{"id":13986,"date":"2021-04-02T16:30:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T23:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=13986"},"modified":"2021-04-02T16:30:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T23:30:40","slug":"electrifly-in-grenchen-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/electrifly-in-grenchen-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Electrifly-in: Grenchen 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/electrifly-in.ch\/en\/mission\/#start\">Electrifly-in, formerly the Smartflyer Challenge,<\/a> is on for September 11 and 12, 2021, in Grenchen, Switzerland.\u00a0 The event, even held in 2020 despite the pandemic, is a compact showing of the latest in electrical aircraft and technology.\u00a0 Watch as this 2019 video as a \u03a6nix (the Greek letter phi + nix \u2013a clever bilingual pun) takes off, circuits the area and makes a landing \u2013 all the time flying with other electric aircraft.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Grenchen 2019\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WuYjigUEafw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In this flight, you can see the compact airport (including a grass landing strip) and a lovely setting for a great event.\u00a0 Started as the Smartflyer Challenge* in 2016, the gathering has changed its name to be more inclusive.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, even with travel limitations imposed worldwide, saw a healthy turnout of all-electric flyers, ranging from ultralight electric \u201ctrikes\u201d to cross-country tourers.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>From 12 to 50 Kilowatts and Beyond<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Powering a large number of machines on last year\u2019s flight line, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.geigerengineering.de\/en\/avionics\/references\">Eck-Geiger Engineering makes a range of motors from 12 to 50 kilowatts in power<\/a>.\u00a0 On their web site, the firm lists over 30 different types of small aircraft powered by their motor\/controller\/battery packages.\u00a0 These range from the ultralight, hydrogen-fueled La Mouette wing that<a href=\"http:\/\/sustainableskies.org\/man-of-la-manche\/\"> Gerard Thevenot flew across the English Channel in 2009<\/a> to powered balloons and hybrid ultralight aircraft.\u00a0 Many of these machines have made appearances at previous years\u2019 events, and more are sure to be on hand this year.\u00a0 Here we see a hang-glider &#8220;trike&#8221; powered by a 20 kilowatt unit.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"New Aeros ANTe Electric Trike Geiger HPD20 mix\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2BzRoQFsy60?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And in another example, the Birdy motorglider flown by Toni Roth at last year&#8217;s event, the self-launcher flies on a mere 16 kW (21.6 horsepower).\u00a0 All these and more could attend this year&#8217;s Electrifly-in.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Birdy 120 kg UL Erstflug\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GRkL6ECl7QY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Other manufacturers, including Pipistrel with their proprietary line of power systems, YASA, R0lls-Royce, MGM-Compro and others may provide insights into the future of battery and possibly hydrogen aviation power.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Pioneering Pilots and Speakers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Last year, Eric and Irena Raymond showed up in their Sunseeker Duo, Klaus Ohlmann flew a Lange 20e self-launching sailplane, and Bertrand Piccard, co-pilot of Solar Impulse flew an ultralight and discussed \u00a0\u00a0Ten years ago, Eric and Klaus flew the second-place winning e-Genius in the NASA Green Flight Challenge sponsored by Google.\u00a0 They flew a 200-mile course around northern California and averaged 375.8 passenger miles per gallon, using the energy equivalent of a little more than a gallon of gasoline for the flight.\u00a0 This kind of energy efficiency and economy will continue to draw attention to the new technology, now becoming entrenched.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the record-breaking Pipistrel Electro Velis team were there for a discussion on electric aviation, just part of a larger symposium that provided a socially-distanced learning experience for all.\u00a0 Speakers from government, industry and academia filled out the program.\u00a0 Hangars full of displays and aircraft on the flight line helped make the two-day event a full one.\u00a0 Your editor wishes he could be there this year, and it\u2019s not too early to start making travel plans.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>*The Original Namesake<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The people behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smartflyer.ch\/aircraft\/\">Smartflyer hybrid touring airplane<\/a> have kept the appellation for the craft, featured at past events on the Grenchen field.\u00a0 This airplane should be on display at this year\u2019s fly-in, and may have started flight testing by September.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"smartflyer - the electric future of aviation\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vTo8276N0mQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Specifications (from their web site)<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cruise Speed 120 knots (138 mph) \/ 222 km\/h<\/li>\n<li>Take off Power 160 kilowatts<\/li>\n<li>Max Cont. Power 120 kW (161 hp)<\/li>\n<li>Seats 4<\/li>\n<li>Range 400 NM (460 statute miles) \/ 750 km<\/li>\n<li>Endurance 4 h<\/li>\n<li>Empty Mass 1000 kg (2,200 pounds)<\/li>\n<li>Take off Mass 1400 kg (3,086 pounds)<\/li>\n<li>Battery Mass 160 kg (353 pounds)<\/li>\n<li>Range Extender Rotax 914 with YASA (Yokeless and Segmented Armature) Generator<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The specifications may change during the construction process.<\/p>\n<p>This year&#8217;s Electrifly-in should be even bigger once travel restrictions are lifted.\u00a0 Again, it seems like two days filled with a glimpse of future, green flight.<\/p>\n<div id=\"facebook_like\"><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fcafe.foundation%2Fblog%2Felectrifly-in-grenchen-2021%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=true&amp;width=500&amp;action=like&amp;font=segoe+ui&amp;colorscheme=light&amp;height=80\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:500px; height:80px;\" allowTransparency=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Electrifly-in, formerly the Smartflyer Challenge, is on for September 11 and 12, 2021, in Grenchen, Switzerland.\u00a0 The event, even held in 2020 despite the pandemic, is a compact showing of the latest in electrical aircraft and technology.\u00a0 Watch as this 2019 video as a \u03a6nix (the Greek letter phi + nix \u2013a clever bilingual pun) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7568,6862,15,3,6894,6806,6834,14],"tags":[137,10642,159,106,1469,8139,2854,914,6664,10597,10643,6538,10274,8849],"class_list":["post-13986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-announcements","category-batteries","category-electric_powerplants","category-gfc","category-hybrid-aircraft","category-hydrogen-fuel","category-solar-power","category-sustainable_ga","tag-bertrand-piccard","tag-birdy-motorglider","tag-eric-raymond","tag-gerard-thevenot","tag-google","tag-grenchen-switzerland","tag-irena-raymond","tag-klaus-ohlmann","tag-la-mouette-hang-glider","tag-nasa-green-flight-challenge","tag-pipistrel-electro-velis","tag-rolf-stuber","tag-toni-roth","tag-nix-motorglider"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Electrifly-in: Grenchen 2021 - CAFE Foundation Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Electrifly-in, formerly the Smartflyer Challenge, is on for September 11 and 12, 2021, in Grenchen, Switzerland. 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