Everett based magniX's family of electric propulsion units (EPUs) targetting the commercial aviation are making news for sometime from now , more profound after getting selected for NASA’s Electric Powertrain Flight Demonstration program (EPFD), which aims to introduce electric powertrain technologies to U.S. aviation fleets no later than 2035.
Moving into the next stage, Yellowknife based Air Tindi and Seattle based AeroTEC are the new partners of Everett based magniX for the NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project.
magniX is already working on demonstrations of electric aircraft propulsion, making use of its Magni350 and Magni650 electric motors.
magniX released a statement saying ,
magniX, a manufacturer of electric propulsion systems for aircraft, today announced two key industry partners, AeroTEC and Air Tindi, for its NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project.
Through magniX the NASA program aims to demonstrate electric propulsion technology to power a hybrid De Havilland Canada Dash 7 aircraft, with first flight planned for 2025.
Air Tindi, a commercial operator from Yellowknife, Canadian Northwest Territories, will provide the aircraft for the Program , on which all the modification work will be carried out to test the EPUs of magniX.
Seattle based AeroTEC, the leading integrator of electric propulsion systems on aircraft, will design, modify, and flight-test the demonstrator aircraft at its Flight Test Centre at Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington.
magniX magni650 electric propulsion unit - 850 SHP / 650 KW -3000Nm class EPU
The retrofitted DHC-7 aircraft will be powered by two PT6 engines and two magniX magni650 electric propulsion units (EPUs).
The distributed propulsion system is designed to reduce operating costs and noise while increasing power efficiency. The prototype has the potential to accelerate the introduction of hybrid electric flight technologies for commercial aviation.
"magniX has proven its leadership in clean, electric aviation with the ground-breaking flights of the eBeaver and eCaravan," said Dominique Spragg, Chairman of magniX.
"This collaboration with AeroTEC highlights the Pacific Northwest as leaders in sustainable aviation and our joint commitment to showcase the core technologies that will power the future of commercial aviation."
A Cessna Grand Caravan 208B, powered by a magniX 750HP magni500 EPU, became the world’s biggest ever all-electric commercially-focused aircraft to take to the skies in Moses Lake, WA.
Quotes
"The EPFD project provides an exciting collaboration with industry partners to advance electrified aircraft propulsion in order to expedite the use of hybrid electric systems for commercial air-travel," said Lee Noble, NASA's Director of Integrated Aviation Systems Program."
"Introducing these innovative electric propulsion technologies for existing and next-generation aircraft will help meet the aviation community's future sustainability goals."
"We are incredibly inspired by the partnership forged with magniX, NASA, and AeroTEC on the EPFD project," said Chris Reynolds, President at Air Tindi. "We currently fly the Dash 7 with passengers and cargo to remote regions in Canada.'
"Many of these communities are exposed to food insecurity due to high energy prices and a lack of infrastructure. We see this partnership as an opportunity to change this dynamic, and positively impact these regions by reducing CO2 emissions and dependence on fossil fuels."
"AeroTEC's mission is to accelerate the evolution of aerospace by partnering with innovative companies like magniX as an aircraft integrator to develop and ultimately certify new technologies," said Lee Human, President & CEO of AeroTEC."
"We are honoured to have been selected by magniX and NASA as the integrator on the EPFD project. This is not only a major win for AeroTEC, but a win for Washington State, which is rapidly becoming the nation's leader in the advancement of sustainable aviation technologies."
NASA is accelerating the learnings of the integrator and providing valuable data and insights to the industry from a certification, regulatory and planning aerospace perspective. NASA's prior research and knowledge on electrification will be "operationalized" through this demonstration.
NASA has made a fixed-price / cost-share award of $74.3 million to 'magniX' and $179 million to 'GE Aviation' to demonstrate electric propulsion technologies for aircraft, over a period of five-year.
During the five-year term of the award, MagniX and GE Aviation are expected to demonstrate electric aircraft propulsion technologies, also known as EAP, that could be used in commercial aircraft including short-range and regional passenger planes.
'GE Aviation' and 'magniX' will perform integrated megawatt-class powertrain system ground and flight demonstrations to validate their concepts, and project benefits for future EAP aircraft configurations.
For magniX , the demonstration flight is part of a multi-year program, to rapidly advance Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) technologies through ground and flight-testing demonstrations over five years.
Starting it's journey at Gold Coast of Australia in 2005, the company has come a long way to knock the doors of NASA, it aspires to collaborate with other NASA projects on EAP development , flight test instrumentation and data analysis.
Courtesy : NASA , magniX and Air Tindi .
