• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

100mph on 24kW? Electric Sonex Xenos performance data.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

emotodude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2020
Messages
65
I did some recent testing with the Xenos and here is some data for ya'll. A repost from my facebook post.

Will my electric Sonex Xenos fly 100mph on 24kW/28 Shaft HP? There seems to be some disbelief that the Xenos will do 100mph on as little power as I have claimed (28 shaft HP). If you do the maths, you'll see you need about 24kW electrical power to get 28hp shaft power (figuring 94% eff motor, 94% eff inverter and 98% reduction drive). I stuck a camera on my hat and another inside the cockpit to try and capture all the instrumentation.

At about ~4:20 I set the power to ~24kW (Hat Cam)
https://youtu.be/TI6LqeuuQh4?t=258

In this video it's about 1:20 (Dash Cam)
https://youtu.be/s5ofdc2WeW4?t=87

Also here is a .igc GPS track with speed/alt data. (24 kw tests start at ~18:36 and ~18:40)
https://skylines.aero/flights/136920

In both directions I held ~85kts (97mph) indicated airspeed with a very stable alt (+/- 30ft) for over a minute to show everything in equilibrium.
if you look at the GPS track and correlate to the video data you'll see I was doing about 90kts one way and then 81kts the other. This avg's to ~85kts, and verifies the airspeed calibration.

So I did fall short, by about 3mph of my original claim. However, I've also added about 50lbs of extra battery since my original testing and I think this accounts for the discrepancy. I also took power and airspeed data in 2kW increments down to 10kW, which is the bare minimum to keep it in level flight at ~50kts.

I should also add that my Xenos is not a shining example of a well built Xenos with lots of surface imperfections, and still lacks landing leg fairings, and needs more tuning on the motor ducting. I look forward to seeing what Paul Dye's build will be capable of
🙂


If anyone wants to see any more test data, just let me know. I'd love to have more excuses to go fly
🙂


1647136881997.png

Performance data and charts:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1u5n8cxNd_NNXgV4nokdOvAMBOU-J4rgr1byQZiFSfKA/edit?usp=sharing
 

Attachments

  • 1647118954905.png
    1647118954905.png
    160.4 KB · Views: 44
Last edited:
Back
Top