A Hybrid Electric Plane Takes Flight

on August 11, 2011 at 6:00 AM


This plane promises to use 25% less fuel.

With most planes sending impressive contrails of condensation out behind them, the Siemens High Flyer stood out at the recent Paris Air Show, a biannual show of mostly army aircraft, for its quiet and unassuming look. It is a hybrid machine that needs to be both charged and refueled before flying in the air–the motor runs at a constant 30 kW and burns varying amounts of fuel with usage.


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The plane uses Siemen’s PLM solutions (Product Lifecycle Management) to help automate the manufacturing process along the value-added chain to reduce costs of production and increase efficiency of production.

The PLM system is shown in action on a Siemens video featured in Automation Innovation. Large-scale hybrid technology is also at work on the ground, as new technology from defense contractor BAE demonstrates.

Shown here as it takes off, flies and land, the video explains how the engine is refueled mid-flight and how the hybrid-technology might soon be deployed for commercial-scale airplanes. The technology–explained fully in this video–very much mimics that of hybrid cars.

“We have to develop even lighter motors and power electronics and by that we can transfer electromobility from cars to aircraft and make aircraft and make airspace a little bit greener” Siemens Corporate Technology representative Frank Anton says in this video.

This video originally appeared of the SiemensTV2 YouTube channel.