{"id":10773,"date":"2016-03-18T20:44:06","date_gmt":"2016-03-19T03:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10773"},"modified":"2016-03-18T20:44:06","modified_gmt":"2016-03-19T03:44:06","slug":"chinas-first-certified-mass-production-electric-airplane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/chinas-first-certified-mass-production-electric-airplane\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s First Certified, Mass-Production Electric Airplane"},"content":{"rendered":"

China has seen Yuneec\u2019s early entry into the electric aircraft field.\u00a0 The parent company is now making drones and camera gear in China, but its Greenwing International subsidiary in Cable, California appears to be defunct, according to Bill Lofton\u2019s EV Hangar<\/a>.\u00a0 Yuneec\u2019s E430 two-seater and e-Spyder ultralight, all flown at the big AirVenture shows, will seemingly not come to market.<\/p>\n

\"Early

Early testing of RX1E. Its long, sailplane-like wings allow good rate of climb<\/p><\/div>\n

A craft similar to the E430, the RX1E Ruixiang, is ready to go into mass production, however.\u00a0 Developed by Shenyang Aerospace University in Shenyang City in China\u2019s Liaoning Province, the long-winged two seater is the first electric aircraft certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).<\/p>\n

Certification was a major accomplishment,<\/a> according to Yang Fengtian, chief designer of the airplane.\u00a0 \u00a0“Unlike military aircraft and\u00a0commercial\u00a0jets, there are certain criteria that an electric plane must have before given permission to fly. The plane has to be light enough, and the batteries need to be efficient and reliable, and overall it has to be cost-effective to be mass produced.”<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just finished low-temperature flight tests, important in an electric airplane because of the reduced energy in batteries at lower temperatures.\u00a0 The factory, which has four RX1Es in service with more than 240 hours total flight time, is ready to build 20 more.<\/p>\n

Developed by Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation Co Ltd in northeast China, the RX1E could be used for pilot training, sightseeing and aerial photography.<\/p>\n