AWARDS AND INNOVATIONS FROM PIPISTREL
PIPISTREL WINS
LINDBERGH PRIZE FOR THE B professionally engineered ‘plug and play’ electric power system, which is available for commercial sale to other airplane makers, and because it includes a completely integrated solar trailer, that allows the airplane to operate independently of the commercial power grid. The integration and safety features are excellent, and can serve as a model for industry standards for electric aircraft.” The solar trailer mentioned last issue was also unveiled at the event and was apparently a large factor in the jury choosing the Taurus Electro G2 as the winner.
Last issue, we ran an article on the Pipistrel Taurus G2 Electric glider. Since then, we have learnt that the aircraft has won the Lindbergh Prize for the best Electric Aircraft. The prize was awarded at the AERO trade fair in Germany. The finalists were: • The Hugues Duval Electric Cri-Cri with power by Electravia. • The Pipistrel Taurus Electro • The Sunseeker II solar airplane by Eric Raymond. (SoaringNZ ran an article on the Sunseeker II in issue 13.) “It was very difficult to determine a winner,” states the Lindbergh Electric Aircraft Prize (LEAP) award website, “as all of the finalists have done a great job creating the new world of electric flight.” The Pipistrel Taurus Electro was chosen because it has a 16
June 2011
Fly for Free Pipistrel presents the concept of flying for free. Pipistrel developed the Solar Trailer™, which can charge-up the Taurus Electro G2 in as little as five hours, absolutely free of charge and with zero emissions. Furthermore, when the Taurus Electro G2 is stored in the trailer during a week of bad weather, it will still be charged and ready to fly by the weekend. The Solar Trailer and Taurus Electro G2 are perfect companions and demonstrate how it is possible to fly free of charge, quietly and with absolutely zero emissions, with today’s technology. The trailer offers both 12 V connection (to charge your aux. instruments etc.) and 110V/220V connections at front and back of the trailer, where you connect the Taurus Electro G2’s charger. Also present is the solar-system by-pass, so you can charge the aircraft inside the trailer when parked in the hangar/garage, for example. The buffer battery of the trailer has the capacity of 3 kWh and its energy can be transmitted directly into the Taurus Electro G2. The Solar Trailer gathers energy while the aircraft is not in it, so can charge the Taurus Electro G2 during the night with the energy that has accumulated during the day! The Pipistrel Taurus G4 is ready for the 2011 CAFE/NASA Green Flight Challenge! Pipistrel’s press release announces that the CAFE Racer is completely new; it’s the first four-place electric aircraft to be flown
