Sustainable Aviation Project

Last updated
Sustainable Aviation Project
Available in English
Headquarters Fresno, California, United States
Website www.sustainableaviationproject.com
Commercial Yes

The Sustainable Aviation Project is a public-private collaboration to reduce the cost of flight training through the use of all-electric general aviation airplanes. [1]

General aviation civil use of aircraft excluding commercial transportation

General aviation (GA) is all civil aviation operations other than scheduled air services and non-scheduled air transport operations for remuneration or hire. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to rotorcraft and corporate business jets. The majority of the world's air traffic falls into this category, and most of the world's airports serve general aviation exclusively.

Contents

History

The Sustainable Aviation Project was conceived by Joseph Oldham, Director of the San Joaquin Valley Clean Transportation Center, and developed with Richard Duncan, manager of Fresno Chandler Executive Airport. A private pilot for over forty years, Mr Oldham's professional work developing clean transportation collaborations between businesses and government combined with the introduction of the Alpha Electro all-electric airplane by Pipistrel [2] [3] lead to the realization that a similar collaboration could be used to reduce the relatively high cost of flight training and bring new opportunities to youth in the San Joaquin Valley. A grant through the Fresno Council of Governments New Technology Reserve Fund Grant program was won to fund the effort. The organizations involved with executing the Sustainable Aviation Project include the City of Reedley, City of Mendota, Reedley College, Mazzei Flying Service, the Fresno Business Council, and the CALSTART San Joaquin Valley Clean Transportation Center. [4] Mr Oldham presented an update regarding the project to the Reedley Airport Commission on January 19, 2017 where the project was warmly received. [5]

Fresno Chandler Executive Airport airport

Fresno Chandler Executive Airport is a public use airport 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of the central business district of Fresno, in Fresno County, California, United States. It is owned by the City of Fresno and the designated airport manager is Rick Duncan.

Electric aircraft aircraft powered by electric motors as opposed to internal combstion engines

An electric aircraft is an aircraft powered by electric motors. Electricity may be supplied by a variety of methods including batteries, ground power cables, solar cells, ultracapacitors, fuel cells and power beaming.

Pipistrel company

Pipistrel d.o.o Ajdovščina is a Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer established in 1989 by Ivo Boscarol and based in Ajdovščina. Its facilities are located in Ajdovščina, Slovenia and near the town of Gorizia, Italy. By June 2017, Pipistrel had produced more than 1500 aircraft.


The four initial airport locations are:
Reedley Municipal Airport (O32)
William Robert Johnston Municipal Airport in Mendota (M90)
Fresno Chandler Executive Airport (KFCH)
Fresno Yosemite International Airport (KFAT)

Reedley Municipal Airport is a public airport located four miles north of Reedley, serving Fresno County, California, USA.

William Robert Johnston Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located in Mendota, a city in Fresno County, California, United States. This airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility. It was known as Mendota Airport until 2008.

Fresno Yosemite International Airport airport in Fresno, California, USA

Fresno Yosemite International Airport, is a joint civil-military airport in Fresno, California. It is the primary commercial airport for the San Joaquin Valley and three national parks: Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. It offers scheduled passenger flights to several major airline hubs in the United States and international service to Mexico. The facility opened in June 1942 as Hammer Field, a military airfield. The airport is owned and operated by the city of Fresno and has two runways on a property spanning 1,728 acres (699 ha). Its airport code 'FAT' stands for "Fresno Air Terminal," a former name for the airport.

Related Research Articles

Fresno County, California County in California

Fresno County, officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of January 1, 2018, the population was 1,007,229. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-largest city in California.

Fresno, California City in California, United States

Fresno is a city in California, United States, and the county seat of Fresno County. It covers about 112 square miles (290 km2) in the center of the San Joaquin Valley, the southern portion of California's Central Valley.

Central California Place in California, United States

Central California is a subregion of Northern California, generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California. It includes the northern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, the Central Coast, the central hills of the California Coast Ranges, and the foothills and mountain areas of the central Sierra Nevada.

Delta–Mendota Canal

The Delta–Mendota Canal is a 117 mi (188 km) aqueduct in central California, United States. It is part of the Central Valley Project and its purpose is to replace water in the San Joaquin River that is diverted into Madera Canal and Friant-Kern Canal at Friant Dam. Average annual throughput is 1,993,000 acre feet (2.458 km3).

California State Route 180 highway in California

State Route 180 is a state highway in California, United States, which runs through the heart of the San Joaquin Valley from Mendota through Fresno to Kings Canyon National Park, with an unbuilt segment defined west to Paicines.

A personal air vehicle (PAV), also personal aerial vehicle, is an emergent aviation market that would provide on-demand aviation services. This term was first used by NASA in 2003 when it established the Personal Air Vehicle Sector Project, as part of the Aeronautics Vehicle Systems Program. This project was part of NASA Vehicle Integration, Strategy, and Technology Assessment (VISTA) office, which also included sectors for Subsonic Transports, VTOL Aircraft, Supersonic Aircraft, and High Altitude Long Endurance Aircraft. The objective of each sector was to establish vehicle capability goals and the required technology investment strategies to achieve those breakthroughs.

Sierra Sky Park Airport is a privately owned, public-use airport located seven miles (11 km) northwest of the central business district of Fresno, a city in Fresno County, California, United States.

Metropolitan Fresno Metropolitan area in California, United States

Metropolitan Fresno, officially Fresno–Madera, CA CSA, is a metropolitan area in the San Joaquin Valley, in the United States, consisting of Fresno and Madera counties. It is the third-largest metropolitan region in Northern California, behind the Bay Area and Greater Sacramento. It is also the 49th-largest CSA in the U.S. as of 2010 census.

Pipistrel Taurus

The Pipistrel Taurus is a Slovenian self-launched two-seat microlight glider designed and built by Pipistrel.

Pipistrel Panthera lightweight, all-composite, four-seat aircraft

The Pipistrel Panthera is a lightweight, all-composite, highly efficient four-seat aircraft under development by Pipistrel of Slovenia.

Pipistrel Alpha Trainer

The Pipistrel Alpha Trainer is a Slovenian light-sport aircraft intended specifically for flight training, designed and produced by Pipistrel.

United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley is a private non-profit organization, established from a grass root movement by people trying to improve access to healthcare in their rural communities in California’s Central Valley.

The Pipistrel WATTsUP is an electric aircraft proof-of-concept trainer design that was built in Slovenia by Pipistrel.

The Liaoning Ruixiang RX1E is a Chinese two-seat electric aircraft, designed by the Liaoning General Aviation Academy at Shenyang Aerospace University and manufactured by the Liaoning Ruixiang General Aviation Manufacture Company Limited of Shenyang.

References

  1. "Sustainable Aviation Project" . Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  2. "Pipistrel Alpha Electro" . Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  3. "AOPA Flight Review of Pipistrel Alpha Electro" . Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  4. "SA Symposium 2017: The Sustainable Aviation Project: EFlight Everywhere" . Retrieved 2017-02-18.
  5. "Reedley Airport Commission Meeting Minutes from Jan 19, 2017" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-02-18.