NASA and MagniX unveiled the de Havilland Canada (DHC) Dash 7 aircraft that they’re preparing to retrofit with a hybrid-electric propulsion system as part of the agency’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) program.
“The Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, in partnership with NASA, is a significant program to make electric flight a reality,” MagniX CEO Reed Macdonald said during the aircraft’s unveiling, which took place August 22 at King County International Airport (also known as Boeing Field) in Seattle.
NASA awarded Everett, Washington-based MagniX a $74.3 million contract in 2021 for the development of an electric propulsion system for the EPFD program. Seattle-based AeroTec, a longtime MagniX partner, is also supporting the project and will help to integrate the electric motors with the airframe at its flight test facility in Moses Lake, Washington, where the flight testing campaign will be based.
Canadian regional airline Air Tindi provided the 45-year-old turboprop, which the EPFD program partners have converted to an experimental testbed and emblazoned with fresh red-and-white livery featuring NASA, MagniX, and AeroTec logos and a traditional Air Tindi tail.
With the aircraft gutted and refurbished to flightworthy condition, the team is now preparing for the next phase of the program, in which they will swap out one of the four turbine engines with a MagniX Magni650 electric propulsion unit (EPU). Flight tests with the single engine replacement are scheduled to begin in 2026.
For the second phase of the flight testing campaign, the team will swap out another engine on the opposite side of the aircraft for a second Magni650 EPU. They expect this configuration to deliver a 40% reduction in fuel burn and emissions compared with the original four-turbine configuration.
“We're going to lead the transition to the future of sustainable aviation with technology that at this point has matured, is being demonstrated, and [is] working,” Macdonald said. “The end result that we're looking forward to is entry into service and commercial flight.”
Macdonald said MagniX anticipates the first commercial flight of an electric aircraft will happen on the eBeaver, a DHC-2 Beaver that MagniX retrofitted with an electric propulsion unit in partnership with Canadian seaplane operator Harbour Air. MagniX and Harbour Air achieved the world’s first flight of an all-electric commercial airplane in December 2019. The seaplane operator intends to electrify its entire fleet with MagniX’s powertrains. In April, Harbour Air signed a letter of intent covering the purchase of 50 Magni650 propulsion units.
Through the public-private partnership, NASA aims to accelerate the adoption of electric and hybrid-electric aircraft in commercial aviation, particularly when it comes to facilitating the FAA certification process. NASA’s learnings from the EPFD program will be made publicly available to benefit the broader aviation industry—with the exception of MagniX’s intellectual property around the Magni650 EPU, Ben Loxton, vice president of the EPFD program at MagniX, told AIN.
“We at NASA are excited about EPFD’s potential to make aviation sustainable and more accessible to more U.S. communities,” said Bob Pearce, associate administrator for NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. “Hybrid-electric propulsion on a megawatt scale accelerates U.S. progress toward its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, benefitting all who rely on air transportation every day.”
MagniX wrapped up the preliminary design review for the Dash 7 retrofit in February, and in June, it completed baseline flight testing with the existing Pratt & Whitney PT6 engines. After replacing the engines with Magni650 EPUs, they will compare new flight data with the data collected during baseline testing to evaluate the powertrain's performance.
The Magni650 EPU completed the first phase of testing in April at the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) facility in Sandusky, Ohio. During the NEAT tests, the Magni650 was subjected to 800 volts, and its thermal performance was evaluated at environmental conditions up to 27,500 feet. MagniX is incorporating its own Samson batteries into the EPFD powertrain.
MagniX’s 650-kilowatt Magni650 EPU also powered the historic first flight of Eviation’s Alice nine-seat, all-electric commuter airplane in September 2022. The company’s 350-kilowatt Magni350 EPU also powered the first fully electric flight of a modified Robinson R44 helicopter, and its 500-kilowatt Magni500 motors have flown on two aircraft: a converted Cessna 208B Grand Caravan and the Beaver. In 2022, MagniX announced plans to develop hydrogen fuel cells to complement its portfolio of sustainable aviation power solutions.