Lindbergh Family Sponsoring Electric Aircraft Prize
Erik Lindbergh (yes, the grandson of Charles and Anne Morrow) believes that electric aircraft are the future of aviation. He's been involved in promoting aviation for a long time and now he's established a new set of prizes for electric aviation. Called LEAP, the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize, is a set of four awards that will be given out every year for advances in electric aviation.
Lindbergh is no stranger to aviation adventures. In 2002, he flew a retraced his grandfather's footsteps by flying a Lancair across the Atlantic from New York to Paris (see his biography page.) He was Vice President of the X PRIZE foundation and worked public relations for Columbia Aircraft. He believes that we need to inspire young people to pursue new ideas for aviation and that prizes are a great way to do that. The prize has four categories and the EAA has agreed to host the annual awards ceremonies at their annual Air Venture fly-ins.
The LEAP is offered by the Creative Solutions Alliance (CSA), a group focused on getting helping young people pursue aviation. Lindbergh has gotten some pretty big names to take part including: John and Martha King of King Schools, Linden Blue of General Atomics, Mike and Jude Dennis of Oregon Aero and others.
What a great idea! I think this is exactly what the aviation industry and our world need right now. The X PRIZE was a huge success...I wrote an article about Virgin Galactic's second space ship just yesterday. I hope the LEAP is just as effective at inspiring ground-breaking developments in aviation. Thanks to Erik Lindbergh and all the CSA supporters for putting your love of aviation into action. We look forward to hearing about the first round of prizes in Oshkosh this summer....
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Absolutely LOVE the FES
Absolutely LOVE the FES concept! It seems like a natural retrofit for get-me-home capability on existing glider designs and I'm sure the guys are working that angle. The reliability of electric start, the lack of mast door drag and mast drag/weight, all make it a very elegant solution. Electric self-retrieve seems like a "no brainer" for anyone who just doesn't want to put their $100k toy - or their precious butts - at risk in a landout. And, unlike 2-strokes, electric eliminates the fuel smell in the cockpit, oily hands, constant fiddling with the tuning, damaging vibration - and the shattering noise! Love it! http://www.wallselectrical.com/average-electricity-bill.html
Longer-term, I do wonder whether the right answer isn't to put an aft-folding prop on a motor mounted at the junction of the tail, which has built-in ground clearance. Of course, all that weight at an extremity may not be so great for tailboom weight and for handling - so maybe the FES guys are already the future!
One thought - does any of the engineers, who have thought about this, know whether electric favors light (13m/ultralight) sailplanes, which require minimal launch energy, or larger (17m/2 seat motorglider) designs where the battery may be a smaller percentage of total weight?
- Thomas
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