{"id":10451,"date":"2015-10-07T21:35:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-08T04:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=10451"},"modified":"2015-10-07T21:35:11","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T04:35:11","slug":"diamonds-hybrid-electric-tiltrotor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/diamonds-hybrid-electric-tiltrotor\/","title":{"rendered":"Diamond\u2019s Hybrid-Electric Tiltrotor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diamond Aircraft of Austria gave Flying <\/em>magazine news of its hybrid-electric tiltrotor project \u2013 something not announced on Diamond\u2019s own web site.\u00a0 According to Flying<\/em>, Diamond will partner with an unnamed \u201cmajor industrial partner.\u201d\u00a0 The airplane could become certified within seven years, enabling customers to own a six-passenger vertical takeoff and landing vehicle with ostensibly high speed and the ability to set down virtually anywhere.<\/p>\n

Diamond founder and CEO Christian Dries says the craft will be powered by two high-output Siemens electric motors with power to recharge the batteries in flight supplied by a pair of Austro diesel engines<\/a>.\u00a0 Since there are four propellers, the motors\u2019 outputs would probably be split fore and aft to a pair of rotors.<\/p>\n

\"Diamond<\/a>

Diamond Aircraft’s ambitious hybrid electric tiltrotor aircraft<\/p><\/div>\n

The unnamed concept would have a maximum takeoff weight of 6,600 pounds.\u00a0 To test the concept, Diamond will build a 725-pound unpiloted prototype starting next month.\u00a0 That will be followed by a 2,800-pound prototype, with the full, fly-by-wire production version coming after successful flight tests of the smaller test vehicles.<\/p>\n

The Diamond tiltrotor will have a full-frame BRS parachute for its three-surface configuration.\u00a0 Echoing Aurora Flight Science\u2019s recent tests <\/a>with another Diamond, a modified DA-42, computers will enable automatic takeoffs and landings.<\/p>\n

Flying reports<\/a>, \u201cWhile the tiltrotor wouldn’t be capable of hovering for more than six or seven minutes, it could enter a hover and touch down automatically using laser scanning techniques to survey the landing area within milliseconds.\u201d\u00a0 The writer, Stephen Pope, suggests the on-board computers could ensure the landing zone is free of obstructions, or could dispense with the pilot altogether.<\/p>\n

\"DA-36<\/a>

DA-36 E-Star 2 with Wankel rotary and Siemens motor providing power<\/p><\/div>\n

Diamond aircraft seem to be favorites for electrification and hybridization.\u00a0 Boeing\u2019s experiments under Michael Friend resulted in a DA-36 Diamond motor glider being the first fuel-cell-powered aircraft.\u00a0 Airbus teamed Diamond and Siemens<\/a> in two different hybrid approaches, both using the DA-36 as a base.\u00a0 Eric Lindbergh with his Powering Imagination program uses a DA-36 being modified by Embry Riddle Aeronautical University students as a pure electric aircraft.<\/p>\n

\"Eric<\/a>

Eric Lindbergh, near tail, with Embry Riddle students working to electrify Diamond<\/p><\/div>\n

With its twin-motored, single-engine hybrid<\/a> shown in this blog a few months ago, and now this complex VTOL machine, Diamond shows a truly experimental edge in bringing about lower emissions coupled with high performance.\u00a0 It\u2019s a combination more aircraft companies need to emulate for a cleaner future.<\/p>\n