Electra
Chute, Electra Chute powered parachute, Electra Chute part
103 legal ultralight aircraft, Light Sport Aircraft Pilot News
newsmagazine.
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Light Sport Aircraft Pilot is a directory of aircraft that generally fit
into what are described as ultralight aircraft, advanced ultralight
aircraft,
light sport aircraft, experimental light sport aircraft, experimental
aircraft, amateur built aircraft, ELSA or homebuilt
aircraft in the United States and Canada. These include
weight shift aircraft, more commonly known as trikes,
powered parachutes, and powered para-gliders.
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Electra Chute
powered parachute, ultralight, amateur built aircraft.
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One of the things about
ultralight / experimental/ lightsport aircraft is that they
can be powered by a variety of engines.
At various shows I have seen the Powrachute brand of powered
parachutes powered by Rotax 2 stroke engines, Rotax 4 stroke
engines, Harley Davidson motorcycle engines, and even a jet
engine!But this year
the theme that was evident at Airventure 2010 was to "go
green." According to
Galen Geigley of Powrachute the company
is "going green, clean, and quiet" with the introduction of
their newest powered parachute the Electra Chute.
According to Galen the move in the industry is to electric
power, and with new battery technology and the lightweight
power available in electric motors electric is the way of the
future. |
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Initial testing at Powrachute indicates using
today's battery's and electric power plants it is possible
to replace a Rotax 447 / 503 with comparable electric power.
Current flights are limited to just over an hour before
pilots have to land and recharge, which is about the same
time a Rotax 503, powering a legal part 103 powered
parachute would use up about 4 gallons of it's 5 gallon
allotted legal fuel capacity.
After his hour flight a pilot has to
land and charge his craft on a quick charge system for about
15 minutes, or do a quick change out on his battery pack.
This is about the same time it would take to drive to a
service station and back to pick up 5 gallons of fuel! Galen
points out that while "the initial acquisition cost is more
for the electric power system, the fuel cost is minimal at
about $1.20 per charge versus 4 gallons of fuel, with an
additional bonus being that engine maintenance is virtually
non-existent.
The battery pack that Powrachute is testing,
is produced by a company in France that is using the
technology in the sailplane and electric vehicle industries.
It is a 128 volt system that consists of 10 different
battery blocks with a total of 360 cells. Galen indicates it
is very difficult to compare "horsepower" between a gas
engine and an electric motor. Instead you need to look at
the torque produced. Thus the electric motor Powrachute is
using on the Electra Chute is 35 HP which is equivalent in
torque to a Rotax 447 / 503.
The prototype Electra Chute revs out to 6,000 rpm. It uses a belt
reduction drive of 3 to 1 meaning the large diameter 4 blade prop
spins, efficiently and QUIETLY at only 2,000 rpm. Galen
indicates that from 100 feet away the Electra Chute can
hardly be heard.
At Airventure 2010 Powrachute is "just
testing the market to see what kind of interest we get." If
the interest is there they will put more R&D dollars into
the project, to bring the batteries up to where we need them
to be."
When pressed Galen admitted that he expects to have the
Electra Chute in production and available to customers by
the spring of next year. While the initial cost is expected
to be higher than a gas powered unit, the operating and
maintenance cost will be more than offset during the first
300 hours of operation.
For more information contact:
Powrachute
9425 Spring Creek Ct.
Middleville, MI 49333
574-286-9670
galengeigley@comcast.net
http://www.powrachute.com/ |
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Electra Chute 35 HP battery
powered electric powered parachute -
part 103 legal ultralight aircraft. |
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3 to 1 belt reduction drive |
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