WORKING FOR GREENER SKIES Will electric propulsion ever become a viable alternative for fossil fuel in the aviation industry? EADS is evaluating several different approaches.
AT
this year’s Paris Air Show EADS demonstrated a number of initiatives in the field of electric and hybrid propulsion for aircraft. The group has developed and built an electric general aviation training aircraft in cooperation with Aero Composites Saintonge (ACS), called E-Fan. It has also engineered, together with Diamond Aircraft and Siemens, an updated hybrid electric motor glider, the Diamond Aircraft DA36 E-Star 2. EADS has also cooperated with Rolls-Royce on a smarter future distributed propulsion system concept. These three projects are known as ‘E-aircraft’ projects. The development of innovative propulsion system concepts for future air vehicle applications is part of EADS’ research to support the aviation industry’s environmental protection goals as spelled out in the ‘Flightpath 2050’ report by the European
14 Industry Europe
Commission. This roadmap sets the target of reducing aircraft CO2 emissions by 75 per cent, along with reductions of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) by 90 per cent and noise levels by 65 per cent,compared to standards in the year 2000. EADS Innovation Works (IW), the corporate research and technology network of EADS, is developing and continuing to explore innovations in the field of environmentally friendly propulsion, in order to provide technology bricks for the operating divisions.
E-Fan: electric aircraft in progress Two years after the first electric aerobatic plane and the smallest manned aircraft in the world with four electric engines, the all-electric Cri-Cri, the teams at EADS IW and Royan-based ACS (Charente Maritime, France) have gone a step further with E-Fan, a fully electric general aviation training aircraft.
“The introduction of the E-Fan electric aircraft represents another strategic step forward in EADS’ aviation research. We are committed to exploring leading-edge technologies that will yield future benefits for our civil and defence products,” said Jean Botti, chief technical officer (CTO), at EADS. The two-seat E-Fan has undergone a very intensive development phase of only eight months. It features two electrical engines driving shrouded propellers. Total static engine thrust is about 1.5kN, with the energy being provided by two battery packs located in the wings. The length of the aircraft is 6.7 metres with a wingspan of 9.5 metres. It is the first electric aircraft featuring ducted fans to reduce noise and increase safety. Another innovation is the main landing gear. It allows electrical taxiing on the ground without the main engines and in addition provides acceleration during take-off up to a speed of 60km/h. To guarantee simple
