Ampaire’s Electric EEL technology demonstrator aircraft is preparing to start flight trials with Hawaii’s Mokulele Airlines as part of the Elemental Excelerator program to demonstrate the viability of electric aircraft in commercial aviation. Since early November, the modified Cessna 337 Skymaster aircraft, which the company has named the Hawai’i Bird, has been based at Kahului Airport on the island of Maui, where it will be based for the next month.
The Ampaire team has been running ground tests on the Electric EEL, which had to be fully reassembled after being shipped to Hawaii from California. The “market survey flights” between various islands across the state are due to begin in early December.
Meanwhile, in a separate collaboration with NASA, Ampaire is evaluating an electrically powered version of the Twin Otter DHC6 aircraft, which is the largest aircraft it has converted to date. NASA’s goal from the trial flights with the so-called Eco Otter SX aircraft is to achieve a noise reduction of 22 to 32 decibels, a reduction in emissions of 60 to 75 percent, and 40 to 50 percent lower energy consumption.
Ampaire is conducting this work under a $6 million NASA Risk Reduction Plan contract. The study is focused on developing batteries and a turbogenerator for the reworked Twin Otter’s 1 MW propulsion system, as well as avionics and control software.
