It’s been three years since American space agency NASA started a project called Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD), and we’re finally beginning to get a sense of what this program is all about. That’s because the organization and one of its partners in this effort, magniX USA, decided back in August to show the world the electrified aircraft that will be at the core of it all.
EPFD aims to come up with electrified aircraft propulsion technologies that could be used in the industry from the 2030s to help reduce harmful emissions in commercial aircraft. For the task at hand, a modified De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft will be used.
magniX will install on the plane one of its hybrid electric propulsion system comprising conventional turbo-propellor engines working in conjunction with electric motors, which will be put through their paces both on the ground and in the air.
The powertrain is called magni650, something that has already been announced as the hardware of choice for the Alice aircraft of startup Eviation. It’s a piece of tech that supplies 943 electric horsepower, and two of them will be installed in the Dash.
The EPFD program took a major step forward back in April, when the replacement powertrain completed the first series of tests at the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) facility at the Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Further tests were to be conducted this summer, but we were not informed of any progress so far.
What we were given last month is the first look at the Dash 7 aircraft that will be used for this program, fully wrapped in the livery it will wear for the duration of the project (check out the main photo of this piece). The plane was shown in front of the public on August 22 at King County International Airport in Seattle, Washington.
The plane, which has already went through baseline testing sat Moses Lake, Washington, is now going to be adapted to use the new powertrain, with flight tests scheduled to begin in 2026. The space agency will contribute development ideas, flight test instrumentation, and data analysis.
It’s unclear how long the testing procedure will take, but NASA says it intends to use whatever it learns from this to inform “new standards and regulations for future electrified aircraft.” The goal is to come up with a solution that could serve the needs of planes capable of carrying up to 50 passengers.
magniX is not the only company involved in EPFD. GE is on board as well, and it too plans to fly a hybrid electric test bed, this time based on a Saab 340B aircraft and using the company’s CT7-9B turboprop engines. Sadly, since it was selected to be part of the NASA program, this company hasn’t shared much information on the status of its work.
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Publish date : 2024-09-11 23:46:00
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