It seems like everywhere you turn these days, the heavily promoted news is a move to electrically powered aircraft. But electrical power has its drawbacks. Chief among them is battery technology. Batteries weigh a lot, discharge quickly, and take a long time to recharge. So an airplane powered solely by a battery-driven electric motor isn’t yet fully practical. It will remain that way until there’s a revolution in battery technology. Sure, batteries are lighter and longer-lasting than ever, thanks to the advances made possible by efforts in the automobile and cell phone industries. But just not light or durable enough for aircraft.
One solution is to add a conventional, gasoline-burning piston engine. Now the aircraft can draw power from either batteries or engine in a hybrid design. This is nothing new—
it’s the solution used by many car manufacturers.
Hybrid designs offer some important performance advantages. At noise-sensitive airports, takeoffs can be made using battery power alone. For maximum takeoff performance, the engine’s power can be teamed with battery power.
Once aloft, the engine’s generator can be used to continuously charge the battery portion of the power system.
Want to save fuel while cruising? Then use battery power. As the destination nears, the engine can be started to top off the battery pack and prepare the aircraft for a landing, including a maximum performance climb should a go-around be necessary.
But perhaps the greatest advantage of a hybrid setup is that there’s no need to recharge the batteries by plugging into an AC outlet. Just make sure that there’s enough fuel to run the engine, and enough battery power to restart the engine should you find yourself landing at a remote strip without suitable outlets.
Related Articles
