Building An Electric Aircraft From Scratch | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-04.29.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.23.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.24.24 Airborne-FltTraining-04.25.24

Airborne-Unlimited-04.26.24

Thu, Sep 12, 2019

Building An Electric Aircraft From Scratch

Team NL Is Throwing Out Conventional Aircraft Design Rules For Air Race E

When it comes to electric aircraft design, all conventional rules can be thrown out the window, according to Team NL. The group of engineering graduate students hopes this fresh approach will bring them to victory at Air Race E in their push to explore concepts that were not possible before.

Rick Boerma has long dreamed of building his own aircraft. By his own admission, he was not sure whether to go with the tried-and-tested technique of thermal combustion or take a novel approach with electric propulsion. The aerospace engineering graduate student, who specialises in structures and materials, finally found a reason to go 100% electric thanks to Air Race E. Not finding a participating team in his area, he opted to form his own, gathering a group of his student friends to build an aircraft “from scratch.”

"The most interesting aspect of electric flight is that conventional rules can be thrown out the window. New concepts can be explored that weren’t possible before," said Boerma, the head of Team NL.

Team NL is a group of engineering graduate students who are designing our own electric aircraft from the ground up specifically for the race. Boerma said their airplane is a conventional low-wing aircraft with two electric motors that power two contra-rotating propellers.

A unique feature of the airplane is that the battery design is no longer driven by the amount of energy required but by the power the batteries can deliver. One important aspect, of course, is obtaining an airworthiness certificate. Team NL says it is in contact with the Dutch authorities to explore its options.

"If we want to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment, electric flight does provide some interesting possibilities, and we’ve already seen some electric aircraft with remarkable performance. However, I’m not sure if it will be a suitable option for large airliners: batteries are too heavy and hydrogen requires too much volume," Boerma (pictured) said. "But, the most interesting aspect of electric flight is that conventional rules can be thrown out the window. New concepts can be explored that weren’t possible before—look at the urban air mobility sector. It’s definitely an interesting time in the aerospace industry."

(Source: Airbus. Images provided)

FMI: www.airbus.com

Advertisement

More News

Unfortunate... ANN/SportPlane Resource Guide Adds To Cautionary Advisories

The Industry Continues to be Rocked By Some Questionable Operations Recent investigations and a great deal of data has resulted in ANN’s SportPlane Resource Guide’s rep>[...]

ANN FAQ: Turn On Post Notifications

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you c>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.29.24): Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI)

Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) An airport lighting facility providing vertical visual approach slope guidance to aircraft during approach to landing by radiating a directio>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (04.28.24): Airport Marking Aids

Airport Marking Aids Markings used on runway and taxiway surfaces to identify a specific runway, a runway threshold, a centerline, a hold line, etc. A runway should be marked in ac>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.28.24)

Aero Linx: The Skyhawk Association The Skyhawk Association is a non-profit organization founded by former Skyhawk Pilots which is open to anyone with an affinity for the A-4 Skyhaw>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC