Much like waiting for the single-person ram-jet helicopter to show up in your garage, you’ll be left hanging for a two- or four-seat Airbus e-Fan to grace your hangar. Although not sharing the news in its “Innovation” or press release sections on its web site, Airbus has announced that it’s dropping plans to produce an E-Fan family of personal aircraft. It will move instead into developing a larger, more powerful aircraft, the E-Fan X, that could fly within three years. Airbus started with a four-motor rendition of the Cri-Cri, four MGM Compro units twirling contra-rotating propellers and producing 60 horsepower. Their “Innovation” program followed that with the tw0-seat E-Fan, and announced plans to build these in series at their cleverly named Voltair plant in southwest France. Airbus further suggested series production would begin on a four-seat E-Fan 4.0 touring aircraft. They showed a hybrid version of the E-Fan 2.0 trainer at Oshkosh in 2016. But they are moving on toward bigger …
EAS IX: Airbus Looks to a Light Electric Future
Ken McKenzie, listed as Deputy Chairman of Airbus US, has served as Vice President for Airbus Customer Services and as Chief Operating Officer for Airbus Americas, Inc. This high-powered individual comes across as a relaxed, congenial soul, though, and led attendees at the ninth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium through an overview of developments in light electric aircraft to come from the aviation giant. The e-Fan is the most visible effort for Airbus’s electric aircraft work so far, but the company is intent on carrying out a full E-aircraft program as part of its commitment to the European Commission’s Flightpath 2050 program,. which bullet-points these important goals for the next 35 years: “1. In 2050 technologies and procedures available allow a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions per passenger kilometer to support the ATAG (Air Transport Action Group) target10 and a 90% reduction in NOx emissions. The perceived noise emission of flying aircraft is reduced by 65%. These are relative to the …
PADA Lectures Highlight Innovation
The 2014 Personal Aircraft Design Academy (PADA) dinner and awards ceremony, the latter held in the Vette Theater at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Museum, highlighted design innovation and the possible commercial exploitation of new technology. Dr. Brien Seeley, Founder and President of the CAFE Foundation, hosted the evening and introduced your CAFE blog editor, who gave an overview of innovations in aircraft, avionics and powerplants he’d encountered on his daily hikes around Wittman Field. Dr. Seeley had the honor of presenting this year’s PADA trophy to John O’Leary, Vice President and General Manager of Airbus Americas Engineering (AAE), for the parent company’s development of the E-Fan, a twin-motored personal airplane that has been a highlight of the Paris and Farnborough air shows. With the flying displays behind it, the proof-of-concept machine will be the basis for two-seat (E-Fan 2.0) and four-seat (4.0) production variants that will bring smooth electric power to private flight. The two-seater, which can double as a …
EADS Developing Line of Production Light Electric Aircraft
European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) has been heating up some batteries lately, announcing production plans for the E-Fan prototype unveiled at the 2012 Paris Air Show and showing a four-seat derivative, the 4.0. Both share the twin-motor ducted fan configuration that makes the trainer and light electric airplane look like an A-10 Warthog, but with much less fearsome aspects. Tony Osborne, reporting in the May 8 online Aviation Week and Space technology, reports, “To produce Europe’s first wholly electric-powered aircraft the Airbus Group is partnering with French industry and entering the light aircraft market. A new subsidiary, VoltAir [lovely French pun], will be set up in the coming months to develop and produce the two-seat E-Fan 2.0 and the four-seat E-Fan 4.0. The two models are being aimed at the general aviation market, and officials say prices will be competitive with those of current piston-engine light aircraft—around $300,000—but with operating costs that are less than a fraction of …