An innovative new electric racing championship has quite literally taken flight, with the first 250mph-plus plane built for the new Air Race E series completing its first test voyage.
The Nordic Air Racing team won the race to take to the skies, with Rein Inge Hoff completing a ten-minute test flight at Tønsberg Airport in Norway. During the run, Hoff completed four circuits of the airfield at a height of 200ft.
The test was completed with the team’s specially converted Cassutt IIIM race plane, which has been converted to a full electric powertrain. The test was completed using 90kW of power, which propelled the plane to 140 knots (160mph) - which organiser says represents ’50-60%’ of the plane’s potential.
The test marked a significant step in the development of Air Race E, which is set to hold its first race at an as-yet unspecified location later next year.
As its name suggests, Air Race E is a fully electric plane racing championship that has clear echoes of the Formula E single-stater racing car championship.
The races will be similar to other stunt plane pylon air races, with pilots battling for glory head-to-head on a course marked out by pylons. Air Race E is planning to use shorter than usual courses of around a mile in length, with the planes flying lower in a bid to make the action more spectator friendly.
The series will feature three classes: the Open class the Nordic plane has been built for, a Performance class with partly standardised parts, and a category for electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) machines.
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Teams are free to develop their owns planes and powertrain technology, with 17 squads having committed to developing vehicles for the contest. Airbus is an official partner of the championship and is helping the teams with research and date in electric aircraft.
Series boss Jeff Zaltman, CEO of Air Race E, said: “The first-ever flight of our all-electric racing plane is a milestone achievement, both in the development of Air Race E as an international championship and in the progression of wider aviation technology.”
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