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There's an area of aviation where a lot of innovation could occur, and people are excited to do it — but the FAA is in the way. Ultralight aircraft, under FAR
by JasonFruit 5y ago
There's an area of aviation where a lot of innovation could occur, and people are excited to do it — but the FAA is in the way. Ultralight aircraft, under FAR Part 103, are allowed to weigh up to 254 pounds dry, without fuel. Electric ultralights must weigh up to 254 pounds with batteries, which is practically impossible to achieve, so ultralight pilots who would love to be flying clean electric aircraft are using unreliable two-stroke engines that spew incomplete combustion products like there's no tomorrow. If the FAA would revise the regulations to exclude the weight of batteries, like it excludes the weight of ballistic recovery systems or floats, it would open up a field for innovation and might reinvigorate ultralight aviation, but the FAA doesn't want to even think about ultralights, and ultralight enthusiasts are worried that if they push matters the FAA will shut it down like they did ultralight instruction twenty years ago.
- orangepanda 5y agoIsnt it because fuel can be dumped in an emergency, if needed? Cant say the same about batteries.
- jacobmarble 5y agoUltralight airplanes, and any general aviation plane I know of, do not have fuel dump systems. In cases where a plane is too heavy to land, it will often circle for a few minutes to burn off excess.
- JasonFruit 5y agoNot really an option for ultralights or most private aircraft.
- jmnicolas 5y agoBut what happens "magically" at 255 pounds of weight that it falls in another category?
- dghughes 5y agoThe risk is different a large volume of liquid that can spill and is volatile vs essentially a solid (yes electrolyte is liquid/gel).
- PostThisTooFast 5y agoBatteries aren’t flammable liquid that sprays all over the place and ignites in a crash.
- slownews45 5y agoI think you have to count batteries. That said at least in EU I think there is already a big electric assist / launch sailplane market - is this not permitted in the US? That said, some of the electric sailplanes are in the 800lbs range - so that is a LOT more.
- JasonFruit 5y agoWhy not at least deduct from the batteries' weight the 30-pound weight of the maximum 5 gallons of gasoline? An ultralight has to carry that extra thirty pounds on takeoff, which is probably the point where the higher stall speed matters the most for safety; it seems reasonable to allow at least that much deduction for batteries. Even that would be an encouragement.
- slownews45 5y agoNot disagreeing. In my view the reliability / noise (ground issue) / pollution etc make an electric sustainer absolutely fantastic. Sailplanes can slow way down as well, so yes, if they crash its a problem, but these are not GENERALLY stall/spin into ground at high speed. Stall speeds can be down in 40kt range or lower. I don't follow this area closely though so have NO IDEA of US regulatory rules here. But the electric use cases in this general category seem somewhat clear?
- jacobmarble 5y agoMaybe not possible with ultralight aircraft (those limits are tight!) but certainly possible with the experimental category.
- Enginerrrd 5y ago>so ultralight pilots who would love to be flying clean electric aircraft are using unreliable two-stroke engines that spew incomplete combustion products like there's no tomorrow. This is such a total non-issue, any effort at all spent on this would be better spent on almost any other target from a climate standpoint.
- JasonFruit 5y agoI'm saying these pilots want to do this innovation, not that ultralights are a large proportion of the problem, or even that GA as a whole is a significant contributor to pollution. But the reliability issue is significant: two-stroke engine failure is a frequent cause of ultralight accidents. They require careful maintenance and in-flight handling to be reliable.
- gregmac 5y agoI didn't see this as an issue about climate change, but as providing a place for innovation and experience which can later be applied to larger aircraft. If absolutely nothing else, it helps spark more interest in the technology by making it more accessible, and will help with general confidence in electric aircraft ("they've been flying electric ultralights for years now").
- jbuhbjlnjbn 5y agoIt is an issue if you take leaded avgas into account. Not the pollution per se is a problem, but the poison in form of lead in the exhaust gases. Also, any measurable reduction matters, in this case it's even for free, the industry will develop electrical planes for free they just have to allow it. It would be smart to change these policies quick.
- lern_too_spel 5y agoIncomplete combination is a poison problem.
- 0des 5y agoThere is the "ElectroLight" which is 103-approved, allegedly. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/press-release/21088890/aeromarinelsa-electrolight-oshkosh-debut-dualcontrol-true-part-103-ultralight https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/press-release/21088890...
- nsxwolf 5y agoBetter than an ultralight: N540EV, a motor glider kit plane using the engine from an electric motorcycle. Over 700 pounds and it can fly anywhere under day VFR rules. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEZrBjHnQg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEZrBjHnQg
- m463 5y agowhat if you carried the batteries on your person?
- dawnerd 5y agoThen you're limited to 100wh?
- simonebrunozzi 5y ago> but the FAA is in the way Let's remember that there's a world outside the US, and sometimes focusing too much on what happens in the US is going to make you blind to what's happening elsewhere. In this particular case, I'd be interested in knowing what's going on in EU (which, combined, is quite comparable to the US economy, and back in 2005 was even bigger than the US one [0]). [0]: https://statisticstimes.com/economy/united-states-vs-eu-economy.php https://statisticstimes.com/economy/united-states-vs-eu-econ...