Daher Reveals First Hybrid-Electric Flight of Eco-Pulse

The collaborative project between the French OEM, Safran, and Airbus demonstrates the next step in the decarbonization roadmap via distributed propulsion.

Julie Boatman

Tuesday, December 05, 2023 at 01:28 PM ET

Verified

The first flight of the Eco-Pulse in which the pilots engaged Safran’s ePropellers made for an important project milestone. [Courtesy: Daher]

Key Takeaways:

The Eco-Pulse demonstrator, a collaborative project by Daher, Safran, and Airbus, successfully completed its first test flight in hybrid-electric mode on November 29.
The 100-minute flight validated key onboard technologies, including six electric ePropellers, distributed electric propulsion, a high-voltage battery pack, and a hybrid-electric turbogenerator.
This milestone confirms the functionality of a disruptive propulsion system in flight, providing critical data for advancing the decarbonization roadmap of the aviation industry.

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Daher has announced the next milestone in its collaborative quest with fellow OEMs Safran and Airbus towards the decarbonization of the aviation industry. The project’s Eco-Pulse demonstrator made its first test flight in hybrid-electric mode on November 29, from the company’s European aircraft division headquarters in Tarbes, France.

Engaging its six electric ePropellers—and confirming the proper function of the flight control computer, high-voltage battery pack, distributed electric propulsion, and hybrid electric turbogenerator, the Eco-Pulse took off at 10:32 a.m. local time and flew for 100 minutes, ranging up to roughly 12,500 feet according to flight tracking data. Its ePropellers were powered during the flight by both a battery and a turbogenerator.