The field of electric, ultralight aircraft is an interesting one. There’s quite a lot of potential there, and research has been ongoing for quite a long time now, but nothing has proven commercially interesting as of yet.
Presumably there will be a surge in interest in such vehicles at some point in the coming decades, thanks to the many potential uses — but I guess that, for now, we’ll have to wait to find out if that speculation actually has anything solid to it.
On that subject: an ultralight, electrically powered, 3-wheel paraglider developed by a student team at the National University of Singapore recently came to my attention. As far as student projects go, it’s quite interesting — one could imagine a number of applications, if the battery life and economics are improved, that is.
The electric aircraft has been named by the students “The Delta” (a bit unimaginative, I’d say…), and is according to those involved “the lightest aircraft in the world that can take off and land with wheels while carrying an adult pilot.” Rather niche category, but cool.
Autoblog provides more, stating that its “frame, made from carbon fiber and aluminum, includes a roll cage to protect the pilot. Nets separate the pilot from the carbon fiber propellers in the rear. Lithium polymer batteries provide the energy for the pair of 8-kilowatt electric motors, which both propel the trike and help engage the parachute during takeoff. A small display helps the pilot keep track of the remaining charge in the battery. The Delta, which seats but one occupant, flies at a maximum speed of about 22 miles per hour, with 10 minutes of flight time between charges. Mercifully, a charge time of just 45 minutes will have the eager adventurer back up in the air again after that.”
The electric aircraft was created by the 8-student team (headed by NUS professor Martin Henz) for the National Geographic Channel’s Machine Impossible series — which posed the challenge of building an aircraft that is “fun to fly” while staying within a certain budget.
Henz commented: “Such projects have tremendous value in the education of our students in engineering. (And) The Delta could possibly be a great contribution to the sport of paragliding.”