Australian Flying - July 2018

I

n the foyer of the University

of Nottingham’s Aerospace

Technology Centre, there is a

very large and very special aircraft

wheel on a pedestal. This is the

building where Richard Glassock

works. He’s an Australian

aeronautical engineer who works

in the UK, because that’s where

the money is, and the aircraft

wheel on the pedestal is an

example of the kind of research

that goes on in inside the building.

Glassock is interested in all

kinds of f lying. His passion began

early with remote-controlled

aeroplanes, before he became a

pilot himself, enjoying the relative

freedom of open Queensland

skies. But the industrial design

part of his brain led him to

academia, rather than commercial

aviation, and that research is

what led him from Brisbane to

Nottingham.

Before we go up to his office

Glassock takes delivery of a small

electric motor. It’s tiny. He grins,

"I’ve been waiting for this."He

turns it over in the palm of his

hand and, as he does so, I see that

this new toy holds the power to

shift aviation into a new paradigm.

For example, the aircraft wheel

we’re standing next to is for an

Airbus or a 737, and it’s special

because the wheel is designed

with its own internal electric

motor. Richard calls it an e-taxi

motor. The project is part of a

huge European aerospace research

program called Clean Sky and this

e-taxi motor wheel enables aircraft

to taxi with electrical power, so

Richard Glassock’s

64 Aussie Innovator LYN GA LL ACHER

AUSTRALIAN FLYING July – August 2018

Flying Motorcy

the jet engines don’t have to run

for as long on the ground. On

some routes this can save as much

as 7% of the overall fuel needed

for the f light. These motors are

small and are contained inside

the wheel’s hub. They have not

yet been used commercially, but

certainly they are all set to become

part of the future very soon. These

electric motors have the highest

energy density and torque density

of anything in the world right now.

The University of Nottingham’s

Institute for Aerospace

Technology is that kind of place.

It’s a research hotel. Richard

Glassock fits in here because

most of the work done in these

labs is about hybrid and electrical

systems for the propulsion of

aircraft. All aerospace technology,