RTX has again declined to commit to a first flight date for the De Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 its subsidiaries are converting to hybrid-electric power under a project part funded by the Canadian government.
At the Hybrid-Electric Flight Demonstrator project’s launch in 2021, the modified twin-turboprop was due to fly around three years later.
Despite the delay, there are signs of progress: the integrated propulsion system has now been tested at full power, and Moses Lake, Washington state firm AeroTEC appointed to handle the aircraft integration and support flight-testing.
RTX unit Pratt & Whitney Canada is providing an all-new thermal engine for the project, which is combined with a 1MW electric motor from Collins Aerospace and 200kWh batteries supplied by H55 to replace of one of the aircraft’s stock PW120 turboprops.
Dr Michael Winter, RTX chief scientist, says the powertrain “exceeded the 1,800shp required for take-off” during the tests.
Additionally, the end-to-end test marks the first battery-powered operation of the propulsion system, the firm notes, and included a full charge and discharge cycle.
RTX forecasts such a hybrid-electric system could cut fuel-burn by up to 30% by allowing it to optimise the gas turbine for the majority of flight phases.
Meanwhile, the agreement with AeroTEC – which has worked on several other hybrid-electric conversion projects – should enable a faster integration of the powertrain.
Winter says the work will lead to “flight in the relatively near future”. However, he declines to provide a timeframe for that milestone.
“We are going to fly it when we are ready. We are not doing it for press releases, we are doing it to plan.”
Justin Morigeau, president of AeroTEC, says the company will perform “all the design integration on the platform” and will be “managing the safety of flight process”.
Work under the deal has already started, he says, although the aircraft at present remains in Mirabel, Canada.
Separately, P&WC continues to work with long-term airframe partner ATR on the potential use of hybrid-electric engines on a future regional turboprop called the Evo.
Winter says it plans multiple test activities towards this goal but “some of that might be modulated by the available sources of funds”.
