Fly Electric on PC-Aero Electra One

August 4th, 2011 by Glenn Meyers

Ready to take to the skies in a reasonably affordable electric plane far away from the trail of jet fuel? Then the time is perfect to plan your travel on the Electra One from German-based PC – Aero.

This single-seat electric ultralight is made from lightweight composites is powered with a 13.5 kW electric engine and can fly for three hours at cruise speed of 160 kilometers per hour.

Plus the engine is electric and remarkably quiet. The plane just won the Lindbergh Prize for Electric Aircraft Vision award.

The Elektra One’s hangar roof features 20 square meters of photovoltaic cells from Solarworld. The cells provide power with zero emissions, save for what fuel was used to generate the initial electricity.

The plane is expected to hit the market for less than $145,000 ($100,000 EUR) in early 2012 once certification is completed.

Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) founder Erik Lindbergh announced the award at last week’s World Electric Aircraft Symposium. LEAP’s programs are designed to recognize innovation that will drive aviation’s culture, economy, and future.

The Elektra One has been designed to demand little in the way of energy. Not only does the plane stay aloft for three hours, it flies at a price considerably lower than a road car, say the plane designers

The design of the Elektra One comes from PC-Aero’s founder, Calin Gologan. Test pilot Jon Karkow flew the Elektra One on its maiden flight on March 19 this year in Augsburg, Germany.

Apart from reducing the costs of flying an ultralight, one of the Elektra One’s greatest advantages is its very low noise level. The propeller speed is optimized for low noise too. Cruising at 160 km/h, the propeller is rotating at just 1400 RPM. At this speed, PC-Aero claims it makes one fifth of the noise of a classic light aircraft and half the noise of an ultralight.

Gologan says his ultimate vision is to create a bridge that leads from the world of leisure aviation to electric transportation and a minimal footprint.

Hallelujah!

PHOTOS: PC-Aero

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Tags: Electra One, electric air transportation, Germany, Gologan, Karkow, LEAP, Lindbergh, low emiiona, low noise aircraft, PC-Aero, SolarWorld, ultralight

About the Author

Glenn Meyers is a writer, producer, and director. Meyers was editor and site director of Green Building Elements, a contributing writer for CleanTechnica, and is founder of Green Streets MediaTrain, a communications connection and eLearning hub. As an independent producer, he's been involved in the development, production and distribution of television and distance learning programs for both the education industry and corporate sector. He also is an avid gardener and loves sustainable innovation.

Anonymous

Hubbard’s curves, even before the ‘Asian Fact’ arrived, predicted the end of oil as a cheap fuel in the world. China heeds his wisdoms, seeks Thorium fueled LFTR reactors powering electric bullet train networks and their infrastuctures, daisy chained Pan-Eurasia, from Britain’s tunnel to the South China Seas, one vast interconnected empire, casting very long shadows over all things American in this 21st Century. Rail, some 400 % more energy efficient than the American rubber-wheels on pavement with gasoline fueling low compression highly inefficent engines. Be well aware, jet engined flight is astoundingly inefficent, and really not sustainable in even the near future in America – Decades to go at most for the jet-planes!
Can the current American Dream last? Only for a very few,and even their numbers will diminish as Asians drive all prices world wide for all commodities upward and out of reach for even Americans only working part-time or occaisionally.
A new Age of Americans, once proletariat, then reduced by the capitalists to precariat, now to disenfranchised unemployables, will certainly return to the underworld of ‘Off Grid’ survivors, and if you search dilligently and with an eye for the key words, their advice philosopies, technologies can be found freely given to all here on the net – they remain anonymous, with addresses, names, locations hidden for safety’s sake. They do not pollute they do not consume excessively, they never waste, they resect their environments, they sin only for their very survival’s sakes!
Anonymous

Battery technology?