EAA Developing Prize To Promote Innovation, Competition For Electric LSA

by ANN Correspondent Maxine Scheer

AirVenture attendees packed into Forum 7 Thursday afternoon to hear an expert panel talk about progress in developing electric aircraft. Panelists included David Palombo, with AVEOX, an expert on brushless electric motors and controllers, Pete Buck and John Monnett of Sonex, Dr. Morton Grosser, an independent Director, technology consultant and venture capital investor in Silicon Valley, Randy Fishman, President of Electric Aircraft Corp., and Erik Lindbergh, a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and grandson of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. The panel was led by Craig Willen, a Lifetime member of EAA and committee representative leading EAA's Electric Aircraft initiatives.

Craig opened the event with a description of the growing interest and impetus behind the development of a highly efficient, electrically-powered aircraft. He delved into a description of the very serious issues that aviators could face if the industry continues to rely on existing fossil fuels and the significant impacts to aviation freedom that could occur if the price and supply conditions continued on their current trends.

He described a number of initiatives that the panelists were undertaking in developing an LSA application for an electrically powered aircraft and identified them as "just the beginning". The development of electrically powered aircraft will happen", said Willen, "and will change the way we move through the environment. It could be the greatest challenge in aviation history."

As reported by ANN in April, at the close of the 2008 Electric Aircraft Symposium in San Francisco, EAA's Craig Willen announced a significant advocacy measure by EAA, a request to the FAA for regulatory exemptions that would allow the use of electric motors in ultralight and light-sport aircraft.
"Our goal", said Craig, "is to engage as many EAA members [as possible] in workshops and competitions. The ultimate goal described as having tens of thousands of electrically powered aircraft. Willen was enthusiastic about an EAA initiative that began development in 2007, in which a "significant" challenge prize would be offered by EAA for an electrically powered LSA that met specific and rigorous performance targets.

David Palombo was asked about the state of the art in an electric aircraft power plant and described what was essentially a very simple 40HP engine that weighed an impressively light 18 pounds and had essentially 1 moving part. In his (and other panelists') estimation, electric engines are three-times more efficient than an internal combustion engine. "The bigger challenge, said Palombo, "is having to rethink the aircraft structure and essentially design the airframe around the engine." This point was repeated throughout the comments made by many of the forums participants.

John Monnett of Sonex, commented that "the integration of the electrical system was realistically years away". He estimated that to power an LSA, an electric motor in excess of 55KW would need to be developed. Monnett maintains a longer-term perspective on the development of electric aircraft. "It's closely held, proprietary knowledge", said Monnett, "we have to go through the gates ourselves".  Sonex's efforts have resulted thus far in the Sonex Aircraft, LLC E-Flight Initiative proof-of-concept electric-powered Waiex. The aircraft is on display in the EAA Welcome Center during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2008.

The panelists spoke to issues beyond the technical challenges associated with the design of an electric aircraft. "History has shown that any large change in the source of energy was a prime mover and created a major change in civilization", said Dr. Grosser. He sees the development of electrically powered aircraft in the same category as the invention of the automobile. "There are currently 12 electrically powered aircraft", said Grosser, "so it is possible that in less than 5 years the industry will have a scalable model, using the technology that already exists today." Grosser reported that extensive research is being done in nanotechnology and is being applied to battery power.

"My grandfather would likely be somewhat panicked to see the lack of options we have in aviation today," said Erik Lindbergh, who expressed his appreciation for the innovators of electric power who foresaw the need for alternative sources of power. "I don't care if the aircraft looks different", said Lindbergh, "I want my son to have the freedom it represents." Erik is one of the founders of X-Prize and serves as a Trustee; he sees the prize model well applied to the development of electric aircraft.

Randy Fishman was asked about specifics on the ElectraFlyer-C, which is on display at Aero-Shell Square. The ElectraFlyer-C has an 18 HP engine and the longest flight, thus far, has been 5 hours. The aircraft is also being developed with a regeneration function, said Fishman. He was promised by Craig Willen that he would have a chance to fly before the end of AirVenture 2008.

Fishman previously flew an electric-powered weight-shift trike at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007, for which he won grand champion ultralight and outstanding innovation awards. Fishman continues to receive recognition for his accomplishments. At the close of today's forum, Adam Smith of EAA presented to Randy Fishman, the 2008 EAA August Raspet Award for Innovation.

There was not much time allowed at the forum for audience questions, so Craig Willen suggested that attendees check in with EAA website where a Q&A forum on the subject of electric aircraft would be developed.

FMI: www.cafefoundation.org, www.sonexaircraft.com, www.aveox.com/, www.lindberghfoundation.org/