Showcases Technology Demonstrator at AirVenture

By Chris Batcheller

The engine installation in the Sikorsky S-300C in the Learning Center Hangar is far from typical. The typical Lycoming Engine has been replaced by a single electric motor and two large battery boxes have been fitted to either side of the helicopter. Crack prone baffles and leaky hoses have all been removed.

Chris Van Buiten, Director of Sikorsky Innovations said 'our goal is to instigate the dialog around electric technology', he continued 'we are looking to tomorrow and 20 years in advance'. Their motivation is to mature technology, find technology partners and instigate discussion according to Van Buiten. He commented what they also want the engineers start to warming up to a whole new technology.

The team wanted to start with a robust and highly proven helicopter so they installed a 190 hp electric motor in a Sikorsky S-300C helicopter. He commented that the horsepower and torque curves have been programmed to match the Lycoming engine that it replaced. He directed the engineers, 'During the development program don't fire a single neuron on the drive system, we want ever neuron focused on the electrons". That allowed the engineers to focus on the motor, motor controller,  and battery technology.

The team worked with US Hybrid and Eagle Technology to bring the hardware together. The helicopter is designed to be transparent to the pilot. Sikorsky has developed some avionics specific to electric aircraft to display information on the electric propulsion system.

The team has also included dual motor controllers. Engineer Jonathan Hartman noted that one of the goals of the project is to identify redundancy requirements. Currently the helicopter has two motor controllers that check each other, triple redundancy in wiring in battery packs and dual redundancy in the warning system to the pilot.

The helicopter has yet to fly. The team plans to start tie down testing where the helicopter is run tied to the ground. The team plans to complete extensive flight testing starting later this year.

FMI:  http://www.sikorsky.com