Canadian regional airline Air Tindi is to participate in a joint MagniX/NASA program to evaluate plans to convert DeHavilland Canada Dash 7 twin-turboprop aircraft to electric propulsion. It will provide one of its aircraft for flight trials due to begin in 2025, and the project is also now being supported by AeroTec, which will help MagniX to integrate its electric motor with the airframe.
NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration (EPFD) project started in 2021, when the U.S. government agency awarded Washington state-based MagniX $74.3 million in funding. It is part of a multi-year program to demonstrate the potential for electric propulsion in the air transportation sector.
Air Tindi, which operates scheduled and charter flights to remote communities across northern Canada from its base in Yellowknife in the country’s Northwest Territories, will provide one of its 50-seat Dash 7 aircraft to be retrofitted and available for flight testing. This will be powered by its existing Pratt & Whitney PT6 engines as well as a pair of MagniX’s Magni650 electric propulsion units.
MagniX is already working on plans to convert the smaller Beaver and Caravan aircraft to electric propulsion in partnership with operators such as Vancouver-based Harbour Air. It is also providing electric motors for its sister company Eviation’s new nine-passenger Alice aircraft.
“The EPFD project provides an exciting collaboration with industry partners to advance aircraft propulsion in order to expedite the use of hybrid electric systems for commercial air travel,” said Lee Noble, director of NASA's integrated aviation systems program. “Introducing these innovative electric propulsion technologies for existing and next-generation aircraft will help meet the aviation community’s future sustainability goals.”
