NASA_Electric_Plane

Nasa is currently searching for ideas to develop an electric propulsion-powered plane under a piloted experimental airplane project called Scalable Convergent Electric Propulsion Technology and Operations Research (Sceptor).

Compared to existing aircraft, the new model will be quieter, more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Under the plan, an experimental wing integrated with electric motors will be placed in the position of the removed wing part of an Italian-built Tecnam P2006T aircraft.

By modifying an aircraft, Nasa engineers expect to compare the performance of the proposed experimental airplane with the original configuration of an aircraft.

Currently in development, Tecnam is expected to reach Nasa’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California within the next year for integration of the wing with the fuselage.

"Compared to existing aircraft, the new model will be quieter, more efficient and environmentally friendly."

In September, the Nasa centre tested a separate Tecnam P2006T to collect performance data on the original configuration of the plane and expect to build a nine-seated passenger aircraft with a 500KW power system in 2019.

Nasa Armstrong Flight Research Center Sceptor co-principal investigator Sean Clarke stated the agency will fly Sceptor in two years.

The project has been funded by the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

Researchers are currently making progress in three areas, including testing an experimental wing on a truck, developing and using a new simulator to look at controls and handling characteristics of an electric airplane, as well as verifying tools that will enable Nasa’s aeronautical innovators to design and build Sceptor.

With the project, the space agency further aims to bring low-carbon propulsion and change to the aviation industry.

In March, Nasa performed the first experiment of Hybrid Electric Integrated Systems Testbed (HEIST), a 31ft, carbon composite wing section with 18 electric motors powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries.

Image: Nasa Armstrong pilots flew an Italian-built Tecnam P2006T aircraft in September. Photo: courtesy of Nasa / Carla Thomas.