Team Condor Aviation's e-racer model is a retrofit of the 'White Lightning' winning aircraft of Formula 1 racing in the 1980s and 1990s. The 2019 Dubai Air Show marks the e-racer's first public appearance in anticipation of competition inaugural of the Air Race E racing series.
The year was 1979. In a builder's shop in the Midlands, UK, a standard slab-wing Cassutt aircraft was being transformed from nose to tail. The goal? To build an air racing machine that could compete in Formula 1 air racing. In 1980, the rebuild was completed and the new aircraft, dubbed the “White Lightning”, was launched onto the air racing circuit by owner-pilot Andrew Chadwick.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, White Lightning competed in both handicap and Formula 1 racing – several races a year, in fact. Chadwick introduced air racing to continental Europe, traveling with White Lightning to places like Epernay, and Freiburg, . In Compiègne, , White Lightning reached new heights of celebrity when a pigeon flew overhead from top to bottom!
At the end of two exciting decades in air racing, the White Lightning had twice been champion of champion – in Meaux, and Rochester, UK – and then retired. But that didn't last: a new life was silently hovering on the horizon.
Martyn Wiseman, leader of Team Condor Aviation, took ownership of the White Lightning – an older model from Cassutt, but still very popular in traditional Formula 1 air racing. fabric-covered wooden handles. The fuel tank was positioned behind the engine – as in many planes.
As part of the refinement of the Air Race E, Team Condor Aviation completely gutted the piston engine and swapped the Contra-Electric twin-engine and contra-rotating propeller drive train, which provides continuous electrical power. The fuel tank has been replaced with a ~20kWh battery.
For Martyn and his team, the big engineering challenge with retrofitting is finding the right balance between weight and energy distribution. Specifically, the electric motor has the potential for a relatively high power-to-weight ratio compared to the original piston engine.
“The first step is to adapt the aircraft with commercially available components to try to replicate the original performance”, explains Martyn. "As a second step, we will design a custom propulsion system to ensure the plane is race-ready."
Technical specifications
Power: 150 kW (max. Continuous)
Battery: ~20 kWh
Aircraft type: Cassutt Racer (modified)
Engine type: All-electric
Wing: 4.6 meters
Tail span: 4 meters
Weight: 375 kg
Like Team Condor Aviation, other teams entered in Air Race E are currently developing their own aircraft using existing structures – or from scratch.
This approach is fully in line with the culture of air racing, where teams are heavily involved in the design and construction of aircraft. In fact, current teams – ranging from professional engineers and students of aerospace engineering to amateurs – will be free to create and make their own designs, as long as they conform to the specifications set by Air Race E. These specifications refer to a variety of features – including wing area, maximum power and battery capacity, among others.
Ultimately, each team's final product will result in an all-electric, fixed-wing, front-engine aircraft. As the Air Race E has the same runway layout and eight-lap configuration as traditional air races, the aircraft will need to be similar in size and comparable in performance to classic racing planes.
“The design freedom allowed on Air Race E should give rise to some interesting concepts for electric planes”, says Jeff Zaltman, CEO of Air Race E. “And the galvanizing effect of a sporting competition should help drive the technological development of electric flights. in the right direction. “
Source: Airbus
