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EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2007 – August 2, 2007 – There are electric cars, so why not electric airplanes?
That’s what officials at Sonex Aircraft LLC asked before they came up with their E-Flight initiative, a push to explore viable alternative energies for powering sport aircraft. Sonex announced the initiative during EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh July 25.
They also unveiled the most visible aspect of e-Flight — a Sonex Waiex airframe equipped with a proof-of-concept prototype electric powerplant. The aircraft, which is expected to fly later this year, will be used to further develop the motor, along with the required control, charging and battery systems.
Sonex’s research and development team began work on the e-Flight initiative in 2006.
"E-flight is a push to explore viable alternative energies for powering sport aircraft and improve the efficiency and performance of current products and technologies to keep aviation affordable and recreational aviation available to future generations of pilots," Sonex President John Monnett said. "We're building for the future when being environmentally conscious and energy efficient will become even more important."
The proof-of-concept airplane is expected to make flights 25-45 minutes long, but production systems are expected to allow one-hour flights.
The E-flight project has three areas of focus, with the electric motor being the most revolutionary. The company is also investigating converting the AeroConversions AeroVee 2.0 powerplant for use of ethanol-based fuels to increase its performance and efficiency. In addition, Sonex is developing enhancements to the existing AeroVee 2.0 engine to further increase fuel efficiency and performance.
Production systems, unlike the current AeroVee engine, likely will not be offered as kits due to the critical tolerances and potential dangers with some of the electrical components.
“Our initiative will broaden and refine our vision of what efficient, low cost sport aviation will be for the generations to come,” Monnett said. “It should serve as a beacon to attract serious sponsors for this important effort.”
The idea of electric flight isn’t new to Sonex. It dates back to 1994 when Monnett and Pete Buck, Sonex’s chief engineer, looked into the possibility of building an electric plane specifically for establishing speed records for a new class of aircraft. However, it was put aside as the company was founded and they concentrated on developing kit airplanes.
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Jeremy Monnett shows off the electric motor and mount employed in a proof-of-concept Waiex airframe to demonstrate the potential of compact electric power and advanced-technology batteries. Photo by Dave Higdon
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