Glider (sailplane) with front-end electric sustainer (FES)

Front electric sustainer (FES) is a propulsion system for gliders that uses an electric motor powered by batteries and a foldable propeller. It is produced by LZ Design d.o.o. in

Logatec Logatec (; german: Loitsch, it, Longatico) is a town in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Logatec. It is located roughly in the centre of Inner Carniola, between the capital Ljubljana and Postojna. The town of Logatec has seen rap ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. The system uses a 22 kW compact

outrunner An outrunner is an electric motor having the rotor outside the stator, as though the motor were turned inside out. They are often used in radio-controlled model aircraft. This type of motor spins its outer shell around its windings, much like ...

brushless DC electric motor A brushless DC electric motor (BLDC motor or BL motor), also known as an electronically commutated motor (ECM or EC motor) or synchronous DC motor, is a synchronous motor using a direct current (DC) electric power supply. It uses an electronic ...

located in the nose of the sailplane. Power is provided by two

lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also se ...

packs. Lighter gliders are able to self-launch with FES. Heavier gliders can use it as a sustainer system, i.e. climb and cruise sufficiently high and far to avoid an out-landing. Although gliders with FES have a shorter range (70–100 km) under power than gliders with two-stroke gasoline sustainer engines (10 litres at 8.5 L/h at 100 km/h = 120 km) or jet sustaining engines (150–200 km), the electric motor can be expected to start reliably provided there is sufficient energy in the batteries. The one-metre diameter propeller is made of

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

and folds across the nose. It opens using centrifugal force when rotation starts. Each propeller blade weighs 260 grams. They are slightly bent to take the shape of the front surface of the fuselage of each type of glider to which they are fitted. Unlike some electric gliders such as the Lange Antares and Schleicher AS 34Me, the batteries can be removed from the glider for charging off-site. No power supply is needed near the glider itself. The two battery packs each contain 28 Kokam lithium polymer cells. The cells are wired in serial and operates at a voltage range of 90–116V. The two packs contain a total of 4.2 kW⋅h of energy. Each pack weighs 15.7 kg and are mounted in a reinforced area in the fuselage behind the wings. This configuration balances the weight of the motor and propeller. Reinforced carrying cases are used to transport the battery packs to a location where they can be charged. More than 240 gliders of eleven different types, from seven manufacturers, are already equipped with this system. *

Schempp-Hirth Ventus 3 The Schempp-Hirth Ventus-3 is a sailplane produced by Schempp-Hirth. It replaces the highly successful Schempp-Hirth Ventus-2. Design and development It was announced at the AERO Friedrichshafen in April 2015 where a mock-up was suspended from ...

and its predecessor Schempp-Hirth Ventus 2 * Schempp-Hirth Discus 2 *

Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus The Schempp-Hirth Duo Discus is a high-performance two-seat glider primarily designed for fast cross-country flying, including gliding competitions. Often, it is used for advanced training. Design and development The Duo Discus replaced the ...

DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000 The DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000 is a glider of the Two Seater Class built by DG Flugzeugbau. It has a retractable engine and propeller. It first flew in July 2000 at Speyer in Germany. There are four models, with 18- and 20-metre wings of HQK-51 pr ...

Rolladen-Schneider LS8 The Rolladen-Schneider LS8 is a Standard and 18 metre class single-seat glider developed by Rolladen-Schneider and in series production since 1995. Currently it is manufactured by DG Flugzeugbau. Development By the mid–to–late eighties t ...

LAK-17 The LAK-17 is a Lithuanian single-seat sailplane that was designed at the Lithuanian Aero Club ( lt, Lietuviškos aviacinės konstrukcijos or LAK), and is manufactured by Sportinė Aviacija. Design and development The LAK-17 is designed to me ...

and Mini-LAK *

HPH 304 HpH 304 is a family of sailplanes ranging from a single-seat composite Composite or compositing may refer to: Materials * Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances ** Metal matrix composite, composed of met ...

* Diana Sailplanes Diana *

Alisport Silent 2 __NOTOC__ The Alisport Silent 2 is a single seater sailplane of Italian manufacture. It is of the FAI type DU Class glider. It is sold by Alisport ready-to-fly or kit-built as pure glider or self-launching glider.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier ...

* Albastar AS

References

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External links

LZ Design web-site
Electric motors Slovenian brands Electric aircraft