Posted 07.26.2012 at 4:07 pm
19 Comments
Yates After the Flight
Flight of the Century
Test pilot and speed freak Chip Yates, already a record-holder for the world’s fastest electric motorcycle, broke another one last week in his all-electric airplane. In only its second flight, his Flight of the Century Long-EZ took to the skies over Inyokern Airport in California and reached a top speed of 202 MPH.
The 16-minute flight was not without drama, after the aircraft lost power and forced a dead-stick landing. Yates earned his pilot’s license in two months, and had logged just 58 hours of flight time before this trip — a dead-stick landing, flying without power, is a heady test for an inexperienced aviator.
The Long-EZ is a modified version of a plane designed by aviation god Burt Rutan, with a front canard design that makes it highly aerodynamically efficient.
Fastest Electric Airplane: Flight of the Century
Flight of the Century's goal is to prove battery-powered aircraft can be practical and safe, so many more tests are likely to come. Yates' eventual goal is to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, emulating Charles Lindbergh's historic flight. Meanwhile, check out the dramatic video from the Long-EZ’s record-setting flight.
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@D13 They set the world record... for all electrics. 200 MPH is slow for a jet. Even piston driven props can get up into the 500 mph range.
Not to take anything away from Yates and his team, they are obviously pushing the envelope for all electrics. The plane looked like it was shaking intensely at 200mph, not to mention the eventual mid-flight death of the battery. Great landing Chip.
Electric remote controlled planes go faster than this. The FAI world record is 372.82 km/h (231.66mph) set by Ralph Okon last year.
http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=16349
FAI Record File Num #16349
Status: ratified - current record
Region: World
Class: F (Aeromodelling and Spacemodelling)
Sub-Class: F5 Open (Radio Control Flight)
Category: Aeroplane
Group: Electrical Motor Combined Sources
Type of record: Speed: 196
Performance: 372.82 km/h
Date: 2011-09-16
Course/Location: Rothenburg (Germany)
Claimant Ralph Okon (GER)
Crew Kai Koppenburg (Germany)
Also:
http://www.scorpionsystem.com/news/FAI_2012/
This is not an impressive accomplishment. 200mph is nothing for a plane or even an RC plane. People fly RC planes at the local RC field at 175MPH that are a mere 5 lbs in weight. All electric RC planes have gone well beyond 220MPH with wing spans only 18".
I stand unimpressed. 500MPH would have been mildly impressive. Sounds as though someone needs to build a full size EDF (electric ducted fan). What is moderately impressive about this was that he flew for 16 minutes at top speeds. Most extreme speed RC crafts have ~5 minute flight times because they eat through power at incredible rates.
correction: not "all RC planes have gone well beyond 220MPH". I meant that some specially designed RC planes have gone that fast on electric.
The fastest RC planes are gliders which approach 400mph
I picked the wrong category. This one is a faster RC electric plane at 439.14 km/h (272.87 mph):
http://www.fai.org/fai-record-file/?recordId=16347
FAI Record File Num #16347
Status: ratified - current record
Region: World
Class: F (Aeromodelling and Spacemodelling)
Sub-Class: F5 Open (Radio Control Flight)
Category: Aeroplane
Group: Electrical Motor Rechargeable Sources
Type of record: Speed: 175
Performance: 439.14 km/h
Date: 2011-09-17
Course/Location: Rothenburg (Germany)
Claimant David Dzida (GER)
Crew Carsten Garth (Germany)
get a grip people...the fastest manned electric plane seemed fairly obvious, since a pilot is seen sitting in it the author (again, obviously) didn't see the need to spell it out, awesome
I only meant to imply that there's so much more potential for manned electric flight. I believe this accomplishment barely scratches the surface.
yup, just the beginning, cheers
This plane is very neat! I want one of these, once they get all the bugs out. Electric flying is so cool!
@D13 Who are you to belittle their accomplishments? What have you done in your life that even comes close to this? Perhaps your self-loathing is the source of your aggression.
In the future I will endeavor to simply ignore your posts, as I have done in the past.
I for one would love to hear about the next attempt to break the all electric record. That is why I come to pop sci. Not every article needs to be earth shattering.
democedes, d13, .... you lost that lov'n feeling... sigh.
Ok, both of you out of the pool!
@Robot,
You cannot lose what was never there to begin with. I am not usually one to quote Shakespeare but here are my thoughts on D13...
“I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed!”
"D'Oh"!
~ Homer Simpson
LOL.;)
I hope he doesn't run out of 'power' at an airport with trees. Or in between airports. Or over the Atlantic. The plane will, however, float.
Probably a good thing if the RC helos can't deliver battery packs on schedule. He should bring a towel.
I hope he doesn't make the 'Crash of the Century'.
This is very exciting to see, because it's in my home town! Our community has developed some of the greatest and innovative advances in technology. It's very inspiring as an engineering student.