Hi!
So I have this idea of building an electric motorglider and flying it very high (75-90000 ft) at very high TAS (about 300 kts).
At the current stage, I am thinking to retrofit an existing high-performance glider with an electric motor and batteries.
While researching the feasibility of this, it seems like THE biggest issue is improving VNE to anywhere near 300 kts, due to flutter. I could only find one glider that would be able to sustain those speeds, it is Perlan 2 with VNE of 377kts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windward_Performance_Perlan_II).
It seems “normal” gliders all top out at about 150kts VNE, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonker_JS-1_Revelation
Thx
So I have this idea of building an electric motorglider and flying it very high (75-90000 ft) at very high TAS (about 300 kts).
At the current stage, I am thinking to retrofit an existing high-performance glider with an electric motor and batteries.
While researching the feasibility of this, it seems like THE biggest issue is improving VNE to anywhere near 300 kts, due to flutter. I could only find one glider that would be able to sustain those speeds, it is Perlan 2 with VNE of 377kts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windward_Performance_Perlan_II).
It seems “normal” gliders all top out at about 150kts VNE, for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonker_JS-1_Revelation
- What are some of the highest VNE gliders out there?
- Say I have a budget of 50k USD to improve flutter resistance of an existing glider, what kind of VNE improvement is realistic? (for example, it might be possible to retrofit some dampers or something? Or if I would partner with the manufacturer directly, maybe he can build my plane more “sturdy” if I pay 50k USD more)
Thx
