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It is interesting that the most innovative ideas in our sport come not from
the big manufacturers but from "the little guy" trying to solve a
problem. Randall Fishman is one of these "little guys" and he has come
up with a very unique application to fit a "niche" market. Last year
at Sun N Fun he introduced the world's first battery powered trike.
Which he won Grand Champion Ultralight and the Innovation Award.
This year at Sebring Florida he introduced his second entry into
battery powered aviation a true three axis electric powered convention
aircraft a Moni Motor glider that he had converted over from a 22 hp
engine using very short direct drive propeller.
The craft on display has not flown yet, in fact the engine conversion
from gas powered over to electric had only been completed the night
before. Randy does not see any problems with the conversion, since he
has over 50 hours on a very similar system on his trike.
One of the major changes is that he is using a direct drive system,
rather than a reduction drive and is spinning a propeller that is twice
the size of one originally used. To accommodate the larger prop he has
had to change the tri-gear to a taildragger, and extend the landing gear
to give more prop clearance.
The battery pack is located directly behind the engine, and
additional batteries will be installed in the tunnel which once housed
the exhaust system. The power pack is rated for 10 minutes at 200 amps
for climb out. After which the pilot reduces power to about 50 amps
which should give an 1 1/2 hour of flight time.
The current motor which is very high torque but low rpm, uses 8 brushes,
but Randy is working on a larger brushless motor that could possibly
power two place aircraft.
Randy expects the plane to be flying prior to Sun N Fun 2008. |
