2022 Farnborough International Air Show highlights

Bringing electric propulsion, hydrogen to AAM

Rolls-Royce (London, U.K.) and Hyundai Motor Group (Seoul, South Korea) announced plans at the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow to collaborate to bring all-electric propulsion and hydrogen fuel cell technology to the advanced air mobility (AAM) market. The partnership will leverage Rolls-Royce’s aviation and certification capabilities and Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen fuel cell technologies and industrialization capability.

The companies say the benefits of using a hydrogen fuel cell system in an all-electric aircraft propulsion system is that it is a zero-emission, silent and reliable on-board power source that enables scalability in power offerings as well as long distance flight range. Hyundai will work with Rolls-Royce to bring hydrogen fuel cells, storage systems and infrastructure to the aerospace markets, and advance this technology into Hyundai’s RAM Vehicles and Rolls-Royce’s all-electric and hybrid-electric propulsion system offerings.

U.K. Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium

U.K.-based Vertical Aerospace (Bristol), Virgin Atlantic (Crawley), Atkins (Epsom), Skyports (London) and air traffic control service provider NATS, along with Connected Places Catapult and leading academic institutions, Cranfield University and WMG, University of Warwick, have announced the creation of the Advanced Mobility Ecosystem Consortium. Together, over two years, the organizations will develop key technology and infrastructure in a project that will significantly accelerate the introduction of AAM in the U.K. This will include creating and testing technological developments in aircraft electrification, airspace management, ground infrastructure, operating procedures, and the systems and supporting business cases required to implement a new model of aerial passenger transport in the region.

“The project will demonstrate the feasibility of a U.K. AAM ecosystem using Vertical Aerospace’s emission-free VX4 eVTOL aircraft, operated by Virgin Atlantic. Two physical flights will take place between Bristol Airport to an airfield in South West England, and between London Heathrow Airport and the Living Lab vertiport. A third simulation flight will demonstrate urban connectivity between London City and Bristol airports,” according to the original press release.

Read the full report here.

Strategic partnership between Lilium and Bristow

Bristow Group Inc. (Houston, Texas, U.K.), a provider of sustainable vertical flight solutions, and Lilium N.V. (Munich, Germany), a developer of eVTOL aircraft, announced at the 2022 Farnborough International Airshow a strategic partnership where Bristow will have the option to purchase 50 Lilium Jets in addition to providing maintenance services for the Lilium Jet’s launch network in Florida, and other future U.S and European markets.

The non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) outlines collaboration between Bristow and Lilium on the development of a maintenance program to support the operation of the Lilium Jet, including the ramp-up of maintenance in support of the Lilium Jet’s entry into service (EIS) and post-EIS services. The MOU also enables Bristow to become an authorized service provider for Lilium. The MOU further outlines how Lilium and Bristow may collaborate on the process to achieve the relevant regulatory approvals for operating the Lilium Jet in Florida, and plans for Bristow to purchase 50 Lilium Jets.

Open fan engine architecture

Airbus (Toulouse, France) and CFM International (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.), a 50/50 joint company between GE Aviation (Cincinnati) and Safran Aircraft Engines (Courcouronnes, France), are collaborating to flight test CFM’s cutting-edge open fan engine architecture, with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) blades as key part of design.  

Airbus A380 demonstrator. Photo Credit: Airbus

The joint demonstration program will use shared flight test assets. The plan is for CFM to perform engine ground tests, along with flight test validation, at GE Aviation’s Flight Test Operations center in Victorville, Calif., U.S. A second phase of flight tests will be performed from the Airbus flight test facility in Toulouse, France, in the second half of the decade. For these tests, the open fan engine will be mounted under the wing of a specially configured and instrumented A380 testbed aircraft.

The joint Airbus and CFM objectives for the open fan joint demonstration on the A380 are extensive. Read the full article here.

Hydrogen-electric propulsion program milestones

GKN Aerospace (Bristol, U.K.) reported at Farnborough that its H2GEAR hydrogen-electric propulsion program has passed a major milestone by completing its first round of system-level trade studies. The studies focused on propulsion system architecture and subsystem technology selection for hypothetical 19, 48 and 96 PAX (passenger) concept aircraft. Work to date shows that GKN Aerospace’s developments in the fuel cell system integration, combined with hyperconducting power network and motor drive systems, will enable hydrogen electric propulsion to be scaled up more quickly than originally thought.

The hyperconducting systems proposed by GKN Aerospace use the onboard liquid hydrogen as a heat sink, cooling the electrical conductors to temperatures less than -200°C to dramatically reduce their electrical resistivity. This facilitates electrical power distribution at low voltage, lower-mass conducting cables and electric motors that are set to achieve over 99% efficiency. Unlike superconducting systems, which exhibit zero electrical resistance, a hyperconducting system would use more conventional conductor materials and is deliverable sooner, offering a greater overall impact on global emissions in the foreseeable future.

Integrated ground-based demonstration of the H2GEAR technologies is scheduled for 2025; entry-into-service of the first hyperconducting hydrogen-powered aircraft could be as early as 2035.

Photo Credit: GKN Aerospace

Middle-mile cargo delivery drones

Dronamics (Sofia, Bulgaria), a middle-mile cargo drone developer and operator, and Quickstep Holdings Ltd. (New South Wales, Australia), a Tier One manufacturer and the largest independent aerospace composites business in Australia, are working together to accelerate the production of the European company’s Black Swan cargo drones. With the first units landing in 2023, Dronamics and Quickstep’s long-term plan targets the ramp-up of production of hundreds of Black Swan cargo drones annually in the next four years.

Read the full announcement here.

U.K. lays out plans for next-generation combat aircraft

The U.K. Secretary of State for Defence, Ben Wallace MP, has confirmed plans for Britain to lead the development of a new flying combat air demonstrator — to fly within the next five years — which will play a critical role in the delivery of the region’s Future Combat Air System, Tempest.

Launched in 2018, the flagship project is part of a suite of novel technologies being developed by Team Tempest, involving a number of suppliers — led by BAE Systems (Farnborough) — and the Ministry of Defence. These concepts are designed to demonstrate and test the next generation combat air skills, tools, processes and techniques needed to ensure Tempest enters service in 2035. The project, for example, is developing composite materials and additive manufacturing (AM) to produce lightweight, power-dense configurations capable of operating at higher temperatures.