56
ambition
The huge developmental push for electric
aircraft is driving investment in laboratories and
equipment to test high power electrical systems
ELectric aircraft
// KERI ALLAN
JUNE \\ AEROSPACETESTINGINTERNATIONAL.COM
this technology to commercial aviation,” says Glenn
Llewellyn, general manager, electrification, at Airbus. “It
will be capable of testing electric propulsion systems up
to 20MW, the equivalent of one A320 engine.”
The testing facility in Ottobrun, Germany, is 4,500m2
in size and will be able to test electrical systems,
batteries, power distribution, electricity generation and
gas turbines.
“It’s future-proofed in terms of capability – first
testing hybrid electric architecture and then fullyelectric
architecture.
“The building has a lot of hard points for the
installation of the heavy equipment needed to test up to
20MW and we have a special thermal and ventilation
irbus is working on a variety
of electric aircraft projects,
including electric vertical
takeoff and landing (eVTOL)
demonstrators, both of which are now being flight
tested. Its US-based Airbus project Vahana has so far
developed a single-seat demonstrator which began flight
testing in January 2018. This May saw the first flight of
the CityAirbus, a four-seat air taxi. But the most
important of its projects is to develop a hybrid electric
propulsion system suitable for use in a 100-seat aircraft
by the 2030s.
“Our E-Aircraft Systems Test House is due to enter
service this year and shows our commitment to bringing
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