MAGAZINE 10 | (^63)
ELECTRIC AVIATION
One of the great sensations of the EAA
Air Venture of this year was the presence
of diverse manufacturers with electrical
projects. The eFlyer 2 prototype (photo)
stands out for being a fully electric two-
seat single-engine aircraft of Bye Aeros-
pace that has begun the fly test phase
with the new Siemens SP70D motor of
90 kilowatts. The Flyer aircraft family
intends to be the first of a series of 100%
electric certified aircrafts serving the tra-
ining and personnel transport markets.
Pipistrel is also convinced of the advanta-
ges of electrified aviation, with the Alpha
Electro, a two-seat primary trainer, and
the Taurus, a motor-glider with a hi-
gh-performance electric motor.
URBAN VEHICLES
BURT RUTAN
Legendary designer Burt Rutan was one of the honored in 2019, with some
of its various projects being again presented. Among the highlights are the
VariViggen, VariEze, Quickie, Defiant, Long-EZ, Solitaire, Catbird and Boo-
merang. It was also present the beautiful and exotic Williams V-Jet (photo),
one of the history’s first civilian monojets.
Autonomous aviation has expan-
ded its space in the Air Ventu-
re in 2019, with Embraer and
Airbus presenting their projects
for an urban electric air vehicle.
The Brazilian manufacturer has
brought a reduced-scale maque-
tte of its project, together with
Uber; meanwhile the European
consortium has presented the
Vahana real model (photo). EAA
acronym perhaps has never been
so emblematic over the last two
decades, considering the number
of experimental projects made by
large manufacturers and startups
- there are already more than
190, a true technological race.