GE, NASA, Beta, Boeing Conduct High-altitude Hybrid Flight

GE Aerospace and partners NASA, Beta Technologies, and Boeing have completed what GE says are the first hybrid-electric flights above 30,000 feet, as well as the first across the North Atlantic. The longest of the tests lasted more than two hours in hybrid-electric flight, powered by GE Aerospace’s propulsion system developed through the NASA Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project.

For the campaign, GE Aerospace modified the right side of a Saab 340B twin turboprop, fitting a hybrid-electric system inside an inverted nacelle that provided additional ventilation. The system paired a CT7 engine with GE-developed motor/generators, power converters, inverters, and controllers, along with Avio Aero gearboxes, Dowty propellers, Unison heat exchangers, torque sensing, and engine harnesses. BAE Systems supplied the batteries, while Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences provided the complete nacelle.

Pilots from GE Aerospace and Beta flew the U.S. test campaign, with Beta serving as systems integrator. Beta pilots then ferried the aircraft across the Atlantic to the UK for the Farnborough International Airshow, operating in hybrid-electric mode on each leg. GE plans public demonstration flights this week during the show’s daily flying displays, with the aircraft also on static display.

“This hybrid-electric system improved the high-altitude performance and climb capability while creating a flying laboratory to inform all future hybrid designs,” said Kyle Clark, founder and CEO of Beta. The Vermont-based company is also developing its own family of electric and hybrid-electric aircraft. “The GE Aerospace team brought rigorous design, test, and operational expertise,” Clark added. “The ground and safe flight test campaigns, capped by a flight across the North Atlantic, [are] the first of many important milestones for hybrid electric technology.”

During the Atlantic crossing, pilots switched on the hydroelectric boost to achieve altitude and range that otherwise would require a standard gas turbine. During descent, the batteries were recharged.

H. Lawrence Culp, chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace, called this achievement “one for the history books,” saying, “GE Aerospace is grateful to NASA, Beta Technologies, and Boeing for their collaborative partnership to accelerate hybrid electric technology to meet customer needs for greater efficiency, durability, and range.”

“Hybrid-electric technologies are durable and efficient,” Mohamed Ali—president and CEO of GE Aerospace Commercial Engines & Services—said. “By flying a hybrid-electric engine system at altitudes never achieved before, we’re proving to our customers and to the industry the advanced capabilities we can bring to next-generation aircraft with ready technologies.”

GE Aerospace was awarded the NASA EPFD contract in 2021 to demonstrate the flight readiness of hybrid-electric technologies for single-aisle aircraft. The company previously tested a megawatt-class, multi-kilovolt system under simulated altitude conditions up to 45,000 feet at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed in 2022 and completed ground tests of the EPFD propulsion system earlier this year.

“For nearly seven decades, NASA has taken on the near impossible, solved very hard technical problems, and helped move new capabilities into the hands of American industry,” NASA administrator Jared Isaacman told reporters during a press conference at the Farnborough International Airshow on Monday. “And we’re doing it again today with a new generation of hybrid-electric propulsion systems that can improve efficiency, expand capability, and potentially contribute to an exciting new future in air travel.”

Noting that NASA began exploring this technology 15 years ago, he said people questioned at the time whether it could become practical at scale. “We spent years working through the hardest technical problems electrical components, batteries, size, weight, thermal management, and the power systems needed for megawatt-class performance to make it a reality,” he continued. “Now, alongside GE Aerospace, we made those systems lighter, more efficient, and ready for the demands of flight.”