Rebel Electric Racer ?????

Tiberius

10 kW
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Messages
871
Location
Rural England
This has been getting a lot of coverage in the UK aviation magazines recently
http://rebelelectricracer.com/home

Now, I'm very wary of saying things won't work when I haven't tried them myself, but I can't help feeling the reporters and editors are just publishing press releases without asking any questions.

It says 20 mins race duration at 60 kW, elsewhere it says 30 mins duration.
So whether we say 60 kW for 20 mins or 10 mins at 60 kW plus 20 mins at 30 kW, it comes out as 20 kWhr.

Now, I think that works out as about 160 kg for the battery pack, and the empty weight is quoted as 195 kg including batteries. That's a very light motor and airframe.

There are a few other issues that bother me - I'm actually building a F1 racing airplane - but that's the main one. What do peeps on ES think?

Nick
 
It doesn't look like they've done much more than produce an artists impression, to me, probably in the hope of attracting the funding needed to do all the expensive design and development work needed, not to mention the certification/approval time and cost.

As you know, I've been through this loop a couple of times now and learned the hard way that it takes a great deal of time and money to get from a concept to an approved, flying aircraft. Even if they have done their homework, are confident that they've got access to the technology and are further along the design path than they appear, I don't believe they could get the aircraft in the air before late 2012, and it probably wouldn't be available until maybe a year after that.

I'm guessing that they will need to go for an EASA Permit to Fly, as it doesn't look eligible for a PFA Permit to me. I know of one company that's gone down the EASA approval route so far, and, based on their experiences I think that they are going to find it tough and slow going to get through those hurdles, let alone the technological ones like having around 150 to 160kg of cells in an airframe that only weighs a supposed 195kg.

I'm convinced is that this is a feeler to attract funding, nothing more. I doubt that any real aircraft will come close to their pretty optimistic specs for a few years yet, but maybe they'll get a sponsor and produce something interesting, even so.

Jeremy
 
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