Don’t be misled by the headline.
The coming of electric powered airplanes
is as sure as tomorrow. What form these birds will eventually take may
be something between what we have known to be airplanes or what we know
now to be rotary aircraft or even drones.
But the manner in which electric flight
will be introduced to the public is as old as flight itself.
|
Return of The Air Races
The
simple truth is the future will get a big push at least in aviation circles,
if Jeff Zallman, (right) the promoter of Air Race E has his way.
Air races have always been a magnet to advancing
aviation.
Air Race E the world’s first all electric
airplane race will bring together a group of small, single-engine jobs
that will fly wing tip to wing tip around a plotted course zooming past
pylons placed like a race track on the ground above an airport.
When this race will take place and where
it will be held, is still an open question.
Zallman has said that the process of selecting a host city the first race
has involved more than 100 cities that have expressed an interest in having
the event.
“We are down to a small list of potential
venues,” Zallman told AVweb’s Paul Bertorelli.
What is known is that the first electric
airplane race will be held (God willing) in Q3 2022.
Right now according to the latest news,
Zallman has a half dozen teams of fliers booked and is looking for more
to enter the competition.
Think about it for a moment . . . teams
will race airplanes on a tight 5 kilometers circuit just 10 meters above
the ground.
Zallman, who had planned this event originally
for 2020 saw his dream shut down by COVID-19.
But, despite the setbacks that continue
as COVID slowly gives up ground around the world, some big-time endorsements
have raised interest, including Airbus devoting some pages on its website
about the event, and we assume, support otherwise.
What’s Old Is New Again
To set the stage, the airplanes are small.
They all look to be maybe the size of a J2 (Piper Cub) or AerCoupe, two
smallish aircraft that were popular here in America after World War II.
It is hoped that a Formula One all-electric
airplane race, a concept that Zallman has now expanded to include other
than fixed wing aircraft, will raise interest, viability and support to
the idea of electric powered flight amongst the general public.
Electric Captains of the Clouds
The idea, Jeff Zallman is creating with
an air race, and a spectacular event to draw attention to aviation, is
as old as aviation itself.
The history books are filled with both air
races and early stunt flights that were held just a few years after the
first Wright Brothers flight in 1903 that fastened the public’s
attention to aviation.
Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos Dumont
flew his aircraft that looked like a box kite called “14-bis”
(Quatorze-bis), also known as Oiseau de proie ("bird of prey"
in French), in 1906, near Paris.
Dumont who earlier had flown around the
Eiffel Tower and made headlines worldwide in 14-bis was the first manned
powered flight to be publicly witnessed by a crowd. It was also the first
powered flight made anywhere outside of the United States, as well as
the first powered flight by a non-Wright airplane.
It wasn’t long before, with everybody
getting into flying, air races became the stuff of fame and aviation headlines.
|
Jimmy Doolittle, known as the leader of
the Doolittle Raiders who, in 1942 bombed Tokyo, flying B-25 Mitchell
Bomber aircraft, and later served as General of the 8th USAF became a
household name October 26, 1925 piloting his Curtiss R-3C-2 to victory
in the Schneider Trophy Race with an average speed of 374 km/h (232.17
mph).
The next day Doolittle flew the R3C-2 (that
now resides in the National Air & Space Museum) over a straight course
at a world-record speed of 395 km/h and that was front-page news everywhere.
Amelia Earhart set all sorts of firsts for
pilots and women including a speed record from Mexico City to Washington,
D.C. in 1935.
Hero Electric In Aviation
So
will Air Race E “light the candle” for electric aircraft?
And who might emerge as our next aviation
hero of a new way to fly, inspiring others?
Will it be Dominique Milcendeau (left) of
Team French E-Racer piloting a Cassutt IIIM with an electric propulsion
system?
Maybe it will be one or even more than one
from the American Fort Worth, Texas entrant Möbius Aero?
One
of the Founding and Official teams of Air Race E and the first and only
official team of the Americas, Team Möbius member Carl Copeland,
(right) said that the team is seeking both sponsors and industry partners
to join them in ushering in the advent of electric flight.
“We are in full-throttle R&D,
developing a new, energy-dense battery technology, prototyping a custom,
ultra-light motor, and currently producing the first 3D printed full-size
prop specifically designed to exploit the advantages of a new motor platform.”
That there are secrets in plenty, yet to
be unlocked, in all of this simply thrills the imagination.
“We are in the late stages of development
for a new type of power-dense (therefore lighter) battery,” Möbius
Aero says.
“Unlike the lithium many are reasonably
using, our system will not be using dangerous or toxic materials. It will
also benefit from not being prone to thermal run-away or other fire hazard
conditions. It will, as a result, have a lower discharge rate than lithium,
but we will employ systems that manage our power availability.”
(Marisa Vickers (marisa@mobiusair.com).
Electric Pie In The Sky
Another bright star is Pie Aeronefs SA,
a Swiss electric aircraft manufacturer founded just a year ago in March
2020 by Marc Umbricht.
“The idea is about developing next-gen
electric aircraft that could replace aging piston-engine general aviation
airplanes.
“After discovering the upcoming Air
Race E event, we wanted to use this opportunity to evolve in a competitive
environment.
“This will enable us to design an
experimental racer as a first project and keep us moving forward with
a tight timeline.
“In addition,” Marc added, “we
not only need to prove our aircraft flies, but also that it’s efficient.”
For more click here.
Geoffrey
|