World’s First Serial
Hybrid Electric Aircraft Fly’s Paris Air Show
By Daniel Baxter
June 26, 2011 - Siemens AG, Diamond Aircraft and EADS
are set to present the world’s first aircraft with a
serial hybrid electric drive system at the Paris Air
Show Le Bourget 2011. The two-seater motor glider
successfully completed its maiden flight on June 8 at
the Wiener Neustadt airfield in Vienna, Austria.
The aircraft was built by the three partners to test the
hybrid electric drive concept. In the future, the
technology, which is intended for later use also in
large-scale aircraft, will cut fuel consumption and
emissions by 25 percent, compared to today’s most
efficient aircraft drives.
Air traffic accounts for some 2.2 percent of CO2 emissions worldwide. For this reason, aircraft, too, must become more efficient. One possible solution – which Siemens and its partners Diamond Aircraft and EADS are testing in the DA36 E-Star motor glider – is to electrify the drive system.
hybrid electric drive can be scaled for a wide range of uses,
making it highly suitable for aircraft as well,” said Dr. Frank
Anton, the initiator of electric aircraft development at
make air travel more sustainable.” The motor glider, which is
based on Diamond Aircraft’s HK36 Super Dimona, is the only
aircraft of its kind in the world. It is the first to use a
so-called serial hybrid electric drive, which has been utilized
to date only in cars, as an integrated drive train.
The plane’s propeller is powered by a 70kW electric motor from Siemens. Electricity is supplied by a small Wankel engine from Austro Engine with a generator that functions solely as a power source. A Siemens converter supplies the electric motor with power from the battery and the generator.
consumption is very low since the combustion engine always runs
with a constant low output of 30kW. A battery system from EADS
provides the increased power required during takeoff and climb.
The accumulator is recharged during the cruising phase. “The
serial hybrid electric drive concept makes possible a quiet
electric takeoff and a considerable reduction in fuel
consumption and emission,” said Christian Dries, the owner of
Diamond Aircraft. “It also enables aircraft to cover the
required long distances.”
The electric motor
glider successfully completed its first flight at the Wiener Neustadt
airfield in Vienna, Austria on June 8, 2011. “On the long way to hybrid
electric-powered commercial aircraft, the maiden flight of the DA36
E-Star is a small step and at the same time a historic milestone,” said
Dr. Jean Botti, Chief Technical Officer and member of the Executive
Committee of EADS.
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