Electric Air bringing electric flight to NZ

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Dinga96

123 posts

Master Geek

#279729 4-Nov-2020 10:20

Good to see these people getting the first electric aero plane in the country. Anybody been for a joyride yet? I would be keen to have a fly.

Just need to get down to Christchurch. I wonder if the hourly rate is cheaper than a Cessna 152?

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1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2597538 4-Nov-2020 11:48

That model is popular with flight schools in Europe, mostly for circuit bashing over populated areas etc. I reckon this will be the first of many for NZ.

Dingbatt

6755 posts

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#2597540 4-Nov-2020 11:56

Wonder how long the recharge time is. Might make cross countries a bit challenging.

From a reliability aspect, much less to go wrong than a flat four piston engine.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

wellygary

8315 posts

Uber Geek

#2597548 4-Nov-2020 12:06

Its a 17Kwh battery, so on a 20Kwh charger that's around 45 mins... its also apparently swappable for a faster turn around...

According to Wiki its a 50% price increase on their ICE version .. $USD 135K, vs $USD 90K

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipistrel_Alpha_Trainer

kotuku4

483 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#2597562 4-Nov-2020 12:07

Dingbatt:

Wonder how long the recharge time is. Might make cross countries a bit challenging.

From a reliability aspect, much less to go wrong than a flat four piston engine.

https://www.electricair.nz/aircraft

1 hour flight time, with 30min reserve. 45mins to 1 hour quick charge. Swap-able battery packs (2).

Suitable for 90% of all training flights.

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2597565 4-Nov-2020 12:09

There are a few Youtube videos on it. I don't think the intent of them is for transport to fly across county etc just short flights finishing back where you started - aka pilot training. If I remember rightly that have removable batteries so you can swap batteries between flights, so you don't have to wait for recharging, much the same theory as a power tool.

PolicyGuy

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#2597568 4-Nov-2020 12:12

Dingbatt:

Wonder how long the recharge time is. Might make cross countries a bit challenging.

From a reliability aspect, much less to go wrong than a flat four piston engine.

As a previous poster said, this is for circuit bashing, not cross-country flying.
IIRC it has about an hour duration, and 30 - 45 minutes charge time, so that would be the limit: fly out for an hour, have a shortish lunch, fly back again

But yes, it should be much less maintenance intensive than an ICE equivalent

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2597569 4-Nov-2020 12:15

https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/electric-flight/alpha-electro/

https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/electric-flight/batteries-systems-and-bms/

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Dinga96

123 posts

Master Geek

#2597575 4-Nov-2020 12:31

Dingbatt:

Wonder how long the recharge time is. Might make cross countries a bit challenging.

From a reliability aspect, much less to go wrong than a flat four piston engine.

The battery back takes less than 1 hour to recharge, according to the Pipistrel web site https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/aircraft/electric-flight/alpha-electro/

Dingbatt

6755 posts

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#2597584 4-Nov-2020 12:51

A cross country is still part of a PPL isn’t it? As is ‘refuelling’? Mind you I guess they could include battery thermal runaway as a trained exercise.

Imagine if the first time you fly an ICE aircraft, it’s for a cross country.

Instructor: “Righto Bloggs, that’s the preflight checks done, let’s get it started and be on our way”

Pupil (turning the key): “What’s that loud noise?”.

Mind you I’m sure the residents around West Melton will be all for this for the noise reduction alone.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Dinga96

123 posts

Master Geek

#2597615 4-Nov-2020 13:57

Dingbatt:

A cross country is still part of a PPL isn’t it? As is ‘refuelling’? Mind you I guess they could include battery thermal runaway as a trained exercise.

Imagine if the first time you fly an ICE aircraft, it’s for a cross country.

Instructor: “Righto Bloggs, that’s the preflight checks done, let’s get it started and be on our way”

Pupil (turning the key): “What’s that loud noise?”.

Mind you I’m sure the residents around West Melton will be all for this for the noise reduction alone.

Student pilot x countries are done in good weather conditions for safety reasons, you could easily reach most of the town centres in the central north island in under an hour from Tauranga. Tauranga-Matamata-Rotorua-Tauranga for example .Just saying plenty of destinations available, so not just for "circuit bashing"as some one mentioned.

a private owner talks about his experiences with eletric flight.

MikeAqua

7778 posts

Uber Geek

#2597660 4-Nov-2020 14:06

How noisy are they? I live near an airfield and the self-launching gliders with electric moors in them seem louder than little Cessnas.

Mike

Oblivian

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#2597665 4-Nov-2020 14:16

MikeAqua:

How noisy are they? I live near an airfield and the self-launching gliders with electric moors in them seem louder than little Cessnas.

Very little crank noise ;)

Guess it is down to the efficiency of the airflows.

https://youtu.be/WiADDbeFanU?t=369

Tripple battery (start of video) 2 runners and an emergency. Kind of a raid situation I imagine.

frankv

5680 posts

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#2597722 4-Nov-2020 16:07

A fair amount of aircraft noise comes from the propellor. The classic example is the Harvard where the propellor probably makes more noise than the engine.

tripper1000

1617 posts

Uber Geek

#2597733 4-Nov-2020 16:28

From the website:

"A revolutionary airplane capable of flying with 1 EUR energy cost per hour. No engine rumble in the cockpit, no need for headsets, no annoyance to the neighbourhood."

If it doesn't need head sets in the cockpit, right behind the prop it can't be too loud.

Noise can be a sign of inefficiency. There are much bigger and more powerful props now days (ATR72, Dash8, A400, C130J etc) that make less noise than a Harvard.

The Pipistrels are so aerodynamically efficient all round that some of their models require airbrakes to make them easier to slow down for landing. Air brakes are an option on this model. Not many light aircraft have this efficiency "problem". This might also go some way to explaining why they have been earlier to market with electric propulsion than other brands - they require less H.P. so get away with lighter batteries and motor.

frankv

5680 posts

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#2598176 5-Nov-2020 10:50

Dinga96:

I wonder if the hourly rate is cheaper than a Cessna 152?

Used to be that about 1/3 of aircraft costs was fixed costs (hangarage, insurance, etc), 1/3 was maintenance and depreciation (esp. engine replacement), 1/3 was fuel.

Whilst the fuel cost goes way down, the purchase price is high (probably $270K vs $50K for a used 152), so insurance is expensive. And the owner will want the same %age ROI. Instead of an expensive engine replacement you now have an expensive battery replacement, but much less maintenance. It's registered as GA rather than microlight, so (like a 152) maintenance needs to be done by expensive LAMEs.

So I'm guessing hourly rates would be similar.

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