Siemens Motors announced the first public flight of their SP260D motor in an Extra 330LE aerobatic aircraft – although the motor had made its maiden, but not so public, flight on June 24. Putting out 260 kilowatts (348.5 horsepower) in near silence according to Siemens, the motor will certainly be capable of putting the Extra through its paces. The motor weighs only 50 kilograms (110 pounds), and with its Siemens inverter adds little weight to the nose of the Extra. Pipistrel-designed battery packs grouped behind it push the power-pack weight toward the center of gravity, which should enhance handling qualities. As Electronics Weekly reports, “Support structures have been on a finite element analysis diet. The aluminum ‘end shield’, for example, which supports the motor end bearing and takes all the propeller forces, went from 10.5 (23.1 pounds) to 4.9kg 10.8 pounds) .” This presentation shows the process on page 12. A finite element analysis program, NX Nastran, removed bits that …
Diamond Hybrid Drive – One Engine, Two Motors
Diamond aircraft seem to have been the go-to choice for electrification, with Boeing and Airbus fielding different versions powered by an array of powerplants. In 2008,Boeing’s fuel cell-powered craft, a DA-36 Dimona motorglider, “was modified by [Boeing Research and Technology Europe] (BR&TE) to include a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell/lithium-ion battery hybrid system to power an electric motor coupled to a conventional propeller.” Airbus’ 2011 DA-36 “E-Star’s” propeller was powered by a 70kW electric motor from Siemens, with electricity supplied by a small Wankel engine from Austro Engine with a generator functioning solely as a power source. In 2014, Airbus showed an improved version of this craft at the Paris Air Show. Erik Lindbergh chose the Diamond HK-36 for his Powering Imagination testbed, using a donated YASA 750 motor for power. For all that electrifying experimentation, the airplane as normally configured with a Rotax engine has continued as a trainer and motorglider around the world. Now, a larger member …