DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ELECTRIC POWER AIRCRAFT

Aircraft causes environmental issues, which are considered serious and required to be address during design stage. Any aircraft, which are unable to show compliance with the environmental requirements, would not be issued with certificate of Airworthiness ( C of A). The aircraft are required to be always incompliance with the environmental requirements throughout its operational life or else the C of A will no longer be valid. The mandatory environmental requirements are; noise, emission and fuel venting. The USA Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency issued standards in FAR/CS 36 for noise and 34 for Emission and fuel venting.

There are aircraft designers looking for option to reduce these environmental problems created by aircraft. One of the solutions is electric powered aircraft, which is installed with electric motors run on batteries, fuel cells, and solar. Boeing, Sikorsky and EADS are seriously developing electric aircraft proof of concept. Light aircraft designers are also working on electric powered aircraft, which some have flown more than 90 minutes like the Yuneec from China. Electric powered aircraft has low cooling drag, emission, maintenance cost because lesser rotating parts, noise because minus engine noise, and vibration. The electric aircraft is also lighter, smaller in volume and higher in safety and efficiency.??

However, the current electric motors are unable to provide the power as an alternative to the conventional internal combustion engine. The batteries to run the electric motors are unable to provide practical endurance of power for the motors. Therefore, a lot of research to be done in the area of electric motors to provide high power to weight ratio, similar work is also required on the battery. Since this is an early stage of the development work most designers concentrate on technology demonstrator, most of the work are using existing light aircraft such as a Diamond Super Dimona HK-36 motor glider is used by Boeing, 1970s vintage Colombian Cri-cri ultralight aircraft by EADS, and Schwiezer S-300C helicopter by Sikorsky.

Therefore further work on optimize the aircraft design with consideration of low power availability and lower battery endurance will ensure better performance and efficiency even with low power availability and lower battery endurance. The current electric motors and battery technology is capable to power light aircraft with acceptable performance and endurance, which is practical for flying training by the flying school or recreational flight by flying club or private owners. There is a trade off between less efficiency and environmental friendly since these light aircraft are normally being operated closer to residential area.

However, environment is not the only issues for the acceptance of the potentials owners of the light aircraft or General aviation category. Safety and Cost are other prime factors which will attract the potential buyers or owners. The potential owners, who are flying school operators, clubs or private owner are mostly cash strapped; cost can be the prime factors. Therefore, to have successful electric aircraft with reasonable sales, the cost of the aircraft must be competitive.?

Therefore, in designing an electric aircraft a lot of factors are to be considered. A design optimization technique must be used to ensure optimum performance, endurance and low cost. The MDO (multidisplinary optimisation) technology would be used in this study and the result of the study is the design synthesis for future electric aircraft.

As of today, we already have an electric aircraft issued with Type Certificate by EASA, "COLOGNE, June 10, 2020?- The European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced the certification of an electric airplane, the Pipistrel Velis Electro, the first type certification world-wide of a fully electric aircraft and an important milestone in the quest for environmentally sustainable aviation".??

More to come, all electric!