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After working out a comprehensive selection of cooling concepts, the choice fell on a conventional concept based on a finned radiator typical of the automotive industry.

As planned for some time, the creation of a final Weight & Balance could now be completed.

In order to be able to start planning the wing production, the focus in the area of structure was most recently on the wing load comparison between the FVA-30 and the e-Genius.

To ensure the flight mechanical stability and controllability of the FVA-30, an adapted tail unit and appropriately dimensioned control surfaces are required.

A particular challenge in the development of our battery pack is the design of a fail-safe thermal management system that can mitigate temperature rise during start & climb and prevent undercooling during 4-5 h of range-extender-powered cruise flight at up to 3000 m, where batteries need to be recharged and remain operable, e.g. for a go-around.

For the FVA-30, the wing geometry and a large part of the fuselage are identical to the e-Genius.

In preparation for the final construction of battery pack and housing, we ran first experiments concerning fire protection in the unlikely case of a thermal runaway.

At the beginning of the year, the Range Extender team focused on selecting a suitable system architecture.

After completing the first fully-functional battery module in June 2019, we could finally run different test scenarios to evaluate our preliminary design.

An important element of the pioneering FVA 30 project is the propeller.

The FVA-30 is designed as a hybrid-electric powered glider for medium-range flights (600-800 km), with the range extender (REX) providing the power required in cruise flight (optimum operating point).

Exactly on time, it was ready for presentation at our workshop celebration in June: After long days and numerous nights of hard work, we were able to complete our first fully functional test battery after the preliminary battery design for the FVA-30 had been completed at the beginning of the year.

For about a year now, the FVA is cooperating with the Institute of structural mechanis and lightweight construction (SLA) at RWTH Aachen University.

Today, on Saturday the 28th of July 2018, the FVA 28b finally moved in next to our workshop.

June 23rd, 2018 - Counting down the days finally came to an end, it is once again time for our legendary workshop party.

On the 25th May 2018, 20 FVA members followed the invitation from Lufthansa Technik and made their way to Frankfurt.