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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1736468
Rolls-Royce Unveils All-Electric ACCEL Aircraft

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Is that based on something that already existed, I wonder? And are the LAA involved. :D

(Belatedly, I see there's a FLYER NEWS article, too.)
mick w liked this
#1736476
Yes, it looks like the Nemesis racer with presumably, given RR’s recently acquisition, the Siemens designed motor and power electronics. The wing looks like it might be different? The batteries are as always key to the plane it’s not obvious where those came from.

(Edit - other reports say it has YASA motor and power electronics)
Last edited by Silvaire on Fri Dec 20, 2019 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#1736480
From the link in the OP....

With more than 6,000 cells mounted in the extended nose section to power the propulsion system, ACCEL will have “the most power-dense battery pack ever assembled for an aircraft, providing enough energy to fuel 250 homes or fly 200 mi. on a single charge,” Rolls says


It doesn’t say for how long the battery pack could power 250 homes but how much Avgas would be used to fly the ICE version 200 miles and could that power 250 homes?
By Tonybishop
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1736570
Silvaire wrote:Yes, it looks like the Nemesis racer with presumably, given RR’s recently acquisition, the Siemens designed motor and power electronics. The wing looks like it might be different? The batteries are as always key to the plane it’s not obvious where those came from.

(Edit - other reports say it has YASA motor and power electronics)


It has a triple YASA motor. This was fixed well before RR bought Siemens. The battery cells are bought in (standard parts), but then built into the battery pack (instrumentation, cooling, structure) in-house.
#1736592
This project was described at the RAeS GA conference last month. Unfortunately the presentation has not been made available to the public. From my notes it has a 750 Volt electrical system, the battery has a capacity of 72kWh and weighs 450 kg giving an energy density of about 160 Wh/kg which is not that good. (Pipestrel gets c.200Wh/kg).
The presenter was at pains to point out the safety and quality/reliability aspects of the propulsion system.
#1736593
in Gloucestershire, of course, where so much world-beating aviation starts .. :) Of course, if Filton (also in [South] Gloucestershire, not in Bristol),still had a runway, the development might have been there.

The Gloster Strut, including LAA members with impressive aeronautical engineering backgrounds, had a private visit to the development hangar not long ago. Details were news-embargoed, but the visitors were very impressed with the technology.
#1736627
Indeed Kanga, and I remember thinking that the aeroplane is already doing 1000mph and its still sitting in the hangar.

An out and out racer. Of course, with Roger building it the build quality is superb as well.

Two Gloucestershire pilots are going to fly it too, Phil O'Dell (POD) and Steve Jones; what a county for aviation...
kanga liked this