Vertiflite May/June 2021

kW of electrical power, at its facility near Pau-Pyrenees Airport, France. Since then, it has developed a number of technologies for hybrid-electric eVTOL and eSTOL applications. Safran was selected for Bell’s original hybrid-electric Nexus 6HX eVTOL air taxi, as well as the VoltAero Cassio 1 and the Airbus- Daher EcoPulse Demonstrator eSTOL aircraft. In December, Safran, which is responsible for EcoPulse’s distributed hybrid- electric propulsion system, announced it had finalized the technical configuration of its six electric thrusters. They will be fitted with 50 kW ENGINeUS 50 electric motors with integrated electronics and patented air. The Safran ENGINeUS motor will be submitted for certification by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) using the same basis as granted for a turboshaft engine. The ENGINeUS 100 will also be certificated by the US FAA on the Bye Aerospace eCTOL eFlyer 2 and eFlyer 4. Safran is also providing the 2,500-shp (1,860-kW) Aneto-1X engines for the Airbus Racer high-speed compound helicopter. For its “Eco Mode” configuration, one engine can be “paused” and brought to flight idle, for a 15% fuel savings. Whenever needed — during acceleration, landing or autorotation, for example — the idling engine is rapidly and automatically restored to full power using an innovative high-power-density electric motor. Meanwhile, Airbus provided an update in March on what it calls Europe’s largest facility dedicated to alternative propulsion technologies — its E-Aircraft Systems House, which was launched in 2016. It has two distinct facilities: one for testing medium- voltage systems appropriate for rotorcraft and eVTOL aircraft, and one for high-voltage testing for larger, commercial aircraft. The medium-voltage facility has been used for the Racer and the CityAirbus eVTOL demonstrator since 2018. Turbotech

MAAP was developed with support from NASA, Uber Elevate and Elevate-airframe developer, Hyundai.

LaunchPoint EPS is supplying motors and hybrid gensets for electric flight solutions in the unmanned air vehicle, aerospace power generation and advanced air mobility markets. The company originally developed small 6-kW and 40-kW hybrid- electric power systems to extend the flight times of unmanned aircraft. It has already supplied several 40-kW HPS400 gensets, based on the Rotax 582 engine, to potential customers. The company says its patented lightweight, efficient, power dense, air-cooled motors and gensets range from 1.5 kW to 250 kW. Pratt &Whitney Like other major engine companies with turboshaft products, Pratt & Whitney Canada is also exploring hybrid-electric solutions. It had planned an ambitious hybrid-electric airliner demonstration under what it called Project 804. Revealed in 2019 under the former United Technologies Advanced Projects (UTAP), it also included Collins Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney Canada, which were then also part of United Technologies Corp., and now all are part of Raytheon Technologies. Project 804 is developing a 1-MW hybrid propulsion system, with the intent to replace one of a De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100’s turboprops. Raytheon said last summer that the project had been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on civil aviation, which prompted the elimination of some 20,000 jobs across the company. Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce is working with APUS, an aviation engineering company based in Strausberg, close to Berlin, and the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) in Cottbus, in developing a hybrid-electric electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL) demonstrator, using Rolls-Royce’s legacy Allison 250 turboshaft. The hybrid-electric M250 could be used across a range of transport platforms to enable distributed electric propulsion, including eVTOL, for power requirements from 500 kW to 1 MW. Rolls-Royce purchased the electric and hybrid-electric aerospace propulsion activities of Siemens in 2019. Safran and Airbus

Turbotech’s TG-R90 turbogenerator (shown) is based on its TP-R90, which began testing in January. (Turbotech)

Turbotech SAS, based in Toussus-Le-Noble, France (near Paris), has similarly developed a sustainable hybrid-electric solution for eVTOL, eSTOL or eCTOL aircraft, or hybrid-electric helicopters. The Turbotech turbogenerators have a very high power-to-weight ratio thanks to a clever and innovative design.The electric generator drives at the same speed as the turbine, eliminating the need for a gearbox and saving additional weight. In addition, the generator is entirely air-cooled. A fan is installed inside the generator, and is also driven directly by the turbine shaft, turning at 90,000 rpm to

The 50-kW Safran ENGINeUS will be used on the Daher- Safran-Airbus EcoPulse hybrid-electric demonstrator. (Safran)

May / June 2021

In July 2018, Safran Helicopter Engines announced it had ground tested its first distributed propulsion system, which generated 100

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