Collins Aerospace Ready To Build Electric Motors for Airlander Airship
When it enters service in 2025, Hybrid Air Vehicles' Airlander 10 airship will be powered by two of Collins's 500-kW electric motors in tandem with a pair of diesel engines, but it is expected to be all-electric by 2030.
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.
