South Australian aeroplane builder Bader Aero plans to debut its E22 Spark electric aircraft at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival at Victoria Park this weekend.
The Bader E22 is an electric high-wing with a 600-kg MTOW that uses a well-known European air frame fitted with an Australian-made powertrain.
Based in Edwardstown, Bader Aero is the brainchild of Chief Commercial Officer Barrie Rogers, Sue Mulrayan, Gus Wrethman and RAAus president Michael Monck, who have been working to introduce electric aircraft technology to Australia for several years.
“The aircraft is a two-seater with a flight time of up to 1½ hours," Rogers said. "That makes it ideal for training purposes, particularly circuit training, which is a key requirement for obtaining a pilot’s licence.
“We already have an agreement with Parafield Airport-based Hartwig Air to produce up to six of these aircraft for flight training purposes, and we’ve received interest from elsewhere in Australia as well as an initial order from New Zealand."
The E22 Spark uses lithium ion batteries to power a 100-kW Australia electric motor, which is expected to have the aircraft crusing at up to 130 KTAS, and offers a maximum range of 162 nm.
“If just 1% of the flight training fleet were powered by electricity, in a single year we could offset 58,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions," Rogers said. "This is equivalent to the emissions produced from powering 11,285 homes for a year.”
The Spark will be at Victoria Park, Adelaide, this weekend as part of RAAus' e-motions display.