Farfles Electric Ultralight.

Hillhater said:
Farfle said:
Heya all! Back at it! I finally got the courage, time and energy all lined up to open up the wing after the snow damage it sustained last winter. ...
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... ?? :shock: .. whoo ha !.. what happened there ?....did we miss some “event” ?
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Sadly nothing epic or anything, it got snow damaged by some snow sliding off the roof that I couldn't see was up there (21ft ceiling commercial building)
 
Big news all, the belite is going to the dark side...

The Airframe is just not a good electric conversion candidate. Compared to Gabe's Gull, this takes almost 2x the power to cruise at the same speed.
As an electric plane that means really short range, in this case only about 50 mins of flight at a measly 55mph. Once you take away some margin because airplane things, that gets me an out-and-back range that's not really good for doing more than just flying the pattern.

So, I had been delaying fixing the snow damage from last year thinking about small tires, faired wing struts, wheel pants, converting the wing to in-wing ailerons etc... when an almost brand new Rotax 447 practically landed in my lap. So, one top end rebuild later, and its conversion to the dark side will be complete.

Damage pulled apart:

damage 2 by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

damage by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

Fixed!

fixed 2 by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

Fixed by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

On to the teardown. The electric system uninstalled fairly quickly, I forgot how much time I spent connectorizing the harness, and it sure made things easy. Only a few HV wires had to be cut as there were connectors on opposite ends of bulkheads that were not able pull through.

Belite teardown by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

dogbatts by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

slotax by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr


The Rotax is a good bit longer than the Electric drive was, and the cooling fan pulls from the back, so I can't stick it tight to the firewall. Ill probably have to make some changes to the cowl. Here is the engine mount design so far:


motor mount by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

motor mount ISO by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr

Motor mount one side by Jackson Edwards, on Flickr
 
There is real irony of an electric airplane being converted to gas but good on you for building something, testing it and realising that it doesn't match your use case.

Got any plans for the electric drive train?
 
Sad that you had to move to gas. Solid state batteries can't come fast enough.
 
First I am seeing this thread , Farfle once you have enough fun in this aircraft with the petrol engine the way to use your electric drive train is on a very efficient airframe ... a Sailplane or as near to a Sailplane as possible. ( I have been up in a few of them and they glide very good so they would make a good electric plane ) Or another clean aerodynamic plane . I have been out of the Skies for about 20 years now so I am not up on the latest small aerodynamic planes or even hybrids of Rigid Wing Hang Gliders and a Ultralight , there are a few of them . Another possibility is the Dragon Fly Hang Glider Tug Ultralight . It was designed for very good climb rates and can be made cleaner for better L/D ratios .

Neptronix , Solid State Batteries ? where is the link to them ?

neptronix said:
Sad that you had to move to gas. Solid state batteries can't come fast enough.
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Sad to report that Endless-Sphere lost one of our greatest:
http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2020/08/fatal-accident-occurred-august-29-2020.html?m=1

Will wait for more information, but this is seriously shit news.
 
Omfg ive been following this thread and never would i have imagined this could happen! RIP friend

This is a big wakeup call to other enthusiasts who are attemping similar projects. Be careful folks
 
Aviation history is littered with the bodies of the inventive. From Icarus on down.

Fair sailing, bold friend.

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Yes, he is going to be missed. I was lucky to meet Farfle and his dad at one of the Barstow races where his bike beat Luke's Death bike for a 2nd . PaulD took 1st. I still own one of his cool rear swing arms. Farfle was ahead of his time and I'm sure would have gone far in life.

RIP Jackson
 
This sucks bad. Jackson was very talented and only 27. I had many conversations with him when he use to work at Bend Electric Bikes and on this forum. I got to meet up with him a few times as well, including the Barstow races.

Here is a pic of him with the 2pi motor from the Grange race track in Barstow. He's in the red and black shirt.
 

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That's horrible news.

Jackson is the only person I've met from the sphere in real life, back in 2012 when I visited the electric bike shop he worked at in Bend. I remember how nice of a guy he was and how he was happy to stop working to show me, a random stranger from the internet, his projects and talk about custom building bike frames. His passion and skill for engineering and custom machining made him an inspiration, and he was an invaluable contributor to the forum. His passing is a great loss for our community and many others.
 
nicobie said:
Yes, he is going to be missed. I was lucky to meet Farfle and his dad at one of the Barstow races where his bike beat Luke's Death bike for a 2nd . PaulD took 1st. I still own one of his cool rear swing arms. Farfle was ahead of his time and I'm sure would have gone far in life.
Click to expand...

So sad to hear. Super smart guy and so young. A huge loss to the DIY EV scene.
He had the fastest bike that day, and he was only 17!
 
Just for clarification... Jackson's plane had been converted back to a gas engine and had extensive repairs/modifications since it's previous flights. This had nothing to do with an electric drive system...
 
Hey all. Jackson's cousin here. Wanted to make sure the community knew. you do. I want to say thank you for all the kind words. Jackson was an amazing and talented person and had a huge heart and this has kicked me and the rest of his family right in the balls. I know he touched a lot of people in the E.V. world and his family very much enjoyed watching his exploits and evolution though the journey he went on with all of you.

We are all hurting pretty bad right now.

If you want to send some words or memories or anything at all I know it would mean a lot to his wife Kate, His parents Tom and Jennifer and his younger brother Jake.

Edwards Family
21781 Butler Market Road
Bend, OR 97701


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He was my best friend, and empowering team mate for 11 years of success because of his brilliance and skills helping us tackle any challenge. I know he helped thousands more folks here on ES. He was so uncommonly wise and evolved mentally and spiritually, his spirit was needed to bless somewhere else at this time. I never once saw him upset or angry about anything or anyone the whole time I knew him. I know you're resting in peace, same as you lived in peace.
 
Hi LFP,

I noticed you had posted and had to check it out, hoping for some cool new thing to ride in the electric aircraft section, only to get sideswiped by this really sad news. At least he was doing what he loved, which is how I want to go when my time comes.
 
I didn't know Jackson, but I was lucky to enough to acquire one of his original Farfle swingarms for the infamous Genesis V2100 Walmart frame that was popular in these parts back in the day. I've very much enjoyed the upgraded performance and stability his swingarm afforded with my bike and have put thousands of miles on it since. I know it's not much, but I just wanted to say I appreciated his craftsmanship and contribution to my/our hobby which continues to enrich my life today.
 
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