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Thread: Electric ultralights!

  1. #1
    vibster's Avatar
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    May 2021
    Location
    Portland, OR
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    15

    Electric ultralights!

    I'm thinking about one day building and flying an ultralight, and am enjoying the heck out of doing research. There's so many possible options, with various trade-offs!

    One thing that caught my eye is that they're now shipping an electric variant of the Aerolite 103:


    It apparently meets part 103 weight requirements, but the endurance on the battery is roughly half that of the gas-powered versions. (Possibly worse, if you're doing a lot of climbs which eat up power.) Somebody locally here near Portland has also made an electric conversion of an Earthstar Soaring Gull with a motor and battery from a Zero motorcycle; hopefully I'll get a chance to see it in action some time.

    The big benefit of an electric motor is that it's a LOT quieter than a 2-stroke gas engine. Both for pilot's comfort, and for being less likely to trigger complaints from people on the ground, that sounds good!

    Since I wouldn't often venture far from my home airport, requiring a slow recharge or having a spare battery ready to swap out on the other end aren't going to be big problems.

    Has anybody built, used, or seen an electric ultralight? How do they seem to be working so far? Should we wait a few more years for battery tech to improve, or is it ready now!

    Exciting time to be alive.
    Last edited by vibster; 05-30-2021 at 12:17 PM. Reason: spelling

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