As environmental and economic reasons drive us towards sustainable transport solutions, Aviation is no different. This presentation introduces you to the reasons, history and technology behind the exciting and fast paced world of E-Flight.

1. Emerging Technologies: Electric Flight
[ 68 Slides ]
By Ade Pitman Aug 2017

2. Objectives
• What is Electric Flight ( E-Flight);
• Reasons for E-Flight;
• Brief history of E-Flight;
• Recent E-Flight Developments;
• The Future of E-Flight?

3. It will never work!
RC Aircraft
Growth in Brushless Electric
Why? Less maintenance. Less noise. Cheaper to run.

4. It will never work!
“Throughout history ground breaking
technologies have faced ridicule and disbelief.”

5. It will never work!
“Throughout history ground breaking
technologies have faced ridicule and disbelief.”

6. Why should we bother with E-Flight?
The Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe,
(ACARE), set goals for air transportation to be achieved by
2020.
• 50% reduction of CO2 emissions by reduction of fuel use;
• 80% reduction in NOX emissions;
• 50% reduction in external noise.
E-Flight addresses all of these issues.

7. Why should we bother with E-Flight?

8. • Heathrow Airport receives a noise complaint on average
every five minutes;
• Figures for January to October 2016 show 84,000
complaints, one for every five take-offs and landings;
• Campaigners believe the planned third runway will result in
more complaints and called for the airport to vary flight
paths;
• In a report, the airport said a total of 2,218 people made
25,200 complaints between July and September 2016.
Environmental Impact: Noise Pollution
Of those, 12,312 - just under half the total - were
said to have come from the same 10 people

9. • Small regional airfields also have noise problems;
• Survey made during a student’s dissertation (2017) of a
small London airfield, (Elstree) highlighted 17 complaints
that year;
• These issues don`t help regional airports facing closure.
Environmental Impact: Noise Pollution
Airfields operate
‘Noise Abatement Procedures’
to lessen impact.

10. Environmental Impact: Noise Pollution

11. Environmental Impact: Noise Pollution

12. Environmental Impact: Fuel / Pollution
• Aviation industry uses around 1.5 billion barrels of Jet A-1
fuel annually;
• Fuel usage is one of the major environmental impacts as
the emissions released from fuel combustion in aircraft
engine contributes to global warming;
• Not only pollution, but PRICE. Highly likely that fuel prices
will rise.

13. “The current low price of fuel will not last for ever,
so we should look to the future both for
economic and environmental reasons.”
Environmental Impact: Fuel / Pollution

14. Oil production has
peaked, and if no new
source is found it
WILL run out.
Environmental Impact: Fuel / Pollution

15. Reduction in Green House Gases
• According to many scientists
Global Warming is a danger
unless CO2 levels can be
reduced;
• Some scientists state that
we have more fossil fuel
reserves than we can afford
to burn, to avoid an
irreversible rise in global
temperature.

16. Fuel Power Vs E-Power
• Typically GA piston engines require
overhaul at around 2000hrs;
• E-Flight motors have a far greater
TBO (10,000 hrs +* );
• Currently, a typical E-Flight system
weighs more than a fossil fuel
solution;
• Like cars, E-Aircraft are about 25%
more expensive than fossil fuel
aircraft.**
Electric Drive
IC Drive

17. E-Aircraft to mirror E-Cars
“E-Aircraft technology will advance as E-Car technology
advances. Prices will fall as sales increase.”

18. Why should we bother with E-Flight?
E-Flight =
• Less Environmental Impact
• Cheaper Flight
• Sustainable, long term
• Perpetual flight?

19. What is E-Flight?
• Electric propulsion for flight is at its infancy but development is
accelerating in pace;
• Supported by key ‘players’ in the Aviation Industry, & Academia;
• E-Flight technologies include:
• Battery Powered Aircraft;
• Solar Powered Aircraft;
• (Hydrogen) Fuel Cell Powered Aircraft;
• Hybrid Powered Aircraft.

20. What is E-Flight? Battery Power
• Familiar Technology, battery
stores electricity which turns a
motor via a speed controller;
• Power determined by motor
size, duration by battery
capacity;
• BIG drawback is duration of
flight;
• Current issues are ‘energy
density’ ( Kw / Kg ) and
charging times.

21. What is E-Flight? Battery Power
• Batteries can be ‘swapped out’
in a few minutes ;
• Charging time down to 45
minutes;
• Using ‘Dual Chemistry’ in
the batteries, designers can
cherry pick battery attributes;
• Life cycle of around 10,000
charges;
• Batteries can be charged by
solar power = FREE FLIGHT.

22. What a typical E-Flight battery setup looks like.
What is E-Flight? Battery Power

23. • Familiar technology;
• Photovoltaic cells (solar
panels) charge a battery using
the sun`s energy;
• First solar powered aircraft
flew in 1978.
What is E-Flight? Solar Power

24. • Introduce Electric Flight ( E-
Flight);
• Battery powered
• Solar Powered
• Hybrid
What is E-Flight? Solar Power
Solar Powered Hybrid Aerial Vehicle (HAV)

25. • A Fuel Cell is a device
that converts chemical
energy to electricity;
• Typically Hydrogen and
Oxygen used to produce
electricity;
• Electricity can be used to
charge batteries or
power a motor;
• By-product is only water.
What is E-Flight? Hydrogen Fuel Cells

26. “The best bet for Future Narrow Bodied Airliners”
What is E-Flight? Hybrid Power

27. • Typically a fossil fuel
engine drives a
generator that
charges batteries;
• Familiar technology,
Nissan Leaf car etc.;
• Piston or Gas Turbine
engines used;
• Current challenge the
size of the generator
and efficiency.
What is E-Flight? Hybrid Power

28. History of E-Flight: MB-E1
• In October 1973 a
converted HB-3 airframe
made the first E-Flight in
Linz, Austria;
• Flight powered by a Bosch
10kW electric motor and
Varta batteries giving a
power output of 13hp;
• MB-E1 flew over 9 minutes.

29. History of E-Flight: QinetiQ Zephyr
• Flagship for UK-developed technology claims 3 world
records including absolute flight endurance of 14 days, 22
minutes and 8 seconds in 2010;
• Flew to over 70,000 ft;
• Used solar power to recharge its batteries;
• Weight just 50 kg.

30. History of E-Flight: Airbus E-Fan
• On 10 July 2015, the Airbus E-Fan successfully crossed
the Channel, from Lydd Airport in Kent to Calais.
• The E-Fan plane was airborne for around 40 minutes.

31. • Powered by lithium-ion polymer batteries and 60kw
( 80 HP) dual electric motors;
• E-Fan 2.0 and 4.0 aim for E-Fan production, and long-
term goal being a hybrid-electric regional airliner.
History of E-Flight: Airbus E-Fan

32. E-Flight Current Challenges
• Consumer perception;
• Energy Density of batteries ( KW/Kg);
• Aircraft Generator Performance, 1MW generators
being trialed. (Honeywell);
• Control Electrics Performance.

33. Recent Developments

34. Airbus E-Fan

35. Airbus E-Fan
• Airbus cancels the E-Flight project less than two years after
making successful cross channel flight, ( July 2015);
• Airbus points out that the E-Fan project started three years
ago with two 30kW electric motors.
• Siemens, its partner in the project, is flying an Extra 300LE
aerobatic aircraft with a 300kW electric motor, a progression
of 10x magnitude in three years.*
“Today we’re evaluating if we could fly an E-FAN X in
the next three years that would have a 2 Mega
Watts motor, so another 10x step change.”
[ Stefan Schaffrath, media spokesman for Airbus. ]

36. • World leader in E-Flight motor
technology;
• SP260D motor setting records in its
Extra 300LE test bed aircraft;
• 260 KW ( 350 HP), 50 kg, 2500 RPM;
• Siemens motors power the Pipistrel
and Diamond E-Aircraft ranges.
Siemens E-Flight

37. Siemens E-Flight
World Record E-Flight Climb
Nov 2016. 3000m in 4 mins 22 sec. Climb of 11.5 m/s
( 37 ft / sec)

38. Siemens E-Flight
World Record E-Flight Speed
March 2017. 340 km/h ( 211 mph)

39. First E-Aerotow
The nearly silent aerotow
took a glider up to a height
of nearly 2000 ft in only 76
seconds.
Friday, March 24, 2017 at
the Dinslaken airfield in
Germany: the Extra 330LE
powered by a Siemens
motor became the world's
first electric aircraft to tow
a glider into the sky.

40. Electric Flight: Pipistrel WATTsUP

41. • The WATTsUP is powered by an 85 kW (114 HP) Siemens
electric motor, that weighs just 14 kg;
• The initial climb rate is 1,000 ft/min;
• The motor can be fully charged in about one hour;
• Flight endurance of about one hour, with a 30-minute
reserve;
• Motor acts as a generator during the approach, where as
much as 13 % of the energy is recuperated;
• Propeller designed to act for thrust and windmilling /
generator operation, called a Prop-Mill.
Electric Flight: Pipistrel WATTsUP

42. Battery Power instruments on the Alpha Electro
Pipistrel WATTsUP: Instrumentation

43. Pipistrel ( Battery ) E-Range
Alpha Electro (85 KW)
Taurus Electro ( 40 KW)

44. • Pipistrel & Siemens ‘Project HYPSTAIR’ developed a hybrid
representing state of the art of E- Flight propulsion;
• The drive motor, delivering 200 kW take off power and
150 kW continuous. (268 HP / 200 HP ). [ Feb 2016 ]
Pipistrel / Siemens

45. • Displayed their first Hybrid
motor-glider at the Paris
Airshow, 2011;
• Powered by a 70 KW
Siemens motor powered by
a generator driven by a
Wankel engine;
• Additional power for takeoff
and climb comes from a
battery system provided by
EADS.
Diamond Aircraft

46. Aurora Project: XV24A Hybrid

47. • VTOL project for the US Defense Advanced Research
Project Agency (DARPA);
• 24 electric ducted fans in the wing and tail driven by
electricity;
• Powered by Rolls-Royce 6,000 shp AE1107 turbo-shaft,
( same as the V-22 engine), linked to a gearbox driving
three 1MW-class electric generators;
• 1/3rd scale demonstrator built, with full-sized prototype
scheduled to fly by Autumn 2017.
Aurora Project: XV24A Hybrid

48. Aurora Project: XV24A Hybrid

49. Sun Flyer
• Established in Feb 2014, Aero Electric Aircraft Corporation
(AEAC) created to produce the two seater ’Sun Flyer’;
• Solar cells fitted to the composite wing skin produce electric
power that is combined with Lithium Ion batteries to run the
electric propulsion system.

50. Sun Flyer
• Powered by a 100 KW (135 HP) electric motor;
• Flight endurance expected to be in the region of 3 hours.
Motor tests carried out Nov 2016;
• Solar cells alone should completely charge a depleted set of
batteries in 2 -3 days. FREE Flight?
• 65 Sun Flyers have already been sold.

51. Electric Flight: Solar Impulse 2

52. Electric Flight: Solar Impulse 2
Solar Impulse is a Swiss long-range experimental solar-
powered aircraft project that circumnavigated the world from
March 2015 to July 2016.
During the longest leg of the journey from Japan to Hawaii the
aircraft's batteries experienced thermal damage and had to be
repaired.
The aircraft flew:
• Over 26,000 miles (42,438 Km);
• Average speed of 47 mph;
• At up to 29,114 ft;
• A total flight time of 558 hrs, 7 mins. (23.25 days).

53. Electric Flight: Solar Impulse 2
117 hrs 52 mins
71 hrs 8 mins
TOTAL: 558 hrs 7 mins. 22, 915 NM

54. MoD Buys Solar Powered Drones

55. • Aug 2016, MoD purchased it`s third Zephyr-S solar powered
drone;
• Built at Farnborough, Part of a £13M contract with Airbus
Defense and Space (ADS);
• Will operate at an altitude of 65,000 ft, for up to 45 days;
• Prototype flew for 14 days and max altitude of 70,000 ft;
• Can provide communications relay or surveillance functions;
• An MoD statement said: ‘Referred to as a High Altitude
Pseudo Satellite (HAPS), it performs more like a satellite
than a conventional UAV.’
MoD Buys Solar Powered Drones

56. MoD Buys Solar Powered Drones

57. HY4: Hydrogen Fuel Cell
• Two 9kg hydrogen storage tanks distributing power to four
low temperature Proton Exchange Membrane modules
behind the propeller;
• These modules convert the hydrogen and oxygen into
electrical energy and water;
• Two fuselages, four seater;

58. • Hydrogen cells provide the continuous power during flight;
• Lithium battery subsidises power shortfall during take-off;
• Depending on speed, maximum range of 1,500 km (930 ml);
• Maximum speed 124 mph;
• Cost to run, about £10 / hour.
HY4: Hydrogen Fuel Cell

59. Dubai Air Taxi

60. “Small enough to fit into a
car parking space when
folded, the one-seater
passenger drones made by
Chinese company Ehang
are set to start picking up
passengers in July 2017,
according to Dubai's Road
and Transport Authority.”
CNN. March 2017
Dubai Taxi:

61. • Max load 100kg;
• Battery powered;
• Driverless;
• 30 min Endurance;
• Speed 100km/h;
• Max design altitude,
1600 ft;
• Currently testing ( May
2017).
Dubai Air Taxi

62. • Vahana (literally ‘that which carries, that which pulls’);
• Joint venture between Airbus and Uber to produce a
driverless electric aerial taxi;
• Flight testing expected by Autumn 2017.
Project Vahana

63. Where Next? The Future of E-Flight

64. Siemens E-Flight Roadmap
The Future of E-Flight:

65. • E-Flight aircraft outsell fossil fuelled aircraft in GA?
• 1 MW generators become the norm?
• Perpetual flight drones?
• E-Aerial taxis the norm?
The Future of E-Flight: 10 Years

66. • Hybrid Narrow Bodied Airliners?
• First aircraft constructed using Molded Batteries?
• Fuel Cell powered aircraft becoming the norm?
• Solar powered Hybrid Aerial Vehicles emerging?
The Future of E-Flight: 20 Years

67. • Hybrid Wide Bodied Airliners?
• Solar powered HAVs become the norm ?
• E-aircraft built entirely from molded batteries?
• Fossil fuel powered aircraft outlawed for GA?
The Future of E-Flight: 50 Years

68. NOW do you think it will work?
Exciting times for Aviation