Flight Training - May 2024 - 18

PREFLIGHT FUTURE FLIGHT
BY NIKI BRITTON
TRAINING GOES ELECTRIC
FAA GRANTS SLSA APPROVAL TO NEW VISION AVIATION
NONPROFIT AVIATION EDUCATION AND
flight school organization New Vision
Aviation can now provide flight training in
the group's four Pipistrel Electro trainers
thanks to an eight-year public-private
collaboration to prove electric aircraft can
be suitable for flight training.
Located at the Fresno Chandler
Executive Airport, New Vision Aviation,
headed by President and CEO Joseph
Oldham, has provided flight training and
aviation industry education to young
people from disadvantaged communities
in the San Joaquin Valley in California
since 2018. New Vision Aviation has
been training students in its Cessna 150,
Cessna 172, and Interstate Cadet, and
now, thanks to the FAA special light sport
aircraft exemption, can finally use its fleet
of electric Pipistrel Alpha Electros for
flight training.
Oldham is a general aviation pilot with
a background in electric transportation
who started the Sustainable Aviation Project
(SAP), which received a million-dollar
county transportation authority grant in
2016. New Vision Aviation was created to
implement and complete the project.
" The idea was we would buy four
Pipistrel Alpha Electros, which at the
time were the first production electric
airplanes in the world, and then set up a
network of chargers, kind of like what is
done for electric cars, at Mendota to the
west, Fresno Chandler Airport right here
in the center, and then Reedley Airport
off to the east, " Oldham said.
The aircraft were delivered in March
2018; FAA regulations that do not allow
for electric powerplants in light sport
aircraft precluded the use of those aircraft
for flight training.
The FAA told Oldham to gather
data that proved the aircraft were safe.
To get started, Pipistrel provided data
loggers that plugged into the aircraft's
onboard computer to record flight data.
That data went back to Pipistrel, where
it was analyzed and put into charts that
18
FLIGHT TRAINING MAY 2024
showed battery and other performance parameters. The process
required Oldham to fly one of the aircraft for 100 hours to gather
data, which proved difficult considering he was only able to get
about 40 minutes of flight time on a full charge. Eventually an
engineer from another company working on electric aircraft
suggested flying at a speed to optimize lift over drag, instead of
what Pipistrel recommended for cruise speed, and Oldham
was able to achieve an hour plus of flight time per charge,
making the 100-hour mark more attainable.
The FAA also dispatched an engineer to run specific tests
with the aircraft, working in collaboration with Pipistrel to
ensure the flights weren't damaging the system in any way.
Before New Vision Aviation can begin training with the
Pipistrel fleet, the aircraft need to go through an annual
inspection and be recertified by an FAA-designated airworthiness
representative. In the meantime, Oldham says the
condition of the aircraft batteries needs to be analyzed, and
some may need replacing.
niki.britton@aopa.org
newvisionaviation.org
JARGON
L/DMAX
Every airplane has an angle of attack where the ratio of
lift to drag is at its highest. Flying at L/DMAX
minimizes
drag and maximizes endurance or range; it also results
in best glide speed.
" The problem with
using these aircraft
was one word in
the federal code
of regulations, "
President and CEO
Joseph Oldham said.
" The definition of a
light sport aircraft
says it has a single
reciprocating engine
if powered, and
unfortunately, an
electric motor is not a
reciprocating engine,
and so that one word,
reciprocating, was
keeping us from using
these aircraft for
what they were for,
which was training. "
http://www.newvisionaviation.org
Flight Training - May 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - May 2024
