Reply #7: Way cool!!!! [View All]

[ddeclue]

I would add the following:

Much more reliable than a gas engine - much simpler, eliminates vacuum pump and alternator accessory issues for the instrument panel (hey it's all battery driven). Also eliminates problems with carb deice, water contamination of fuel, excessive vibration fatiguing the airframe, hearing loss due to prolonged exposure, noice complaints from homeowners, etc.

Would probably be much simpler to do the pre-flight checks as well.

Fuel at 70 cents for 90 minutes flying is incredible considering the recent cost of av-gas as well. An average C172 or PA28 burns 8.5 gallons of av-gas an hour with costs having been into the 5 dollar range recently fuel was making flying all but unaffordable.

The only down side here is apparent range and possibly recharge time. (There may also be electrical interference issues between the motor and radios but this should be fixable). A C172 or PA28 will have 5+ hours of range at about 90 knots or about 450 knot range give or take. Here we are talking about a 90 knot range. (Without winds.) I'm wondering how much the batteries weigh and whether it would be possible to increase the battery capacity to increase the range.

Doug De Clue
Aerospace Engineer / Private Pilot