Last Sunday aircraft designer Tom Peghimy joined the small group of flyers piloting electric aircraft they designed. Peghiny flew his e-Spyder at an altitude of 400 ft while obtaining 55 mph. The e-Spyder is based on the Flightstar ultralight frame and used a 20 kilowatt brushless motor from china. 40 minutes of flight time is expected from the motor and lithium polymer battery.
Electric powered aircraft are just become viable with the current batteries available, they run very quiet and are reliable due to the simplicity of the motor.
Another electric airplane that is just becoming available for sale is the ElectrFlyer-C that was shown at the Osh kosh AirVenture last year and Sonex aircraft and others are busy developing electric aircraft for the future green side of aviation.
The future of electric airplanes may include some technology as nanowires and ultracapacitors. This combination is being researched to suplement batteries. The CAFE prize offered for a contest to demonstrate alternative technology in aircraft has been offered for 2011. This is hoped to spur some breakthroughs in electric powered aircraft.
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