The CAFE Foundation has announced the dates for this year’s 6th annual Electric Aircraft Symposium, which will be held April 27 and 28 in Santa Rosa, Calif. The event focuses on practical knowledge and updates for electric aircraft builders. Speakers at the event will include representatives from Pipistrel, the winner of last year’s $1.35 million Green Flight Challenge, as well as experts on electric batteries, UAVs, ultra-quiet liftoff technology, and new developments in electric LSAs. CAFE also will announce the details of a new Green Flight Challenge at the event. Online registration is open now.
A keynote address on Saturday will feature Cary Hayner, a researcher at Northwestern University, who will provide an update on efforts to re-engineer lithium-ion batteries to hold 10 times the charge of batteries now on the market and recharge 10 times faster. Among the long list of speakers are Mark Moore, of NASA Langley, who will speak about distributed propulsion breakthroughs, and Paul Schlein, a retired chief scientist from Lockheed’s F-22 Raptor project, who will talk about the world speed record for electric aircraft. Bill Parks, of AeroVironment, will provide an update on UAV technology. Tom Gunnarson, of the FAA Small Airplane Directorate, will discuss the FAA’s plans for licensing electric-powered aircraft. The complete schedule for the weekend will be posted soon at the CAFE website.
