NASA says it has successfully flight-tested wings that can change shape in flight without seams or gaps and is calling it a next-generation breakthrough in aircraft design. In cooperation with the Air Force and FlexSys Inc., the developer of the system, NASA mounted the morphing wings on a Gulfstream bizjet and put it through its […]
At the Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California, on Saturday, I scribbled in my notebook a wry comment from Tine Tomazic of Pipistrel Aircraft, the innovative Slovenian company that’s an unabashed supporter—and maker—of electric airplanes. Tomazic said he hoped the era of electric conversions was coming to an end and he pointedly noted that […]
Is truly autonomous flight for aircraft—manned or not—lurking just around the corner? It depends on how you define around the corner, but some people in the autonomous flight field think it could be a reality within a decade and electric propulsion will both hurry it along and play a major role in its development. Sanjiv […]
With few moving parts compared to an aircraft piston engine, electric motors are thought to be far more reliable. But when the systems that control them are factored in, the reliability picture is far less rosy, according to Mike Ricci, who says electric propulsion in general has some distance to cover before it will be […]
Fresh after its announcement of a new, aviation-specific electric motor, Siemens AG has mapped out a developmental path that it hopes will result in practical regional hybrid electric airliners by 2035. At the ninth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California, this week, Siemens’ Frank Anton said the company will invest heavily in hybrid […]
Dr. Frank Anton from Siemens AG attended this year’s Electric Aircraft Symposium, where he spoke with AVweb about the possibilities of electric-powered flight and, more practically, Siemens’s own plan to introduce viable hybrid aircraft over the next two decades. Duration: 6:02 File Size: 5.3 MB download here
Heading into a world of electric aircraft, we need to know on which systems we can rely and to what extent. Michael Riccifrom LaunchPoint Technologies spoke with AVweb at the Electric Aircraft Symposium about parallel redundancy, failure mitigation, and how fly-by-wire has set the standard forreliability in future designs. Duration: 6:46 File Size: 6.1 MB […]
Self-flying aircraft are coming, says Sanjiv Singh of Near Earth Autonomy, though it may be a while before they’re safe and reliable enough to carry passengers. Singh spoke with us at the Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California, about the remaining problems to be solved, both technical and regulatory. Duration: 6:53 File Size: 5.9 […]
More than 160 electric aircraft industry executives, manufacturers and researchers convened at the ninth annual Electric Aircraft Symposium in Santa Rosa, California, on Friday. The symposium is organized by the CAFE Foundation, which was formed in 1981 to study aircraft efficiency. CAFE Foundation President Brien Seeley told AVweb that EAS will have record attendance this […]
Columbine II, the first presidential Air Force One, will be under new ownership this summer as a restoration process gets under way in Arizona.Dynamic Aviation of Bridgewater, Virginia, completed its due diligence this week and decided to proceed with the purchase of the 1948 Lockheed C-121A Constellation used by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Owners Harry […]
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