Ground tests of a demonstrator of a hybrid power plant (GSU) with a high-temperature superconducting (HTSC) electric motor as part of the Yak-40 flying laboratory have begun in Novosibirsk, the Foundation for Advanced Research (FPI) reports.
Tests, during which the conditions of compatibility of onboard and HTSC equipment, as well as the main modes of engine operation, were investigated, confirmed the correctness of the solutions used.
“Successful implementation of these studies in the future will allow the creation of domestic GSU and electric power complexes for all-electric airplanes and helicopters, which differ from the existing models of aviation equipment in more advanced operational characteristics,” the FPI is confident.
In July 2020, the organization announced that it was conducting laboratory tests in Russia of components of an aviation integrated electric power system based on a single HTSC platform consisting of a battery, HTSC cable, HTSC current limiting device and HTSC electric motor.
In August 2019, Aviation Week reported that a fully superconducting aircraft engine prototype ready for testing was created under the Advanced Superconducting Motor Experimental Demonstrator (ASuMED) program, coordinated by the German company Oswald Elektromotoren with the support of the European Horizon 2020 program. >
The joint project of FPI and SuperOx to create an electric motor based on HTSC began in December 2016. The program envisages the development of experimental models of power plants with a capacity of 50 kilowatts and 500 kilowatts, intended for installation on fully electric aircraft.