Aviation training group CAE is developing a flight trainer to address the emerging needs of the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector, and it has partnered with Piper Aircraft to develop a supplemental type certificate (STC) for an electric powerplant conversion of the single-engine Piper PA-28-181 Archer light airplane, the companies announced Tuesday at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK.
Under the partnership, Swiss company H55—which provided technology used on the Solar Impulse sun-powered world-rounding airplane—will supply the battery system for the STC. Safran Electrical & Power will contribute its EngineUs 100 electric motor, which provides a maximum of 150 kW of power at takeoff and incorporates an integrated motor controller. The effort draws support from a Project Resilience program under which CAE plans to invest C$1 billion over the next five years in innovation through a partnership with the governments of Canada and Quebec.
