Collins Aerospace has started building the first of the 500-kW electric motors it will provide for the Airlander 10 airship being developed by Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV). With critical design review for the motors now complete, Collins is working with the UK-based aircraft developer and the University of Nottingham to prepare for qualification testing and then flight testing in 2023.

HAV aims to certify a hybrid-electric version of the Airlander 10 for commercial operations by 2025, with an all-electric version to follow by 2030. For the hybrid-electric model, a pair of the new Collins motors will replace the forward diesel engines, and two more motors will replace the rear set of engines for the all-electric version.

The E-HAV1 motors will directly drive the propulsors, operating from a 1,000-volt DC power supply at around 2,000 rpm. HAV is developing the three-bladed propellers for the propulsor units. The propulsion system will incorporate hydrogen fuel cells. The project has received financial support from the UK government-backed Aerospace Technology Institute, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and Innovate UK.

HAV says it is taking a stepped approach to all-electric propulsion to maximize the available range for early operations and to minimize technology risk. According to HAV, the Airlander 10 will be able to carry up to 100 passengers on routes of up to around 265 miles, albeit at speeds of just 86 mph. The company also intends to offer less-dense cabin layouts with fewer passenger seats for applications such as luxury tours and on-demand charter operations.

The Airlander has an outer fabric hull filled with helium for lift. The main structures are made from composite materials.

Collins is developing the motor at its Electronics Controls and Motor Systems Center of Excellence in the UK. The U.S.-based aircraft systems group recently made an $18 million investment in this facility, which is in Solihull, near Birmingham.

The Collins unit, which incorporates the legacy Hamilton Sundstrand business, has extensive experience in developing electric systems, as well as power management and distribution equipment, for a variety of applications on commercial aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and A350, United Aircraft Corp.’s MC-21, and the Boeing 787, as well as Embraer’s KC390 military transport. These systems, replacing traditional hydraulic and pneumatic ones, have generally had power ratings of up to around 40 kW, and the Airlander project is the first time the company has developed a complete aircraft propulsion system.

Marc Holme, Collins’s senior director for Electronic Controls and Motor Systems, explained to FutureFlight that redundancy has been designed into the motors so that they can continue to function with only one of the three-phase wire windings working. He said that the current unit, which includes all the supporting electronics equipment, has a specific power rating of just over 8 kW/kg, and his team expects to increase this to 9 kW/kg.

Collins is also in discussions with several companies that are developing eVTOL aircraft for urban air mobility applications. Holme said that the power ratings of the new motors are scalable up or down between 100 kW and “almost a megawatt.” He indicated that they could be used to replace the powerplant on existing turboprop and piston general aviation aircraft.

Both Collins and Pratt & Whitney are now part of the Raytheon Technologies group. The two companies are already working together on projects such as providing power and thermal management solutions for U.S. fighter aircraft.

The company has already started work on the early stages of a subassembly for the first motors and is using a 3D-printed model to test various parts. It will start assembling the first complete units in September and will then embark on acceptance tests followed by integration and development tasks beginning in October, before being ready to start testing with the propulsor unit early in 2022.

“Our work with HAV on the key criteria for making electrification viable has resulted in a very novel electromagnetic design for the Airlander,” Holme explained. “We’ve been able to push up the power density levels and also explore the use of new materials, including composite parts replacing metals.”

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