“We need to get going into the future in terms of clean aviation” — Kim-Tobias Kohn
On this episode of the podcast I speak to Kim-Tobias Kohn who is a lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at the University of the West of England. Beside his main vocation, Kim is also an avid pilot and runs an electric skateboard startup company. Kim has garnered attention in the media and from aerospace societies in the UK for his unique university project of building an electric glider with his undergraduate students. For obvious reasons, building an electric passenger aircraft that can replace current fuel-powered airliners is significantly more challenging than replacing gasoline cars with electric vehicles. However, there is a growing grass-roots initiative developing in the UK that is attempting to solve some of the regulatory and technical challenges to realise this vision of electric aviation.
So in this episode Kim and I talk about:
- the unique regulatory framework for experimental aircraft in the UK known as the E-conditions
- the major technical hurdles that need to be overcome to make electric aviation a reality
- how the UAV/drone sector is opening doors for larger-scale electric aviation
- his university project of building an electric glider
- his dreams for a student-led design, build and fly competition for electric aircraft
- and much, much more
I hope that you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. If you enjoy the Aerospace Engineering Podcast you can support it by leaving a review on iTunes or by becoming a patron.
What have you learned from this episode? Let me know on Twitter by clicking here.
This episode of the Aerospace Engineering Podcast is sponsored by SAMPE North America. SAMPE is a global professional society that has been providing educational opportunities on advanced materials for more than 70 years. SAMPE’s network of engineers is a key facilitator for the advancement of aerospace engineering by enabling information exchange and synergies between aerospace companies. To find out how SAMPE can help you learn more about advanced materials and processes, consider attending the SAMPE 2018 Technical Conference and Expo in Long Beach, California.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | RSS
Selected Links from the Episode
- Kim’s electric glider project and his YouTube Vlog
- Kim’s company emotion engineering (UAV’s, electric skateboards and aerial photography)
- More info from the University of the West of England about the undergraduate electric glider project
- Royal Aeronautical Society on electric flight
- The UK E-conditions
- Airbus, Rolls Royce and Siemens E-fan hybrid electric aircraft
- EasyJet on electric aircraft
- Wired on electric aircraft
- Electric flight potential and limitations
- Formula Student and Formula SAE
- SolarFlight solar-powered planes
- Boeing 787 Dreamliner battery problems
