World’s first serial hybrid electric aircraft was on aerial display at the Paris Air Show

Siemens AG, Diamond Aircraft and EADS showcased the world’s first aircraft with a serial hybrid electric drive system at the Paris Air Show 2011. The two-seat motor glider which was on aerial displays at the show had completed its maiden flight on June 8, this year, at the Wiener Neustadt airfield in Vienna, Austria.

The aircraft was built by the three partners to test the hybrid electric drive concept. In the future, the technology, which is intended for later use also in large-scale aircraft, will cut fuel consumption and emissions by 25 per cent, compared to today’s most efficient aircraft drives.

The motor glider, which is based on Diamond Aircraft’s HK36 Super Dimona, is the only aircraft of its kind in the world. It is the first to use a serial hybrid electric drive, which has been utilised till date only in cars, as an integrated drive train. The plane’s propeller is powered by a 70kW electric motor from Siemens. Electricity is supplied by a small Wankel engine from Austro engine with a generator that functions solely as a power source. A Siemens converter supplies the electric motor with power from the battery and the generator. Fuel consumption is very low since the combustion engine always runs with a constant low output of 30kW. A battery system from EADS provides the increased power required during takeoff and climb. The accumulator is recharged during the cruising phase.