a top speed of 130 mph, and that at the moment the endurance is between 25 and 45 minutes depending on power usage on that flight.
