Today, we are chatting with Jean Botti, CEO and CTO of VoltAero. Mr. Botti was enthusiastic about the general interest in ‘green aviation’, and wanted to focus our attention on two things: 1) their world-renowned ‘Cassio 1’, which is a prototype 600kW 800hp aircraft that recently completed a 4000 mile trip, and a big tour of France of 3000 miles, 2) they’re debuting the ‘Cassio 2’ in Oshkosh which has completely new aerodynamics, but retains all the knowledge we’ve acquired from the powertrain of Cassio 1, their prototype.
Aero-News observed that Cassio 1 was a Jet fuel electric hybrid that offers a high level of redundancy and safety. Mr Botti concurred and added that Cassio 2 is primarily an electric aircraft powertrain that allows them to fly pure electric, pure thermal, or hybrid, and this is very important for safety. All takeoffs and landings are electric, distances within 100 miles are electric, beyond that you need to have recharge-on-board, which is what they do with their system, thereby extending the range up to 800 miles for 3.5 hours.
If you have a problem at takeoff with electricity, the thermal engine kicks in and allows you to come back to the runway very easily, so you don’t have to stress. In a similar fashion, when you’re in cruise flight, if you have any problems with either the electrical or thermal system, there is no need to panic because this plane will get you home safely. You don’t need to deploy your parachute or whatever, it’s got a dual source of energy, and that’s very important. Aero-News asked Mr. Botti how AeroVolt fared during its own tour de France, and he stated that “it was an adventure, we went into 13 cities we planned originally to make 11, but the weather was so bad that we had to make an extra stop so we visited 13 cities. We covered 3000 kilometers in six days, and we have been very happy because of the reliability of this plane”, despite the bad weather and everything, they had no problems. This demonstrator aircraft, Cassio 1 has completed 120 flights
and 100 hours of usage, and they look forward to bringing it back to OshKosh next year.
Aero-News acknowledged that VoltAero has a Cassio model 330, 400, and 600 series, clearly an evolving line. When asked of his views on the future, Mr. Botti shared that “green aviation is a new way to create global regional aviation…to better use the existing infrastructure in the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world”. He sees underutilized airports and the fact that 90% of the population currently going into the big hubs as opportunities for green aviation to change that landscape and make the infrastructure more accessible. He further added that Cassio 1, the prototype this has a very good lift-drag ratio which allows it to glide very well, subsequently increasing the range by 50%, and possibly reaching cruise speeds of 200kts.
VoltAero, a privately held company, was founded in 2017 is a manufacturer of electric aircraft for eco-friendly flight. They manufacture hybrid aircraft that are powered by electric motors with hybrid-electric propulsion, thereby enabling clients to enter a new era of electric flights.
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