Airbus Has an Electric Project on the Side

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Employees at the Airbus Filton, Bristol facilities in England help advance aerospace activities with a dedicated lifecycle approach to their endeavors.  This includes design, supply chain, manufacturing, aircraft operation and end of life phases which are subject to definition, analysis, and ongoing improvement.  Filton designs all wings, fuel systems and landing gears for Airbus commercial aircraft, and makes the wings for the A400M military transport plane. The group’s adherence to their principles has helped result in Airbus aircraft showing a reduction in CO2 emission of 75 percent in the last 40 years, a drop of nitrogen oxides of 90 percent, and a reduction of noise by 65 percent.  Airbus is the only aircraft company to be certified to ISO 14001 environmental standards, according to the presentation Andrew Nixon gave to the Western England Aerospace Forum (WEAF) Annual Conference earlier this year. In January, 2015, the Bristol Wing of the Light Aircraft Association, the UK equivalent of the Experimental Aircraft Association, …

Powering Imagination in Seattle

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

Seattle’s Museum of Flight on Boeing Field will host a one-day event, Powering Imagination, an electric flight symposium organized by Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Presentations will be held in the William M. Allen Theater at the Museum, starting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 28 and ending at 5:00 p.m.   Admission is free, but RSVP to cwilcox@museumofflight.org to guarantee a seat. Topics include an update on the NASA LEAPTech aircraft being designed and built by Joby Aviation and powered by Joby motors.  This 20-motor (!) aircraft will achieve a high coefficient of lift from the motors that distribute thrust over the entire span. Eric Lindbergh will talk about the Quiet Flight Initiative, a multi-pronged approach to designing and crafting airplanes quiet enough to be flown over national parks, areas now off-limits to noisy overflights.  This is one facet of Powering Imagination, the other two Electric Flight and Alternative Fuels. Erik promises video updates from Europe and an …