Aircraft
Collins Aerospace Goes Bigger with Megawatt Motor
Motor will power hybrid-electric flight demonstrators
Collins Aerospace scaleable motors
© David McIntosh/AIN

This week at the Paris Air Show, Collins Aerospace is displaying a full-scale model of the one-megawatt motor to power parent company RTX’s hybrid-electric flight demonstrator. It is also showing a 250-kilowatt electric motor and associated power electronics for Airbus’ PioneerLab project that will convert a twin-turboshaft H145 helicopter to hybrid-electric power.

Packing enough power to support a small electric commuter airplane, the megawatt motor represents one of the first steps that the RTX subsidiary is taking to ramp up from power ratings of 500 kilowatts to the 20-megawatt class needed for future narrowbodies.