The TESLA of Aviation? Flying an ELECTRIC PLANE!
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- A rare flight in a 100% ELECTRIC aeroplane - Pipistrel Alpha Electro. What's it like Flying Pipistrel's Electric Airplane? How quiet is it? How do you charge it? How long can it fly? Are electric airplanes really the future?
Thanks to Barrie from Eyre to There Aviation for letting me take their Electric Airplane for a flight, David for being Pilot in Command for the flight itself, and everyone else who helped make this possible.
I'm Flying the world's first certified ELECTRIC PLANE thanks to Eyre to There Aviation. Similar to the Pipistrel Velis Electro I'm Trying electric flight for the first time. A change from the IFR Flight Vlog I'd usually post. If you Had to Get a New Plane would it be an electric one?
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VERY IMPORTANT: I am a private pilot and am NOT qualified to give flying instruction. This video, like all videos on this channel, has been significantly edited from the original source footage and is provided for entertainment purposes only. Many radio calls and procedures have been omitted. If you have any questions about anything you see or hear, please speak to a Certified Flying Instructor first.
I see a lot of comments on range expansion on here. The range could have easily been greater in the original design of the aircraft.. but Pipistrel have worked hard to achieve a good price point and keep it in the LSA category. A longer-range aircraft would have resulted in a much greater purchase price and limited the payload capacity to remain in LSA. The range, however, is quite practical. We are the Pipistrel Brand Ambassador in Australia and our flight school partners use these aircraft every (VFR) day in Australia. The mission time of 50 minutes in the air (no energy consumption at the holding point) is perfect for flight school operations, additionally, the first level of (RPC) pilot license is limited to 25NM anyway, well within the range of this aircraft.
The price point of around $210K AUD makes it an extremely achievable business asset. The massively reduced costs mean flight schools flying electric have better margins and less downtime due to maintenance. Sure, we have longer-range Electric 4 seat GA aircraft too, but they are $850K AUD, the same price as a new 4-seat liquid fuel counterpart.
In summary, the Pipistrel Alpha Electro is the perfect balance of weight, affordability and usability. To see this aircraft in action in a wide range of operations, check out our channel.
I fly electric planes every week and have been for nearly 20 years. RC model ones of course.
😅
@Monika Meena why
Everyone needs a hobby
🤣🤣🤣
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Your closing comment is perfect. Even if they are ever only practical for flight schools and bringing the cost of licensing down they will have a huge effect. Although in time I suspect that we will see consistent improvements in range and payloads as well
A replacement battery system is the way to go for training aircraft?
That was my first time watching someone flying an electric plane. 🤗🐕🐕🐾🐾
Who asked?
@@thomas.nd2 Hi there friend!
This is my first time commenting on someone else’s first time watching someone flying an electric plane!
@@robertbongard1325 🤣Good one!
It feels like they need to get the battery time to a couple of hours to really make it practical for training. It's definitely interesting technology to watch develop
It’s already enough for initial Training Lessings which are ideally around an hour. It is perfect for bashing circuits.
Sure a bigger battery would be great, I feel though that a special alternator to keep the battery charged during flight is the answer! Then the battery could essentially be a backup power source??
@@Andrewhg1995 Do you mean like a ram air turbine? I would be surprised if this plane couldn't use its propeller as a turbine.
1hr to charge for 1 hr of flight time. So land, put on charge, debrief student, brief next student and it should be ready to go.
@@wecsam Possibly, I mean using the moving air that the aircraft is flying through to generate energy for the battery just makes sense... An alternator like a car or that which aircraft use to power their battery for electronics would use the electric motor (its own "propeller") shaft as a source... It would need to be frictionless so as to not put too much extra strain on the electric motor... Bigger alternator, smaller battery?! If they can crack that nut, we could have aircraft that power themselves and fly until parts wear out?
90 knots at 20kw? That's amazing efficiency for a traditional high wing airplane with fixed landing gear, AND a raised T-tail.
I wonder if the relatively small prop gets them there.
00:10 Give your sound guy/editor a raise, that was damn smooth, love it 🙂👌🍻
Am I the only one who wouldn’t stand in front of a spinning prop running up especially on grass 😂
Stationing oneself 2m from a propeller was effective for making an important point. But was it worth the risk of getting hit in the eye with something?
yeah, thats what i thought too. especially cause he throttled up high.
I'm pretty sure they edited two different takes together :)
I think 2m in South Australia is a lot further than 2m here in Sydney! :-) Having said that, I wouldn't risk it either.
@@Dabaka93 I agree...and that makes it worse. Demonstrating unsafe anything on CZcams, when it is not explicitly the point, is not helpful.
I've seen couple here in the Netherlands these are really quiet! I enjoyed every minute of the video the edits are incredible!
Thanks Captain Zakaria.
Yes, I've been in one...
So thats where it ended up, I saw this at Jandakot. If it brings the cost of training down and gets more people into aviation then it can only be a good thing!
Was wondering where it went as well.
These are useless for pretty much anything but one task, flying patterns. And that's what is required for half the time anyway
Hello Stefan, great video. A link to your video has just been sent out to around 12,000 of our Pipistrel aircraft subscribers around the world.
I already follow Stef but just received the email as well. Are you developing a next generation version? ie longer range for short cross country training etc.
@@Mike_Costello Hello Mike, there are constant improvements, tweaks and refinements just about every month of production. The limiting factor is current battery technology that is approved for aviation. Every day that passes we get contacted by somebody with a new battery technology that can last for weeks rather than hours but none of these can be used safely in aviation and that is the limiting factor. I strongly suspect that we will see hybrid electric as the next pathway forward for increased duration. At the moment 60 minutes flying is perfect for the intended use of this aircraft which is circuit training. You still can't beat gasoline for power and weight ratio
Thanks Michael, I appreciate that. All the best with your electric aircraft rollout, it’s a very smart bit of aviation tech.
@@FlyingMike One thing for sure that electric motors beat gasoline engines at is reliability. Electric motors are simpler in design than gas turbines and very high mean time between repair. Electric traction motors routinely last for over a million miles. And electric motors are extremely light for their power output - it's the batteries that add the weight - it wouldn't be inconceivable to put an in-line backup motor in a small aircraft.
what energy density in Wh/kg have these batteries?
I saw one of these critters in action at my old airport with a great registration C-IZAP. To paraphrase a certain famous car person, it's a plane like any other except you plug it in rather than put avgas in it.
It's *close*: if it had two hours endurance I'd be interested in getting checked out in one to rent for local flights. Four hours endurance would have me talking to my bank. Here in B.C. we generate almost all of our electricity with hydro dams so we can be extra smug about these things. :-)
I'd sure like to replace an old O-200 with an electric powerplant. It would be a giant leap ahead in reliability given how little use mist GA planes get.
@Tyler said 'Just wait a few years, battery technology is making headway fucking quick'
Umm, no. And even if it were, we have almost hit the wall regarding the theoretical limit of lithium chemistry batteries. With the exception of special flight authorization, the advantage of fossil fuel's energy density will delegate electric flight to local-only for at least another decade, unless an entirely new chemistry is discovered tomorrow.
@@randallsemrau7845 no, i do not expect these battery cells to be on par with cells installed in a mass market cars like the VW ID.3
so, i expect maximum 200Wh/kg. in a few years we will see batteries with quantumscape ceramic separators and lithium metal instead of lithium ion.
these batteries will be at 400Wh/kg and more.
@@stefanweilhartner4415 We'll see it when we see it. 25 years ago Zinc-Air batteries were supposed to 'soon' take the world by storm, as were as a dozen other chemistries. The smaller and smaller incremental annual increases in lithium chemistry do not look promising.
@@randallsemrau7845 ´ceramic separators are already finished. first samples has been delivered in q1.
now vw builds a sample production line in salzgitter.
We have quite a big operation ongoing here in France to promote the Alpha Electro's benefits around airclubs and honestly, it looks like an interesting option for multiple reasons
Nous on a le Velis Electro maintenant, version certifiée !
Salut HWings 👋
Assuming the fuel prices are similar in France as they are to hear in the UK, the fuel savings alone would be beneficial to flying clubs to move to electric once available.
@@DavidDewis that and lower maintenance
@@DavidDewis The aircraft itself is so much more expensive than a similar ICE powered trainer that this aircraft makes absolutely zero financial sense. The batteries also need to be replaced more often than an engine needs to be rebuilt, while costing about as much as an entire engine.
So awesome. A lot quieter for residents below too.
These will be fantastic for training and short hops (congested cities/terrain difficult scenarios). 1hr charge is reasonably fast too. Roof top solar on hangers and airport buildings can help augment the mains charging. No magic bullet - but definitely bring down the cost of maintenance and noise.
hangars
As an aviator of almost 40 years I wouldn't have a problem flying an electric airplane. I think it'd be great if the price point and the duration would match what we have today.
The future of every moving machine is truly electric. Batteries can only get better and dense in power storage as the industry keeps improving.
Good luck building a jumbo jet or a jet fighter using electric motors
@@mro9466 the electric motors themselves are not a problem, and I believe hybrid jets are in development already. Batteries are the real problem right now. With more and more players in the market though, I'm sure we will see a drastic improvement and hopefully some real breakthroughs.
And the waste those batteries will create will be worse for the environment than traditional gas powered engines.
@@bitario723 While they generate electricity from oil and gas engines lmao. People forget sun doesn't always shine, and the wind doesn't always blow, and solar max efficiency is only 33%. Going to cause problems going forward on the grid system.
I wonder if electric planes could have the equivalent of regenerative braking. If you want to lose altitude quickly, maybe the incoming air could drive the propeller, both charging the battery and increasing drag.
I like your idea, and I think it's a good one.
@@ravibhartia4797 thats literally not how it works
no they cant do regen braking, the prop would just stop moving once it slows down
@@ravibhartia4797 Completely wrong.
Two props or 3 may do this, one in front of the tail
I love the smell of electrons in the morning....great video Stef.
You’re my Favorite CZcamsr! Not just a CZcamsr, but a roll model in a topic I am passionate about (Aviation). I can’t wait to get my Aviation merit badge in Scouts. I play google earth pro on my school computer lol! My sister sometimes lets me play Microsoft flight sim but I can’t wait to be able to fly. Flight is something I’m just so compassionate about. Sorry for rambling on.
Educate yourself in an area you’re passionate about, create a job for yourself in that domain and you will never “work” a day in your life.
Nice to hear, Cameron! 👍🏻 Did you ever take a look at my channel? Perhaps you'd like mine too? 😉
@@ForFunFlyer Hey! I just saw it! I absolutely love it! I even subscribed!
@@cirrusflyerh2843 Thanks! I want flight to be more of a personal hobby and not as much as an airline pilot. I like aviation and maybe I will go into the space organization, or maybe when I’m older I’ll start an airport where people could fly
@@Cameron-bp5dl Ah, thanks! And welcome! 😉
There are 5+ Pipistrel Velis Electro in local aeroclubs in my area of Switzerland and I just got qualified to fly these planes, woohoo! Note that the pipistrel alpha electro is *not* certified in Switzerland (EU too?), this was the "alpha" version of what became the Pipistrel Velis Electro.
Swiss PPL holder here. Always wondered how that works with the longer navigation flights? I mean you can't go and squeeze out 270km of a Velis, can you? Or did you specifically fly to Schänis or any other AD with Pipistrel charging infrastructure?
Even an internal-combustion-engine-loving-gearhead like me can see the benefits of electric aircraft! Now just to get them to a state where they have better endurance / range...
Yes cuz 166km of range(from cruise speed of 90knotsnfor 1 hour) its yup like nothing
@@anandsuralkar2947 1 hour is not practical.
That's fantastic! I wonder if you can remove the battery and swap them out so that whilst one is charging the other is getting used, so that means they can go straight into another flight without having to wait for it to charge up.
if I remember correctly the batteries are already removable and swappable on the plane in the video.
I just imagined a fighter jet style in flight refuel, but it involved pulling a massive battery out of where the engine should be and slipping a née on in.
Yes you can.
@@jgetscensored7837 What is a nee?
Rowland Flat and Parafield, nice! Did you make it over for the Barossa Airshow? The Alpha Electro put on a display there. The noise (or lack thereof) was amazing!
Editing is next level wow!
Thanks, appreciate that.
Yes, he really put a lot of effort into it! Especially the part at the beginning ...
As a retired professional DJ, I have to fully agree, that transition at the beginning was quite frankly, sick. 👌 🍻
Yeh a lot of effort going into these videos. He is definitely underrated!
@@StefanDrury Excellent work! I believe balance is key. I've seen videos that are over-done (too many jump cuts, too loud of music, too much effects, etc.) I can't stand those. Your pacing is great too, not boring slow or blasting fast. All that aside, thank you for showing us the electric plane! I've only flown AVGAS and this is exciting to see. Quick question: I heard that the interior cockpit noise is about the same as an AVGAS plane, is this true? Or is it noticeably quieter?
Looks amazing having an electronic airplane. No pollution & its not really noisy! Great guys 😉
Slovenia’s engineering at its best 👍
the hourly operating cost of this must be next to nothing. im an energy engineer and aviation lover and wirking towards my atpl, and im absolutely certain the future of flight is electric, and i look forward to the day that electric aircraft are the norm, and makes flying accessible to more people
I am excited by the new "massless" battery technology. I believe we're going to start seeing some electric aircraft that will outperform conventional aircraft.
dont think it will be available in 20-30 years for if ever. don't think batteries will last a cross atlantic 12 hour flight for 200+ seats airliner .no chance
@@martinkulik9466 have a look at electric cars and see how quickly they developed. Yeah there were concepts decades ago, but from the first decent mass produced EV to now the time frame is less than 10 years, when originally it was predicted to be closer to 50. Electric aircraft will face challenges such as 12 hour flight times, but things can be done to help such as solar cells within wings, or hell maybe even air to air quick charging
@@ryanm.191 electric cars existed in 1900 already. The problem is, they're heavy. hydrogen will fuel planes.
@@albex8484 batteries are heavy because they rely on rare metals like lithium or nickel which are very dense, so energy per kg is reduced. When the next generation of battery technology is discovered, electric flight would be favoured over hydrogen because hydrogen is a lot more volatile than kerosene and the pressurisation of fuel cells would be problematic, the same way that the fuselage has pressurisation cycles which fatigue the metal, the hydrogen fuel cells will deteriorate and pose potential risks
Would love to see a preflight inspection of this
"there's an app for that"
Pipistrel the pride of my country💪🏻😍 Slovenia🤍💙❤️
Greetings to your beautiful Australia❤️🇦🇺
Got to fly that exact same plane in early 2019. What an experience!
I’m trying to get my flying license do you have any tips
@@addymccalister2256 Thats great to hear! Im probably not the best person to get advice from, but I’d probably just say, find the best school to do it with and don’t worry about spending a bit more money on that as it is so worth it.
The pipistrel sinus and Taurus over here in the US are certified motor gliders, so basically a 16 year old could fly powered aircraft. Love everything about that
1hr and 10 min to fly for an hour. That's not bad, assuming that you can fly for more 1 hour. Great video Stef!
Nope ..as of now the range is just 1 hour
I think we will definitely eventually see commercial aircraft like this not too long from now.. I was born in 1987 and remember making sense of the tech time lines. Looking back for example in 1990 "The Old Nintendo Entertainment system was where tech was and by 2000 it was N64 and Sony. Seemed that was the pace of change. Then just a few year things were speeding up as far as advancement and we were seeing some weird and very cool things in gaming. Human knowledge I read, doubled every 100 years until the 20th century and then in 1945/end of WW2 that pace was every 25 years. Then by the 1980's every few months and today every 12 hours. So it only makes sense to me that this will be the future. Especially with it being harmless to the environment! Great vid man! This was the first time I have seen this put in action!
This is a great advancement and I look forward to the day it becomes a more practical option for flight schools. Right now you’d need 2 planes - 1 charging while the other is flying. You then need a conventional piston bird to do longer cross-country/nav training. In the bigger city based school this could be affordable but for the smaller 1 or 2 man-band schools it’s a big outlay to have birds sitting on the ground.
no, not a 2nd plane but a set of batteries on charge, simple
@@atmm89 still they weight 126kg, even if split into some modules.
I'm an aircraft mechanic who has worked on SR 22 aircraft and if Cirrus is smart they would get in this market. Because the transportation of the future is electric for now. I currently work for government contractor and I can say that the engines and aircraft to come are going to be phenomenal.
the cost has always been the limiting factor for me to get my pilots licence and if these could bring the cost of training down I'd love it
Where do you think the electricity comes to charge them?
Parafield airport is where I trained to become a pilot, brings back so many good memories, great video stefan :)
YBW, descend to 1800!
I love it no fuel to balance, load or explode.
lithium SHlT explodes.
@@GioJonnhyK Get the facts and highly combustible oil and fuel being stored in the fuselage and wings isn't?
I saw an ad on FB saying something like this is coming to airfields in the south of England this spring. I really hope I get to fly one. It looks like a fantastic idea.
Thank you!
What is a typical price range for these small electric airplanes and what about the maintenance cost?
they would be about the same as the internal combustion alpha rental rates. except it has 1 hr of range and takes about an hr to charge.............
Dang that's cool. I wonder how far they could extend the range with solid-state battery technology? The Pipistrel currently has a cruise range of about 74 nautical miles (according to their website), whereas its conventional counterpart can get about 300 nautical miles or so.
One only needs to look at the economics. These plaines are the future!!! And the range will devellop like it did in electric cars. :-)
This is an exciting future
@T C until they can increase the energy densities of a battery. Then they will have to be sure the the EV AC can get high and get there fast.
Hey Stefan, a pleasure to meet you at the local Cellars... I really appreciate your channel for aviation. Thanks again Bro
Keith
With a range of about YMMB to YTYA followed by a lengthy charge time I don't think this will take off anytime soon except for CCT training. It'll take solid state batteries to make it happen.
Thanks , that's was exciting to watch. Student training is definitely a great use case. Being quite is an added advantage.
Good show Stef as always, however until such time that the flight time can be excessively increased I feel that it's only good for circuits etc. A hours flight time divided by two plus a safety margin, you'll be lucky if you could go on a 20-25 minute flight one way, and save the rest for the return trip. The cost for the aircraft may also be in similarity to some LSA's fitted with a Rotax 912 . I believe that this one is for sale for $150,000 secondhand. Another aspect is, "electrical fire hazards" I would believe are so much greater. It most likely could never be used for Nav training. I'm all for going green, but in aviation a bit more work needs to be done. Keep up the great work Stef. Cheers John from Riddell.
Looks great, flies great. Needs a little more range but a promising starting point for electric LSAs. I suspect the main draw for electric aircraft could be the cost of ownership - no oil changes, no £7K bills for replacement pistons, only one moving part... this could make aircraft ownership so much more affordable.
Hopefully it'll help reduce the cost of training as electricity is so much cheaper than fuel, and also lower maintenance costs!
Where do you think the electricity comes from when you plug this up to a charger moron? A kite with a key attached to it?
@@colonelreb1014 there’s no need to call someone a moron. Electricity made by coal is cheaper than aircraft fuel.
@@colonelreb1014 thank you for your kind words. Perhaps you should go to bed a bit earlier tonight so you're not so cranky tomorrow?
@@forestfresh so you skirt around the question because you know the true answer. You know it will put more emissions in the atmosphere to charge those batteries than it would just to fly a regular plane. You're hypocrites virtue signaling. Nothing more
@@colonelreb1014 that is absolutely not true, even if the electricity was produced using coal the electric aeroplane would still be greener when it was flying around due to the fact that electric motors are far more efficient than internal combustion engines.
Get with the program and stop kidding yourself.
You're my favourite aviation CZcamsr for real. Huge thanks for bringing us Amazon videos everyday!
Needs at least 2.5 hours of battery for training imo.
Great video Stefan!! You gave us a unique glimpse into the future!! Thanks for letting us ride along!!
Thanks Razor, glad you enjoyed it.
They are starting to introduce them into flight schools in Europe. Would love to try one, one day 👍 Great video as always mate.
Mate, I absolutely loved the little intro edit style/music, so much energy.. I know it was short, but really REALLY GOOD !! :)
Samee
I did my flight training at Parafeild Airport. Absolutely amazing.
Heyho
@@DreamFreeFPV I don’t know if you remember but you sent me for my first solo
Adelaide is so nice. Buzz down the Jetty road? We lived in Glenelg at the Platinum a few years ago, it was fantastic.
Most GA flights are an hour, or 1hr to lunch with another hour flight home.
Go drive a Tesla and then anything else at the same price (don't even include the cost of petrol) and you will be getting the Tesla Model 3.
Flew this a year ago, absolutely excellent airplane!
I've never been a fan of electric aircraft but that is wicked!
I am not in aviation. So, I try to wrap my head around some things. Like, is the fuel (battery) consumption a lot different? I can imagine that a carbon fuel based plane weighs less after a long flight. Yet, in an electric plane the batteries weigh the same, during the entire flight. Does that affect the planning of the flight?
It means you aren’t going to be gaining speed due to fuel weight loss and it should mean you can land the plane easier because of there being no weight loss from take-off to landing.
If you wrap your head around what actual training flight time really is without any hype, you come back with a head scratcher because these aircraft with a 60 to 70 minute recharge time are perfect for student training and the cost to operate is driven way down for the flight schools doing the training. No gas engine to do AD's or upkeep, carb icing, warm-up's, fuel issues, and I bet the insurance co0mpanys will learn to love them as well, hell yeah!
I’d like to see an electric Cessna 172!
Some day man, that would be awesome.
Wow amazing vid Stef. Crazy to see how technology is rapidly advancing in aviation 😁
so if I got my Pilots Licence in a Electric Aircraft am I only able to fly that type of aircraft. Or can you do indorsements for other aircrafts or is it a separate licence altogether.
The wings should be made with solar panels so its charging while you are flying.
Hey Stef yet another great post and thanks for stopping mid run this morning to talk to a random stranger! As I mentioned I really appreciate the content you put out especially as a newer Pilot. Your adventures helped me to continue to focus on my PPL studies during COVID lockdown last year, now I can enjoy this wonderful country we live in by air with my family. Thanks again
Hey Tony, thanks for saying hello. Awesome news about your PPL, yes get out there and enjoy your new freedom! Hope you had a good run too, all the best.
Great video Stefan! I'm curious of your opinion...will training on an electric plane, of course beyond basic aerodynamics and flight, really prepare someone for flying a gasoline powered airplane? It just seems to me that the checklists and procedures must be so different between the two, especially when learning to fly an airplane with a variable pitch prop.
Absolutely love this technology
This is a video I’ve been waiting a long time to see. Well done, Stef! Your editing is outstanding 👏🏻
Cheers Mike, glad you enjoyed it.
I need one. Perfect for short travel visiting family members. 😊
It has a wind turbine on the front ,so when parked on the ground it could be self charging
We did briefly talk about how it can theoretically regenerate power when descending as the prop is windmilling but didn’t cover that in this video.
@@StefanDrury I feel that this is something that is massively overlooked when it comes to electric cars and aircraft! What about alternators and generators feeding electricity back into the battery? As long as it is moving, it has huge potential to generate its own electricity!
What I really dont like about electric cars and planes is the fact you see only the percentage of the energy thats left in the battery.
You set a specific power like 20kw so you have used 20kwh in hour but you only see like 60% SoC (State of Charge). I mean in an emergency situation it is important to know your range. In a conventional plane you have your fuel flow and you check the amount of fuel with a dipstick before you depart to know your safe endurance. How does this work on this plane? Degradation is also a thing to mention, 100% SoC today is not 100% in one year.
Just my 2 cents. Great video, very nice and interesting to see this technology in action.
Idk man, I like hearing the engines.
And then spend hundreds or thousands to cancel the sound out with your headset ;)
That was cool
Thanks for watching
cool but power density is not good enough and wont be for another 10 - 20 years
So probably like 150amps. I’m surprised it’s only 400volts, I woulda thought a plane would need a lot more
Definitely liking!
(Edit: Hope you get 1K likes!)
Thanks JayCay 🙏
@@StefanDrury
Since I live in Australia,
I’m thinking of buying one!
Get in touch with Barrie from Eyre to There. He can help you with that.
@@StefanDrury Okay, thanks!
I’m saving this video for later!
Cost of ownership should by quite a bit less with minimal moving parts around the motor, and also reliability should be higher. I'd like to see a discussion about range, how it scales up to larger aircraft, etc.
Every time I look at a plane in Melbourne I see if it’s EcoYankee Zulu
Electric planes are awesome, the reduced sound could mean being able to fly in noise sensitive areas.
I was disappointed that this video didn’t discuss the specifications, cost, or design of the plane. A lost opportunity
I guess they avoid that subject
Add solar panels on top of each wing and you will add some extra charge while up there. And when back on the ground it charges too! Every little bit helps!
Solar panels on the wings, will be next. Imagine the extra distance that could be covered.
Or stuck in the outback, just wait for a recharge from the sun, then head home.
Extra distance would be next to nothing. You'd get maybe 1.5kW max panel output on there and that would only be delivering that at perfect zenith to the sun so most of the time much less. Even putting in 1.5kW, lets even call it 2kW and be super generous, you'd need an hour to put 2kW and as you heard, max power is something like 58kW, 30% power for cruise would be 17kW taken in an hour of cruise. So a 100% maximum solar at a rate that isn't realistic would get you around 10% more distance and at 90kts, that's 9 miles more. Reality is that the solar wouldn't deliver anything like that, more like 25% of best thus the extra distance would be more realistically about 3 miles further after an hour. Not even worth the effort and the cost and fragility of the solar panels.
Stuck in the outback... yep if you want to wait a few days, which granted is better than nothing but why would you fly that route in the first place, that would be poor planning!
@@djtaylorutube - I agree. Maybe light weight flexi solar panels on the wings would help keep the batteries topped up when the plane is sitting for days - then again if is it with the extra complexity and weight penalty...
@@ezymarkz Yes but part of the problem is that the inclination is wrong. Solar panels should face South And with the appropriate inclination. Otherwise the efficiency and this output drops off rapidly.
It would be more effective just to install say a 4 or 8kW solar station at the aircraft base. Example in the UK, A 4kW system could put out maybe 20kW during a good sunny day. Problem here is that even that wouldn't take just simply 3 days to charge a 60kWh battery pack because although the initial charge rate will be high, once the cells get near to full charge, the charge rate will drop off significantly.
This to charge it from near flat, in a climate with perfect sun conditions could really be several days. Now remove the perfect climate and it's longer. If it's a flying club plane, they won't want it sitting around for days, just to provide one hour flight per week. If it's privately owned, it would take a good while to recoup the solar investment Vs just paying for the grid power.
It's the same issue for electric vehicles.
Here's the thing, if I've flown 90 miles and now have a flat battery but it will take me a week to recharge...I could just walk home faster!
The future is electric. And this plane is very charming! 😍😍😍
Can't wait to finally see the Hybrid Pipistrel PANTHERA in action .(hopefully soon)
Great show. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I'm no pilot, but I have loved the ICON-5 and the Foxbat since I've seen them. This electric plane reminds me a lot of the Foxbat plane.
It strikes me that electric power should be advantageous for high-elevation operations such as we have on the Highveld of South Africa. Airports are commonly at 5000+ ft amsl with density altitude on hot days of 9000 ft, and since internal combustion engines lose about 15-20% of their rated power output at such elevations due to air density reduction the electric motors of such aircraft as these would not suffer that loss.
This is the future - electric plane! Very cool. Now you can place propeller anywhere on a plane, May be two in wings, one front.
This is the aircraft that was based at Jandakot for a time. Ideal trainer. No carb heat, etc.
Once solid state lithium becomes practical the range will be something like 400NM. Now that will be worth doing. It will be even cheaper long run because the solid state cells last 10X longer minimum.
Great video! What are David's headphones? Are they really QC35??
Awesome! No combustion noises! Totally a smooth fly!
2:25 nice e ink displays great in the sun then normal LED or LCD screens
Flight Schools should be investing heavily in these stuff
That's jolly smart. Really nice aircraft! Thanks for another great video, Stefan.
Sweetiest plane ever seen.
Pretty much a drone you sit in. I LOVE IT!
Great to see a plane made in my country be so popular! Hope u had fun
I did! Thanks for watching.
Central CA has 3 of these and they're apperantly the only ones in the US
Good to see that your in my home town finally
There are a few of those in a flight school near my place in switzerland. Happy to see them become more common around the world, great video mate!
I would be very curious to see how the flexible solar panels from the Aptera car would increase the range of the aircraft.