MANUFACTURING INNOVATIONS
12 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY
matched by proprietary energy (electric)
controllers, and last but not least suitable
batteries and/or alternative energy sources.
There are enough aerodynamically
efficient airframes around especially in
the experimental-friendly world of Ultra-
Light or LSA airplanes. Last year Siemens
developed several electric motors for LSA/
GA aviation use and electric management
systems/controllers are already available
and are daily refined, so the only prob-
lematic component is the electric energy
source and its storage.
WHERE'S THE ELECTRIC
AIRLINER?
A hybrid airliner, which will combine
the advantages of electric motors with
the range extending capabilities of con-
ventional piston and turboprop engines,
might be a solution. However, scaling up
the current technology to a development
of a family of airliners in the 10- to 19-seat
range for the early 2020s is going to be a
big challenge. An even bigger challenge
will be the creation of 50- to 100-seat air-
craft for the airline market. Here the solu-
tion might be the use of conventional jet
turbine technology and even stronger (not
yet developed) electric motors.
Airbus and Boeing have already started
to dream the electric airliner dream with
several projects.
Zunum Aero, a Kirkland, WA-based
startup, developed a hybrid aircraft,
with financial backing from Horizon X,
Boeing's innovation cell, which focuses
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