{"id":9850,"date":"2015-04-19T16:55:13","date_gmt":"2015-04-19T23:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=9850"},"modified":"2015-04-19T16:56:00","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T23:56:00","slug":"ypselon-beauty-two-years-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/ypselon-beauty-two-years-future\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ypselon \u2013 Beauty Two Years in the Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/em>Dan Johnson, reporting on his web site<\/a>, said that on seeing this lovely display item at the E-Flight Expo at Aero 2015, he \u201cwas tempted to pass by as merely a concept that might go nowhere.\u201d\u00a0 His talk with the designer, airline pilot David De Ridder, convinced him that this project has funding and substance behind it.<\/p>\n

\"Ypselon<\/a>

Ypselon is a Y-tailed speedster that is also aerobatic, according to its video<\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t send a deposit check just yet.\u00a0 De Ridder told Johnson that the development of the aircraft should be finished by 2017 and kits should be available by 2019.\u00a0 In the meantime, the project\u2019s web site<\/a> provides a tantalizing vision of what could be in electric light sport aircraft.<\/p>\n

Although the site is an alluring demonstration of computer graphics and slick word play, the numbers in the specifications section (subject to change without notice), are something that might be accountable, and don\u2019t seem unduly optimistic, given current technology.\u00a0 A maximum cruising speed of 173 knots (199 mph) and economical cruising speed of 130 knots (149.5) don\u2019t seem unrealistic given the sleek lines of the Ypselon.\u00a0 Its wing doesn\u2019t seem too diminutive to support a stall speed of 50 knots (57.5 mph) although its span may be marginal with the peak power (90 kilowatts or 130 horsepower) to achieve the promised 1,500 feet-per-minute rate of climb – especially fully loaded.\u00a0 Despite the video, all this is probably predicted by computer drawings and calculations at this point, with no physical wind tunnel involved.<\/span><\/p>\n