All-Electric, Hybrid Aircraft Engine Research Taking Off
November 2016
By Stew Magnuson
LightningStrike X-plane concept
While hybrid and electric engines are becoming commonplace for cars and trucks, that is not the case for aircraft.
However, basic and applied research on all-electric, turbo-electric and hybrid power sources for aircraft is ongoing in civilian agencies such as NASA, the private sector and at least in one Defense Department program.
“It is very similar to what is playing out in the automotive industry to some degree,” said Richard “Pat” Anderson, professor of aerospace engineering and director of the Eagle Flight Research Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus.
“There is a desire to move toward lower direct operating costs … less dependence on fossil fuels and lower noise,” he said in an interview.
The military may at some point benefit from some of these new ideas to power aircraft, experts said. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has one program looking into the technology.
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2016/november/Pages/AllElectricHybridAircraftEngineResearchTakingOff.aspx?PF=1
