Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/418587
38 Vol.3 No.11 / November 2014 UNDER THE COWL With both battery packs on board, WATTsUP can stay air- borne theoretically for 90 minutes, or, translated in more realistic pilot's language, it can fl y one hour and still have 30 minutes of reserve power. With only one battery pack, the times are halved. The battery packs are removable in a matter of seconds. Officially, only two minutes are needed for a complete battery change. Each battery case or unit (one of three in a compartment) has its own status annunciator display with readability similar to Kindle white paper devices. The Li-Po (lithium polymer) batteries will be delivered with a proprietary trolley that doubles as the charging station. The batteries can be charged on board of the aircraft, too. WATTsUP is able to fly immediately after the battery loading process, even if the batteries are not completely charged. Every system of this aircraft is designed for a 2,000-hour TBO, and Pipistrel said the batteries are made for 1,800 cycles; after that period, the batteries will have lost only 20 percent of their initial capacity. Tomazic opened the WATTsUP press conference with these words: "This is the fi rst aircraft (in the world) to have shorter charging time than fl ight time." He listed the charging times as: • 30 minutes for a 45-minute flight • 45 minutes for a 60-minute flight • 1 hour and 20 minutes for a 1 hour and 30-minute flight. Tomazic and Boscarol said the electric propulsion unit and the aircraft will enter production after AERO Fried- richshafen 2015 (in April 2015). Boscarol told me in mid- September that customer interest after Blois was so strong that Pipistrel was forced to start taking orders with depos- its that will guarantee the first buyers a 99,900 euros price tag (approximately $127,000 U.S.). At AERO Friedrichshafen 2015, the final version of the aircraft will be presented, and the price will probably go up. It is almost certain that the current name, WATTsUP, will be changed, too. RE L IE F F OR F L IGH T S C HOOL S The two-seat electric trainer is tailored primarily to the needs of fl ight schools, and its (speed) performance will match other gas-powered aircraft. A short takeof distance, the possibility to Photography by Marino Boric This is the power train/battery annunciator panel, running in a fl ight simulation mode indicating 2235 rpm and 54 percent battery capacity . The WATTsUP instrument panel.