Wed May 19, 2021 7:00 pm
#1847983
Great to see NASA in the game, and I went to a really interesting lecture by one of their senior research engineers at Cranfield a couple of years ago, and it was clear that at-least on a theoretical level, they were very engaged with the topic.
But if anybody's leading, let's give credit where it's due, it is the Slovenians, particularly Pipistrel, but also various supply organisations around them.
Britain is trying hard to catch up however, and this country is actually going to be very much one of the places to watch. Projects I know of include:-
Accel - the Rolls Royce high performance single seater.
EnabEl - Collaboration of Cranfield University, TLAC, Flylight and CDO2 to build two all-electric microlights
Vertical Aerospace - VTOLish multi-rotor
ZeroAvia - Hydrogen fuel cell + electric, has been flying a single, recent accident that looks repairable, further aircraft planned.
Hybrid Air Vehicles - Heavier than air "airship", has flown with Diesel engines, exploring electric flight.
NUNCATS - Electric Zenair CH750 at Old Buckenham
University of Nottingham - Electric Cassutt IIIM being built to compete in Air Race E.
SAMAD Aerospace - eStarling VTOLish flying wingish.
Project Fresson - Cranfield Aerospace Solutions + Britten Norman + others, hybrid/electric Islander.
I'm too involved in a couple of them myself to start expressing any public opinions about which will specifically succeed or fail, although from this list I'll confidently predict that there will be both successes and failures. However I think that the size of this list alone means that whilst the country to watch over the last decade has been Slovenia, over the next decade it might well be the UK.
I'm delighted to see NASA in the game, but leading? To be honest, they're not.
G
I am Spartacus, and so is my co-pilot.