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 …
