Flight International – 6 August 2019

AIR TRANSPORT

fiightglobal.com 6-12 August 2019 | Flight International | 13

India seeks

to overhaul

domestic MRO

Defence P

W

right Electric has started

working on a 50-seat plane,

the next step in its plans to bring

a full-sized electric passenger air-

liner to market, its chief execu-

tive Jeff Engler confirms, adding

that he believes electric-powered

flight is now an “inevitability”.

The start-up, which has

partnered with EasyJet to

advance its ambitions for short-

haul electric flight, is also on

course for first flights this year of

an aircraft that can carry nine

passengers, says Engler.

In addition, windtunnel test-

ing has already started on the

50-seater, which shares many

aerodynamic components with a

full-size passenger airliner.

“Before there were fundamen-

tal questions – ‘Is this even

possible?’ But now it feels like an

inevitability,” Engler says.

Adding to its confidence is the

fact there are now a variety of

suppliers entering the industry,

including traditional aerospace

companies such as BAE Systems

and Rolls-Royce, and govern-

ments. Engler says the “general

maturing” of the industry is driv-

ing technological progress.

“We are seeing a lot of activity

that is not just start-up compa-

nies and it is all heading towards

reducing emissions. We have

been able to ride on that wave,”

he notes.

Better Batteries

Suppliers are now interested in

investing in electric technology,

saving Wright Electric from

having to pay for all the research

and development itself.

“Batteries are advancing, never

as quickly as we would want

them to but they are advancing,”

says Engler.

Wright Electric has agreed to

work with BAE on energy man-

agement and control systems.

“Maybe five years ago, there

was no-one who wanted to help

out; now there’s a number of dif-

ferent companies,” says Engler,

PROPULSION ViCtOria BrYaN LONDON

Positive progress for Wright electric

Start-up plans 2019 first flight for nine-seat battery-powered aircraft, with 50-passenger concept in windtunnel tests

Proposed design may be able to cover 20% of seats flown by carrier

Wright Electric

adding that Wright Electric is hir-

ing and on the lookout for staff as

it progresses with the technology.

Still, certification and regula-

tory approval remain major chal-

lenges for the fledgling industry.

Wright Electric maintains it can

have a 180-seat aircraft flying in

2027-2030, but it could be some

time before such an aircraft actu-

ally makes it into service.

“Nobody has ever certified an

all or partially electric civil

airliner, so some of the rules don’t

even exist today,” says Gary

Smith, EasyJet’s director of

transformation.

Industry association IATA said

in a 4 July analysis that starting

with smaller aircraft and working

up will make the certification

process “manageable” and help

the industry gain confidence in

the new technology.

“With electric aircraft, there is

the chance to prove safety and

reliability on a small scale first.

Scalability mitigates much of the

development risk,” writes Thom-

as Roetger, IATA’s assistant

director, aviation environment.

EasyJet is providing Wright

Electric with guidance on

engineering, maintenance and

operations and has not invested

into the company itself.

The full-sized Wright Electric

airliner has a current proposed

range of 292nm (540km), mean-

ing it would cover 20% of seats

flown by EasyJet today. The UK

carrier predicts it could fly on

routes such as London-Amster-

dam or London-Paris. The nine-

seater variant of the Wright

Electric aircraft could meanwhile

be used for island hopping, flight

schools, skydiving and crop

dusting, Engler predicts.

geNeratiON game

EasyJet sees the industry’s

progression to electric via hybrid

aircraft. Wright Electric is looking

at both hybrid and fully electric

options, Engler says.

Smith notes as a promising

avenue the use of a turbo-genera-

tor for supplying electricity to

power electric motors that give the

aircraft propulsion, similar to

systems deployed on cruise ships.

Rather than two gas-turbine en-

gines, the aircraft would have lots

of smaller propulsion units, with

all of them running for take-off

and fewer during the cruise phase.

“The beauty is that the turbine

can run at a constant speed,

which is much more efficient

from a fuel-burn and mainte-

nance perspective,” Smith notes.

An Airbus-Daher-Safran team

recently unveiled a technology

demonstrator – EcoPulse – which

will look to mature a similar con-

cept, albeit using a single-

engined turboprop aircraft.

For EasyJet, the shift to electric

would also mean big changes to

its maintenance and operations.

A major challenge for Wright

Electric and others in the space is

how to achieve the fast turna-

rounds necessary to low-cost op-

erations if batteries need to be

charged or swapped out.

“The battery fitment, recharg-

ing or swap-out conundrum is an

area we have looked at quite

heavily,” Smith says. “In time,

that is partly solving itself

because it is looking like the first

electric aircraft will be a hybrid

of some kind, which would have

less requirement for battery

technology and be more self

sufficient in terms of having its

own power source.”

In addition, EasyJet says it is

important that the technology

does not represent a huge jump,

so as to make it easier for airlines

to absorb.

“The bigger leap you make, the

bigger the impact from an operat-

ing perspective,” Smith warns. ■

Airline warns that large technological jumps are harder to absorb

Airbus

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