Bristol

A team of aerospace engineering students studying at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol), UK, have started a project to develop one of the first fully electric research gliders in the country.

Comprising project leader Kim-Tobias Kohn and 20 students, the team is expected to benefit from the new law that allows to develop more experimental aircraft as part of the green approach to the aviation industry.

Introduced in 2014 by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the ‘E conditions’ regulation allows UWE Bristol to build and fly such a concept aircraft.

The aircraft will initally fly on battery power, with plans of enabling it to produce its own energy from the wing-mounted solar panels.

The demonstration flight of the proposed aircraft is scheduled to be held at Aston Down airfield in the Cotswolds next year.

UWE Bristol aerospace engineering associate lecturer Kohn said: "Every second, 11t of fuel are burned in aviation and the carbon emissions go where it is most harmful, near the ozone layer.

"So this is about the sustainability of the planet.

"The technology is now there to start looking at green aviation."

"The technology is now there to start looking at green aviation. You need to start small but you have to show it is actually possible. It is the right time to showcase this technology."

For this project, UWE Bristol has bought a single-seater airframe, weighing 225kg and featuring 15m wingspan, and it will be equipped with a lightweight electric motor into the nose and lithium-based battery in the body.

The team also plans to prepare a pilot’s operating handbook.

Kohn added: "The aim of the project is to get students out of the teaching room and into the practical arena, applying their knowledge and skills to the real world.

"I want students to think out of the box, get away from the theory, and experience what it’s like to work on an aircraft. It provides a research platform for zero emission transport and offers a new area of student engagement and student project possibilities.

"We would like the glider to be solar-powered, which would result in a flight time of six to seven hours, but to equip the wings would cost £300,000 currently."

For the project, the UWE team intends to work closely with CAA and the Royal Aeronautical Society to guide the process of setting up regulations for all new electric aircraft in the country.


Image: Initially, the aircraft will fly on battery power. Photo: courtesy of UWE Bristol.