NASA has selected Tecnam’s P2006T, more commonly referred to as the Tecnam Twin, as the base platform for a new all-electric program named the Leading Edge Asynchronous Propeller Technology project, or LEAPTech for short. Within a few years, NASA hopes to fly a prototype of the airplane modified with a 31-foot wing equipped with 18 electric motors powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries. The conceptual airplane project currently goes under the name X-plane.
In addition to not having to create an entire airplane from scratch, using an existing airframe as a test bed for LEAPTech has the benefit of being able to compare the performance of the X-plane with the performance of the P2006T in its current form, NASA said. The goal of the project is to evaluate whether electric power can make flying more efficient, safer, less expensive and more environmentally friendly.
