Voltaero’s Cassio Progress

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A year ago, VoltAero, a French company grown out of Airbus’ early efforts at creating electric aircraft, was test flying a modified Cessna 337 Skymaster.  They have made progress from the three motor craft to a range of single-propeller machines with much higher performance – the Cassio.  Their pre-prototype mockup has been making the air show and exhibition rounds, moving steadily westward. One Year Ago VoltAero was still promoting their Skymaster derivative, but had been planning on bringing out the first of three similar three-surface aircraft.  Dropping the dual Safran 45kilowatt motors of that testbed, the firm went to a single Kawasaki-powered hybrid power system that drives a single five-blade pusher propeller. Jean Botti, former Airbus executive and now CEO of VoltAero, explained the move as a way to lower noise – a significant need for modern aircraft often operating in urban environments. The hybrid system enables the internal combustion (thermal) engine to recharge batteries in flight and act as …

Ampaire Acquired Two Firms – Expands Possibilities

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Anpaire, a leader in hybrid aviation, announced it has just acquired two firms.   Magpie Aviation, a somewhat audacious startup that has created a remarkable way of towing battery-powered electric airplanes hitherto unattainable distances.  Ampaire also acquired Talyn Air, a startup offering an eVTOL (electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) solution to extending range.  Both firms take unusual approaches to the problem. It’s not like Ampaire doesn’t put enough mileage on its own hybrid aircraft – 25,000 at last count.  Ampaire has flown its Cessna 337 push-pull twins in Hawaii, Scotland, and England and converted Cessna Caravans to Ampaire’s hybrid drive. Adding range up to a thousand miles at a time, Magpie hooks up to an otherwise range-limited aircraft and can tag team the craft on multiple hookups. On another front, Ampaire has also brought Talyn Air into the fold, using a lifting craft to take a cruise machine to launch altitude. Add to the new airframe types Ampaire has included …

E9X: 90 Passengers, 480 Battery Miles

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What can carry 90 passenger 480 miles on battery power alone?  Such a query flies in the face of others’ efforts to hybridize medium-range flight, but may be answered by Delft-based Elysian Aircraft.  Their eight-motored, battery-powered E9X uses a backup turbogenerator only for reserves, putting a level of trust in the 365 Watt-hour per kilogram cells buried within the long, slender wing for safe transit. Graham Warwick’s Article Graham Warwick, writing for Aviationweek.com, explains that, “Breaking with traditional design principles, Delft-based Elysian says it has found design space where a large electric aircraft looks viable with near-term battery technology.”  That kind of range for that large an aircraft seems extreme, but the E9X’s developers are using currently-available batteries to achieve their goals.  Reynard de Vries, director of design and engineering at Elysian, explains, “If you want to make a significant impact on the sector as a whole, then you need to electrify flights up to 1,000 km [620 mi.]. Then …

JSX To Buy a Fleet of Electric Airliners

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JSX, an American semi-private airline, may very well shake up the travel world with plans to buy up to 330 electric and hybrid aircraft. JSX (Jet Suite Executive) dispatches with some niceties of larger airlines, but also avoids long lines, TSA (Transport Safety Administration) baggage checks and shoe removal, and lengthy waits for mobs of passengers to stuff their bags in overhead compartments (there are none on their JSX Embraer 135s). Instead, a passenger arrives at a JSX ticket office, sometimes situated in a hangar on the sometimes funky end of the airport, gets a boarding pass and self-serves some light refreshments.  He or she walks out to the 30-passenger (maximum allowed) craft, climbs aboard and finds an assigned seat (either two abreast or single).  Passengers can even bring a certified service animal into the cabin. This type of aviation seems looser and more enabling than that of the big carriers.  JSX is enjoying a lot of press and some …

Electra EL-2 Goldfinch First Flight

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Electra.aero plans on lofting nine people into the sky in a little regional airliner.  As a first step, the firm just flew its EL-2 Goldfinch demonstrator from the Manassas, Virginia Regional Airport (KHEF).  As Flying magazine pointed out, the bright yellow aircraft, “pays homage to its namesake’s golden hue.” Although it’s designed as a “blown lift” aircraft, levitating on deflected airflow under its large flaps, the EL-2 made its first takeoffs as a conventional airplane, scooting along the runway until it reached flying speed.  Its November 11 takeoff was apparently on battery power only, with its November 19 second trip assisted by a (possibly Safran) turbogenerator.  Electra claims it to be the “world’s first blown lift aircraft using distributed electric propulsion and a hybrid-electric propulsion system.”  The eight motors appear to be Safran 45- or 50-kilowatt (60- or 67-horsepower) models.  Both flights were piloted by Cody Allee, chief technology officer of ABSI Aerospace & Defense and a former U.S. Marine …

Wright Electric Goes Agricultural

Dean Sigler Announcements, Batteries, Diesel Powerplants, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Sustainable Aviation 2 Comments

Following its announcement of a range of battery packs last month, Wright Electric shares information about its one-megawatt motor powering an Embraer agricultural airplane.  Teaming with Axter Aerospace, a Spanish firm with a history of providing backup electric power for otherwise conventionally powered aircraft; Wright helps make crop dusting a safer enterprise.  This eight-year-old video shows Axter’s early efforts with a small Tecnam aircraft.  (Note: you might want to turn on the closed captioning.) Low-level flying necessary for dusting or spraying crops requires utter reliability, so a proven turbine backed up by a high-power electric motor seems like an ideal combination for those circumstances.  The combined power of 800 kilowatts (1,072 horsepower) allows carriage of a large payload, sufficient power to avoid obstacles, and redundancy to prevent sudden letdowns. The electric motor has been tested to 1.2 kilowatts (1,608 horsepower), so could provide adequate power even if the turbine failed.  Failure of either power source is highly unlikely in any …

Aura Aero, Big, Small, and Electric

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Aura Aero, a French firm in the Occitanie region, maker of big and small electric aircraft, espouses eco-responsibility goals striving to contribute to the objective of reducing emissions by 55 percent in 2035 and reaching carbon neutrality in 2050.  They aim to do this through reducing and eliminating carbon, choosing materials for their environmental consequences and lifecycles, and applying circular economy techniques for recycling. Aura proclaims, “We design our aircraft anticipating the impact of their use and their ability to be recycled. We take into account, from the start, the environmental impact that our aircraft will have throughout their lifecycle, in order to reduce it as much as possible.” The company has a reputation for the aerobatic two-seaters it hand makes, but is branching out into zero-emission alternatives and a larger, more complex machine.   Integrale E Aura’s Integrale line of two-seat, side-by-side aerobatic craft will be joined with the Integrale E.  The combustion-engine versions of the airplane are powered …

Electra Rolls Out a Full-size Demonstrator

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Starting small, Electra Aero has rolled out a two-seat demonstrator of its multi-motor, blown-lift technology.  Bright yellow, the EL-2 “Goldfinch” celebrates “the beloved, nimble American Goldfinch bird indigenous to North America,” according to the company.  Its full-scale production aircraft will carry nine. John S. Langford, Founder and CEO of Electra.aero explains, “In the three years since we founded Electra, we’ve designed our eSTOL aircraft, validated our blown lift technology with a sub-scale demonstrator, and run a fully integrated test of our 150-kilowatt hybrid-electric generator at full scale.  Now we’re ready to test the entire system with this technology demonstrator aircraft. We can’t wait to fly this plane and show the world what our eSTOL aircraft can do.” Chris Courtin, Chief Engineer on the technology demonstrator project, explains the ambitious aircraft, a two-seat version of which will fly this year. Electra notes its “proprietary blown lift technology uses eight motors to provide additional wing lift, and hybrid-electric power that provides internal …

VoltAero in Three Flavors

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Jean Botti has had a remarkable career on two continents, culminating in his leadership of French company VoltAero, which offers its latest hybrid aircraft in three flavors.  It’s all based on a modular design which shares a three-lifting-surface aerodynamic platform. As the company notes, “First to enter service will be the Cassio 330, with five seats and powered by the 330-kilowatt electric-hybrid propulsion system. VoltAero’s follow-on six-seat Cassio 480 will have an electric-hybrid propulsion power of 480 kilowatts, while the Cassio 600 is sized at a 12-seat capacity with electric-hybrid propulsion power of 600 kilowatts.” The 330 has a wingspan of 32 feet eight inches and a maximum takeoff weight of 4,255 pounds (1,930 kilograms).  480 and 600 models share a 40-foot, seven-inch span and longer fuselages to accommodate larger power trains, more passengers and cargo. This impressive array of planned aircraft stems from humble beginnings, a Colomban Cri-Cri (the world’s smallest twin-engine airplane designed by one of the engineers …

Cavorite X5’s Test Flights

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The Cavorite X5, now in developmental test flights, that came from the inspiration of H. G. Wells.  Cavorite was the mysterious metal in Wells’ First Men in the Moon, discovered by Dr. Cavor.  He explains it to his friends, who are attempting to reach the earthly satellite: “Well, so soon as it reached a temperature of 60 Fahr[enheit], and the process of its manufacture was complete, the air above it, the portions of roof and ceiling and floor above it ceased to have weight. I suppose you know – everybody knows nowadays – that, as a usual thing, the air has weight, that it presses on everything at the surface of the earth, presses in all directions, with a pressure of fourteen and a half pounds to the square inch? ” “I know that,” said I. “Go on.” “I know that too,” he remarked. “Only this shows you how useless knowledge is unless you apply it. You see, over our …