It is the holy grail for many talented designers and craftsman who dream of
flight: a practical
electric powered paraglider. We are fortunate to have such people. They will hopefully
soon lift gasless flight from a dream into reality. Whenever new information becomes available, it
will be added here. Thanks to those who share their knowledge of these
developments. Developments for E-Pac's promising effort are found
here.
Website & Industry Developments 05-10-2016
There's a chance for an electric PPG to be at Beach
Blast 2016. Stay tuned.
Website & Industry Developments 12/03/2015
If you see this it's a milestone for several
reasons. #1 is that it means we're actively working on upgrading our web design tool.
This is the first step. #2 it means that FootFlyer.com's upgrade is not far
behind. One major motivator is to make it more mobile friendly but still be
quick and easy to use. Mind you, "not far" is a slippery term that's frame
dependent. If we're talking geologic time, that could mean a million years. I
don't think it will be that far, of course, but many other projects vie for time
including a new instructor book that we're working on.
Hopefully there will be developments in electric
flying but being realistic we must realize that they'll be incremental. Right
now electrics can go maybe 15 minutes of really hard flying or 40 minutes of cruising on a
reasonably efficient wing for pilots up to about 200 pounds. You'll see longer
times advertised but try to get independent verification. Look at the weight,
too. Yeah, you might get more than 40 minutes but only with a lot of battery and
that means heavy. Right now BlackHawk Paramotors is the only company selling an
electric and, at last word, they may have stopped.
Skywalk eParamotor for Free Flyers 03/21/2011
Thanks to Matt Unger for the update.
It looks like Skywalk has released info on their new
electric motor, the e-Walk, as seen at their website
http://www.e-walk.org/. It's intended to be
used as an 'assist' motor to get a free flyer up high enough to soar. Endurance
is not long enough to make it a practical traditional PPG.
Pricing is 8900 Euro, about $12,400 USD right now.
Home Made Mostly Off-The-Shelf eParamotor 12/01/2010
Gareth Houghton has now test flown his electric launch-assist paramotor that he intends to be used primarily for taking off to
go soaring. You can more information on his website
here. He also has a
YouTube video here.
Skynch is Back 09/02/2010
After a several-year hiatus, the Skynch self-towing
system is back. This device allows one paraglider pilot to use a radio
controlled signal to operate a tow winch on the ground. This is intended for
free flight pilots who are experienced with towing and, for them, this would be
a great self-launching tool.
Note: Towing is extremely risky to the uninitiated,
well beyond appearances. This is due to the dynamics of being hooked to a line
where any offset causes more offset tendency. Expect serious injury or death if
conducted without proper training.
Tandem Electric 06/26/2010 Twofer
Elektro has started selling a twin paramotor. Check
out more here.
Latest 03/18/2010 New Goodies
This from Ela Bernatt in Poland:
We are pleased to inform you in Poland first flights of 2
person electric powered paragilder - trike type (pgg) took place. The machine,
made in Poland, can fly for up to 1 hour with 1 person aboard. More details are
at www.eledriveco.eu which has technical
data and video from some of the flights.
Latest 03/18/2010 New Goodies
There has been some activity in the world of electrics and
we're trying to dig up more.
There is an alternative fuel event, the
Eco
Ultralight Marathon, planed for July in Vichy, France that should be
interesting. It's a competition and exhibition with many companies, including
Yuneec International, showing off their latest.
Footflyer.com has details on several new Electric PPG's that
will hopefully see the light of production and become more available. We know
there's interest because emails come in asking to buy one here. Unfortunately,
we don't sell them nor do we plan to in the future—just report on them.
New Blood 10/05/2009
Information Update
Razebuss is starting production on a new launch-to-soar
electric that now sports a cage. And a new entrant, André Lecoultre, has
created a pod-like electric paramotor that's made for foot launching,
another in the effort to mate electric power with paraglider soaring.
E-Pac Flies at Oshkosh 08/17/2009
Information Update
Yuneec made its U.S. dubut at the world's largest airshow,
Oshkosh's Airventure.set. They set up two booths, one in the main area and
another in the ultralight area. They brought two electric paramotors and a
hands-on display that allowed would-be flyers to play with the controllers
and see how everything worked.
Eric Dufour and Jeff Goin flew the paramotors during separate
sessions. Yuneec said they planned on having machines available by the beginning
of summer 2010. A more complete write up will be included in Ultraflight
Magazine and FootFlyer.com but the gist was that it has about 20 minutes of
"playing around" time and about 35 minutes of flying around at cruise on a
reasonably efficient wing.
Here
are the specs. The machine and its operation are extremely refined and look
very nice.
Electric Airplane Flies & Heads For Oshkosh 06/25/2009
Information Update
We've already mentioned that Yuneec is bringing their ePac
electric paramotor to Oshkosh, but now they have test flown, crated and
shipped their e-430 electric airplane for an appearance at Oshkosh. So the
electric revolution is accelerating on various fronts. Success in any
electric aeronautical endeavor will only hasten success in our little niche.
Oshkosh will be the place to see it all.
On Saturday at 11:00am, I (Jeff Goin) will be doing my annual
presentation on paramotors in Oshkosh's Ultralight Area. It's intended for other
ultralight pilots who may be interested our sport but, this year, we will
hopefully have one of the electric motors on hand and also answer questions
about it. I'll try to get one of the manufacturer reps to be there for questions
and I will talk about flying the craft.
Electric Miniplane? 06/15/2009
Information Update
Miniplane was showing the beginnings of an electric
paramotor. They say it will be at least 6 months before everything has
gelled to a flyable model. Electric guru Mateo is helping match industrial
quality electronics to the lightweight desire of pilots.
Yuneec Electric Paramotor To Visit Oshkosh
06/15/2009 Information Update
This is an exciting development. London-based Yuneec
International plans to bring their production paramotor to the U.S. during
OSHKosh's huge airshow starting July 27. They have made a number of changes,
improvements and are reporting that production has begun in China. We hope to
get details soon on availability and pricing.
They are making the motor available for review and some test
flying, probably to high level PPG 2 or PPG 3 pilots. The motor will be shown in
their ultralight display area while an electric aircraft will be displayed in
the general area.
First Ever Electric Paramotor Goes On Sale
06/15/2009 Information Update
Fresh Breeze has announced a new Electric Paramotor that is
available for sale. The German maker has paired up with Swing to produce and
sell the machines. Their brochure was only in German but some of the specs were
clear. The sportix frame unit spins a a 130 cm prop through a 10kW
electric motor with an all-up weight of 33kg (72 lbs). It should fly a 78 kg
(170 lb) pilot for 23 minutes.
It won't be cheap but being first never is. They say it will
cost €6990 which would be around $10,000US before shipping. Fresh Breeze doesn't
currently have any plans to bring one to the U.S. until they get an order. As
soon as an opportunity arrives, we'll do a test flight and report on it.
Yuneec Update 02/12/2009
Information Update
Yuneec International has been
busy. Although they didn't make it to Paratoys as planned, they plan to have
4 machines go through their production process in the next month. We'll have
updates as they come in.
New Drivetrain & Organization 02/11/2009
Information Update
The company Electravia
has announced they are offering electric drivetrains for paramotors and
other ultralights. They have reportedly flown it on an airplane, a trike and
a motorglider for our customers. See our website www.electravia.fr for more
information.
They say they can supply a global electrical solution (battery,
controller, motor and propeller) for many applications but, until now, it
was too heavy for all except PPG carts.
They have created an association, APAME (www.apame.eu),
dedicated to electrical motorization fans. They want to help APAME members
in their projects though free access of our premises and experience by
offering a discount when buying electrical components.
There hasn't been a lot of news lately but efforts are still underway. After
an exchange with Yuneec International's Clive Coote, he assured us that they
continue to work on perfecting their product, a product that has seen
extensive test flights. They have made a number of improvements and continue
to work towards an affordable, producible version. A new
web
presence suggests that they are closer yet.
We have also seen some prototypes demonstrated, at least on test stands, that
will hopefully also become viable products for their builders. It's easy to
brush off the apparent lack of progress to economic woes, and indeed that's
possible, but for the employed (over 94% of us)a desire remains for quieter,
gasless rides into the sky.
Fresh Breeze Announces Drive Train Partnership 07/09/2008
Information Update | More on Fresh Breeze
Fresh Breeze has partnered with paraglider manufacturer, Swing, to create an
Electric PPG Package. Dr.Werner Eck and Jochen Geiger have entered into a
long-term agreement with SWING Gmbh about integrating our their equipment
into a state-of-the art electric drive system. FRESH BREEZE will take over
the drive specific design and fabrication the design pair of Eck and Geiger
will deliver the drive, which consists of battery/charger, motor.
controller, propeller and drive management system.
German DHV and DULV will cooperate to do the regulation work for new EPPG
class.
Fresh Breeze is busily tweaking their drive train. At last check they were
planning on offering it to other manufacturers but, for the moment, are
testing it on their low hook-in single-hoop model.
Progress at Yuneec International 06/18/2008
Meeting with Clive Coote | More on Yuneec
Eric Dufour and others were flown to China in order to visit and test fly the
ePAC electric paramotor. Eric reports that he was impressed with their
factory and production capability. This company is already a heavy hitter in
large electric radio control models and manufacturers highly complicated and
successful products. They do it all from design to manufacture. That same
expertise will serve them well in production of Electric Paramotors.
Jeff Goin and Phil Russman met with Clive Coote to see what the latest was and
they are obviously close to production. The test units have been holding up
and they plan to have several at Basse Ham. We'll report on that here, too.
They're production model has the same battery pack that I test flew (www.FootFlyer.com)
in early 2008 plus a plug-in accommodation for an additional pack.
Electric PPG Competition At Basse Ham 04/18/2008 World's largest paramotor event showcases ePPG
The Basse Ham
paramotor convention in France will be featuring an electric PPG
demonstration and endurance competition. We've been told of at least two
companies that plan on showing off their wares and expect a total of 4. The
biennial event runs June 27 - 29, 2008.
Yuneec Test Flights 01/12/2007
Test Flights In China
Yuneec International has sent 3 pilots and 3 production prototypes for testing
in southern China. If testing goes well they plan to start production in
time for the first products to be at the U.S. PPG Convention.
New Electric Flown 12/18/2007 Neil Andrew of England Flies Design
Neil Andrew has flown an Electric PPG that he may be marketing. The video
claims 16 minutes flown with 30 minutes projected as available. Weight is
listed at just under 20kg (44 lb) including battery.
Here are details and video.
Testing of ePPG Offered
by Yuneec 12/17/2007 Plans to let independent review of
Electric Paramotor
Clive Coote of
Yuneec International has offered to let us test fly their electric paramotor
during or, more likely, prior to Sun-N-Fun. Jeff Goin will do a review in
the vein of other paramotor reviews plus areas unique to electric.
Aspects of interest are safety, throttle response, smoothness, and linearity,
behavior changes with diminishing battery capacity, longevity, weight,
comfort, heat generation of the battery pack and charging convenience.
More details here.
Yuneec International 12/11/2007 Specs Issued For Electric Paramotor
Yuneec International continues to work towards a production release of Spring
2008. They have been test flying machines and now have issued
specifications.
Electric Paraglider For Soaring 09/26/2007 Razeebuss Air Lab
Razeebuss
Air Lab has apparently test flown an electric paramotor intended as a self
launch free flight rig. It is a very nicely manufactured machine with what
appears to be excellent fit and finish judging only from the pictures.
The prototype is equipped with a folding prop for better
soaring efficiency (much lower drag) and looks like it tilts when in free flight
to further reduce drag. Obviously, having no no cage would an incredibly
dangerous way to fly given that most serious injuries in paramotoring happen
after body contact with a spinning prop. But in their case
That risk would be an easy fix, of course, and would make the unit more viable
for the masses at some expense in drag. We hope to hear more about it as they
develop it further. This machine is not designed for the paramotor masses as
much as it is for paragliding pilots looking for another way aloft. Hopefully
the paramotor style unit will be forthcoming.
Lithium Sulfur Batteries 09/15/2007 A New, Lighter, Cheaper Battery
Source?
In an article posted on
WiseGeek.com, a new form of battery is gaining ground to improve power at
less weight in rechargeable devices. Besides weighing less per kilowatt-hour
than lithium ion, they are cheaper and easier to dispose of.
EEstor Says Something 09/15/2007 PR Response
According to a response to queries about delayed delivery, Catherine
Scrimgeour offers the following:
There has been no official delay communicated directly to ZENN Motor
Company. This particular is in fact misleading in its story title. EEStor is
quoted as stating that the EESU is on schedule for delivery to ZMC within the
next ten months. That is not to say that they won't deliver before then -
merely announcing the possibility that additional time may be required in the
commercialization phase - not development time of the ultracapacitor.
The next milestone involves permittivity testing and no official 'due date'
has been announced.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any additional questions or
concerns.
Catherine Scrimgeour
Public Affairs Specialist
ZENN Motor Company
Tel: 416.535.8395 x 201
Fax: 416.535.4043 www.ZENNcars.com
ElectricPPG comments: Permittivity is an indirect measure if the
capacitors capacitance. Hopefully they mean that the testing is required on the
production versions because, presumably, the company already has a prototype.
This technology, if their claims hold true, would be utterly revolutionary. Of
course we've heard outlandish claims before so we'll see but there are some
heavy hitters aligned with EEstor so hopes are higher than they would otherwise
be.
China Company Enters the Fray, Hoping to Mass
Produce 06/10/2007 Press Release
We've received a press release from a company in
Shanghai that has apparently put some bright young minds to work on perfecting
their planned mass-produced electric PPG. It has been flown by one of their
competition pilots, Mr. Zhang, who gave a favorable report.
Here is the press release and pictures.
German Electric Competition Completed 05/24/2007 update, thanks to Matt Unger
The Electric PPG competition in Germany has completed.
Our hat is off to these folks for trying to inspire and promote innovation in
this field. Here is a translation,
courtesy of Stefan Obenauer, of the press release from the event. The original
German site is here.
Ceramic Power Source Doubles Power 04/30/2007 update, thanks to Mike Macphereson
According to an
article on CNN Money, the company EEStor has come up with an energy storage
solution that would all electrically powered vehicles. It is reported to have 2
times the energy density of Lithium Ion at about 20% of the cost making it most
appropriate for use in autos but hopefully, eventually, for electric paramotors.
Another article on
Green Car Congress says the company has completed testing critical aspects
of their production line.
Of course we are all skeptical of wild claims and dates
but this well heeled effort seems to enjoy broad respect in electric car
circles. The company claims the materials don't degrade, charge in minutes and
will propel a small, but standard sub-compact car 500 miles on $9 worth of
electricity. We can only drool over what such energy density would do for a
paramotor.
They are currently very secretive about the project
but, having filed a
patent, laid open the basic construction method. One electric car company
plans to start using their electric storage devices in 2008.
Fresh Breeze / Helix 04/28/2007 update
Fresh Breeze developer Markus Müller is working with Helix Props
has reportedly flown a 38 minute flight with the pictured electric paramotor.
Although not confirmed, that would make it the longest continuous flight on an
electric paramotor. Pictures courtesy Fresh Breeze.
We applaud his
willingness to share information with the rest of the community working toward
this end.
Update on Electric Powered Paraglider (Electric
Paramotor) For Sale 03/31/2007 update
Dell Schanze, when asked via
telephone, offered a little more about his new electric paramotor. When asked if he would be willing to let me
review it he said it was not ready for that yet, preferring to keep mum on details
of battery types, motor, redrive and most other design elements. He said that patents
have or will be filed. He hopes to have video up soon You Tube showing the
machine in flight.
Here is what he was willing to share:
The project is being funded by Dell
Schanze and is not part of Revolution PPG as we originally reported although
they do work together and it is being mounted on a Revolution frame.
It spins a 51" 3-blade Simonini prop
at 2350 RPM at an elevation of about 2000 feet. The RPM is higher, as you would
expect, at their higher Utah elevation although the thinner air produces
less thrust.
Weight with the full 50 pound battery
pack is about 80 pounds on a large Flat Top frame. That is equivalent to the
same fully-fueled Simonini powered model.
There is currently one prototype
flying and it has been thrust tested in Arizona and Utah. They also tested a 43"
prop unit at 130 pounds of thrust although duration was not mentioned.
It uses the same throttle as on a
Flattop where the user must be holding a grip in order for the throttle to
activate the motor. There is also a master switch, like on the their gas model,
that must be one before the prop will spin.
He offered that if someone orders and
pays for the unit today he should get a finished, polished product meeting the
advertised specifications in 8 to 10 weeks. If it doesn't meet those
specifications the buyer would get a full refund.
He preferred to to publicize other
details on redrive, motor or controller. As more information comes available and
other pilots report on its flight characteristics, they'll be reported here.
First Electric Powered Paraglider For Sale? 03/30/2007 update
Dell Schanze is offering an electric paramotor for sale.
He claims it to have a flight time of 1.5 hours at cruise power,
145 pounds max thrust and a weight of about 80 pounds which includes
batteries. If true, that would be impressive. Earlier conversations with Dell
Schanze indicated that they were testing with Lithium Ion batteries as opposed
to Lithium Polymer but we do not know what was included on this model.
The price is high as can be expected
for any leading edge product, at $16,900 for the complete system with charger
but then that's to be expected. It'll cost.
If true, this could portend a new
chapter in the evolution of electric powered paragliding and powered paragliding
in general.
As soon as we get more news,
especially independent verification, we'll let you know.
British Team Goes Public 03/13/2007 update
A British team led by Paul Hallatt
has announced some of their progress in developing the rudiments to a
commercially viable electric paramotor. They plan on flying a tandem PPG and
trike (PPC) within the next month. Information on all their efforts will be
tallied on their ElectricPPG.com development page.
Skynch Development Halted 03/08/2007 update
We are sorry to report that
development of the Skynch self-towing system has been halted, at least
temporarily, as they seek out investors. Apparently the first test flight did
not go right when the unit burned out halfway through the climb. That destroyed
a lot of expensive equipment and they are regrouping. They reported 100 orders
for the unit if it could met design specifications.
Electric Paramotor Competition May 14 to 19 03/08/2007 update
The ElectricPPG
yahoo group and MarksParaglidingPages
have reported an electric paramotor competition in
Crawinkel, Germany May 14 to 19. Besides being for electric powered paraglider
units only, we have no details about requirements, tasks and judging. It is purportedly
being organized by the DULV (German Ultralight organization) at the
encouragement of Werner Eck, who has built his own working paramotor (see video
below).
Helix propellers is reported to be
putting money into the competition. An " X-prize" for electric PPG?
That would be a wonderful development. There are teams
working on this process around the world, many in confidentiality, but this
effort could help share ideas to spur innovation.
When we get confirmation and details
of the competition, we'll post it here.
15 Minutes on 4 Pounds of Batteries 02/24/2007 update
One development group, who asked not
to be identified yet, has told us that they have achieved 60 pounds of thrust
for 15 minutes using 4 pounds of batteries. The significance of this is
for training. An average pilot can be kept aloft on an average glider (DHV
1-2) with that much thrust.
This also bodes well for use in
training since pilots can be introduced to the motor weight gradually. Another
significant aspect of it is that it was done using lithium ion batteries which
are reportedly more stable than lithium polymers. The company is holding off
making any announcements until they are ready to actually market
something.
Csaba Electric Paramotor 01/25/2007 update
Csaba Lemak is planning to bring his
Electric PPG to the April 2007 US National Convention. Hopefully we'll get to
fly it and offer a flight report. He says he continues to work on various
aspects of the project.
Skynch Electric Self Towing 01/19/2007 update
The first news this year on electric
foot flying comes from John Irving who has been developing the Skynch (pronounce
the "sk" like in sky and inch like the unit) for self towing. They
have a working prototype now and will have a video up soon on their website
showing it work in the lab.
They've solved some problems with the
starting force of their brushless D.C. motors using a throttle style
potentiometer.
This pulls the pilot instead of
pushing and we look forward to seeing the details on how it will work out in
flight. They have a nicely developed throttle that is shown here
and the machine's inner works are here.
Helix Electric Paramotor 12/29/2006 update
Richard Krüger-Sprengle of Germany
has been working on another approach to the electric paramotor, going for
extreme propeller efficiency to make up for the lack for battery power. Instead
of using the higher-capacity lithium polymer technology adopted heavily in the
R/C community, he is pairing well-established Lithium Ion batteries to a 70 inch
prop.
According to the helix-propeller
website, he has been able to achieve flight time of over 15 minutes on his 31.6
kg (70 lbs) machine. The 35 Ah batteries weigh 15 kg (33 lbs) and take 2 hours
to be fully charged from a depleted state.
Richard is working with other teams
who are developing electric paramotors and hopes to establish a yeary meeting on
the topic starting with the German Paramotor Championship in Krahwinkel.
Complete specs and other information is available here.
Looking for Development Partner 10/29/2006 update
Belgium resident Koen Van de
Kerckhove is neither an electrician nor an engineer but he is a visionary who
dreams of electric propelled lofts in a soaring craft. And he has the means to
pursue it. What he wants to do is motor up for soaring flights—the Electric
PPG powerplant would do just fine. His craft of choice is a rigid frame
hang glider and he's hoping for a powerplant that weighs up to 40 pounds with at
least 15 horsepower that will propel a 300 pound craft (pilot and hang glider)
to 1000 feet.
He would like to see this project be
as "open source" as the developers are willing, including making the
plans available on the internet. Universities may like this as a thesis project
and Koen is willing to work with them.
His business is a machine shop,
including CNC equipment, so he could produce some necessary parts. Impotantly,
he is willing to invest money in it. If you are interested in working with Koen,
email nestofdragons@hotmail.com,
join his Yahoo
Group, or snail mail Koen Van de Kerckhove, Jeroen Boschlaan 16, 2840 Rumst,
Belgium.
Plettenberg Motor 10/29/2006 update
Marc Whitehead sent us information on
the Plettenberg Predator Motor, a likely candidate for a successful PPG implementation.
He also put some files in the ElectricPPG
yahoo group and would be glad to discuss it there.
Salt Lake City 10/27/2006 update
According to a Yahoo BBS post, Dell Schanze
and Bill Heaner are working on an Electric project although no details have been
released. Bill Heaner of Revolution PPG designed and builds the FlatTop
paramotor, a machine based on the Walkerjet.
What's New In Europe 10/14/2006 Jeff Goin
It's huge and we don't know whether
it has flown or not. This prototype electric paramotor was made by the German propeller manufacturer
Helix and was on display at the 2006 Coupe Icare in St. Hilaire, France. The
data sheet says that it uses Lithium Ion batteries which are well proven and
relatively inexpensive type but have much less power (amp-hours) than Lithium
Polymer batteries of the same weight. This unit was built on a heavily modified
Fresh Breeze Frame.
It appears that they are maximizing
efficiency through use of a much larger propeller (70") and reducing drag
by having fewer cage lines, a risky trade-off made only for the prototype. Plus,
we don't know if they may include more protective cage lines during flight
testing.
Thanks to Javier from Aerolight
for providing this information.
New
Technologies Probed By innovator Csaba Lemak 09/29/2006 Jeff Goin
Some new technologies have come to
the attention of Csaba Lemak as he continues towards a production
capable paramotor. He is working with a professor from the Czech republic who is
tasking his students with building some technologies (controller and motor) that
will work well with a 47 inch propeller. He has been testing numerous props
supplied by Richard of Helix
propeller and has improved efficiency with one particular 47"
model.
Mr. Lemak is also considering use of
the RS-LRK-MOTEREN Outrunner
motor about to be released in Germany which puts out 20 Kw (good for about 16
hp) at only 7 pounds of weight. Plus, he is looking at a battery technology from
South Korea that has 70 amp hour batteries that, in a pack of 14, would power an
18 hp motor for 40 minutes of flight time at flight weight of 26 Kg (57 pounds).
That is using his current technology electric paramotor.
He has been flying his electric
machine consistently and wowed a local R/C club with its performance. This motor
will be at the Albuquerque fly-in on Friday, Oct 6.
The best developments continue to
come from the Radio Controlled airplane community although Csaba is working with
others to solve some of our unique high-power requirements. The Lithium Polymer
batteries that have taken over electric powered models have about twice the
capacity at about half the weight of comparable NiCad or NiMH packs.
He tells us of a group in Europe that
is making an electric paramotor using a brushed golf cart motor that weighs
about 7 Kg more than the one he is using but is more readily available. It uses
the less expensive and heavier Lithium Ion batteries. We have no word on whether
this machine has flown yet. If anyone has any information on that effort, please
let us know.
Electric PPG To Fly At Albuquerque 09/27/2006 Jeff Goin
Csaba Lemak, builder of the first
practical electric paramotor, is bringing his creation to the Albuquerque fly-in
Oct starting next week. We'll have more details when they become available. This
motor has flown over 30 minutes on one charge at a weight of under 50 pounds.
New Ceramic Power Source 09/26/2006 Submitted by Rob Catto
According to CNN
Money.com (Sept 20, 2006), the company EEStor has received a patent on a new
power storage system. The technology is not a chemical battery but rather uses
ceramics and is said to pack dramatically more power than anything yet
developed, presumably for the same weight. The company is going after automotive
applications due to the obviously huge market. Our hope is that we eventually
would benefit from the efficiencies of mass production.
EEstore, based in Cedar Park, Texas, is mum on details as work continues on
perfecting the product. They have not disclosed weights but the inference is
strong, claiming that an electric sedan using their product would be able to
drive 500 miles on a charge and be able to recharge in 5 minutes. Of course
getting a plug-in site that can dispense that type of current will be quite a
challenge.
Ernie Van Drongelen, Holland—09/24/2006 09/24/2006 Submitted by Ernie
A larger collection of electric PPG hopefuls has probably never been
presented than those submitted by Ernie. We appreciate his sharing. Yes, they
look bizarre and some seem hard to imagine in flight. One looks like the user
would certainly give up an arm in search of success. But we applaud the effort!
He has met with success using 2 direct-drive brushless motors with
counter-rotating props. You can see more at www.andromeda.mysites.nl.
These
ideas and implementations were sent to us by Ernie Van Dongelen
Related News
Most of us want quiet powered paragliding without the fuel and mixing and
mechanical mess that seems endemic with the gas powered machines that are
currently best suited to our application. Batteries the only way to store
electricity and, in fact, electricity isn't the only alternative energy source.
One interesting alternative is air power. We've received news of air powered
motors using compressed air for energy storage. Fuel cells are now appearing in
various applications.
2007-06-06 (thanks to Rob Catto)
Here is a promising
technique that further brings fuel cells closer to reality.
2007-05-30 (thanks to Jerry Foisel) A fellow is working on an air powered
rotary engine. Similar projects are underway using more conventional piston
engines. They use compressed air for storage which represents much of their
weight although lightweight high strength composites have brought that weight
down.
2007-06-03 (thanks to Gerard Farell-Baril)
This fuel cell
technology promises to advance the status quo. Although too large at present,
scale is only a matter of time unless better paradigms crop up.
Razeebuss
Air Lab has apparently test flown an electric paramotor intended as a self
launch free flight rig. It is a very nicely manufactured machine with what
appears to be excellent fit and finish judging only from the pictures.
