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The big advantage of using existing airframes is that you dramatically reduce certification costs and commercialization time. If you can "retrofit" an existing
by jjsylvestre 6y ago
The big advantage of using existing airframes is that you dramatically reduce certification costs and commercialization time. If you can "retrofit" an existing airframe with electric propulsion, then you can get to market a lot faster.
You're absolutely right though - changing the airframe design and moving to distributed propulsion can lead to improvements in aerodynamic efficiency, L/D, and fault tolerance.
- fallingmeat 6y agoYou may know this, but your motor will likely (should) be certified separately from the aircraft.
- emaciolek 6y agoI appreciate the advice here. We are actively investigating the FAA Part 33 cert, but a standalone cert for a commercial electric drive hasn't been fully defined yet.
- alexar 6y agoWhy aviation? Why design first (solution looking for problem)?
- emaciolek 6y agoThis is a good question. Aviation has the largest market space for this motor application. The aviation certification time frames are quite laborious, but we are mitigating this by diving into some other markets in the short term.