There's plenty happening in the world of environmentally friendly aviation, with a string of clean-burning aircraft notching up milestones in recent years, including the first flight of an electric light sport aircraft in Australia, the first electric test plane to tow a glider into the sky, and the first electric aircraft to cross the English Channel. LA's Ampaire has now put into the air what it says is the largest hybrid-propulsion plane to ever take flight, with plans to kick off commercial operations in the next couple of years.
We've seen quite a few hybrid electric aircraft concepts and prototypes over the years, including the futuristic Volta Volaré, the Terrafugia Transition flying car and a test plane from the University of Cambridge and Boeing.
But never before has a hybrid-electric aircraft of this size flown before, at least according to Ampaire. Its Ampaire 337 plane is based on the six-seat Cessna 337 Skymaster, which it retrofitted with its own electric propulsion system. That means yanking out one of the two combustion engines and putting a battery-powered electric motor in its place, with the two now working together for optimal efficiency through the air.
On Thursday, the Ampaire 337 took flight for the first time in a short jaunt at Camarillo Airport, with a test pilot and flight engineer in the cockpit. Following the first outing of this prototype, Ampaire plans to continue flight testing the plane multiple times a week from June through August and gather data about the performance of its electric propulsion systems.
The information gleaned throughout will then guide the team in building a new prototype that will be used in a pilot project exploring the potential for a commercial route in Hawaii. The company imagines eventually using its hybrid aircraft to service commercial routes for regional airlines covering short distances, and hopes to begin operations in 2021.
A video of the test flight can be seen below.
Source: Ampaire
They probably effectively made the airplane worse.
1. Safety. Having redundant systems on planes is primarily for safety and not because it is more efficient. If one fails people don't die. I have been in a plane where the engine failed and I had to land without power. Trust me...having redundant is good! 2. Electric can be more reliable than internal combustion but it does not have good range. So having the hybrid system gives you both...and redundancy. I don't think pure electric will come into play for awhile for longer commercial flights because of the lack of high energy density batteries. Hybrids are good for medium range and short range. For long haul I don't even think hybrids can compete with combustion engines. As a plane keeps flying fuel is consumed and it gets more efficient...with a pure electric you carry that weight even if the batteries are dead.
Trust me, they did not make the 337 worse. This plane was not noted for its high efficiency. The reason it was made like it was is so that it was safer to fly. It is push pull and does not have adverse yaw if one engine fails like typical twins do. There is special training that goes into flying twins that have an engine on each wing.
BTW cruising on one engine with the 337 is marginal at best...it is meant as a safety to get you to an airport...I have not personally flown a 337 though so I can't say from experience.
Taking a plane that can already cruise on one engine and putting an electric motor in it and saying "it's efficient now!!" While turning 2 props is silly. That spinning prop on the electric motor is more draggy than a feathered prop. There's no way it's more efficient. Especially if the plane is hauling around batteries too
If the answer to any of these questions is "no", then they effectively made the airplane worse.
Granted, the range would be lacking on electric, but that's rapidly changing.. perhaps adding high efficiency solar cells along the roof line and built into the wings can increase this. For naysayers . Planes routinely fly ABOVE the clouds, especially on an overcast day.