NASA Demo Program Starts Doing the Legwork on Electrified Commuter Planes 

Indian regional carrier Air Tindi has promised one of its De Havilland Dash 7 aircraft for use under the magniX electric powertrain program, where it will be used as a testbed to establish the feasibility of their magni650 engine in a real-world environment. 

The news follows magniX’s successful completion of their 1st phase of testing in the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Testing there focused on assessing its power us, 800-volt operations, and thermal performance using their magni650 engine at altitudes up to 27,500 feet. The company snagged a $74.3 million contract in 2021, assisting with NASA’s testing facility as a corporate partner. The Electrified PowerTrain FLight Demonstration program has made pretty good time so far, finishing off its preliminary design review in February and giving the go-ahead to install the magniX unit on the Dash 7. If successful, the greater program should help to accelerate the pace of putting electric powerplants into civilian service, bearing out their strengths and weaknesses and doing much of the busywork associated with re-engining an airframe. Should they live up to all their promises, future operators of twin turbines could have a pretty nifty option to keep aging-but-thirsty aircraft in the air decades beyond their original retirement dates.

“It is exciting to see how brilliantly our magni650 engine performed in this first phase of testing at the NEAT facility,” said Ben Loxton, Vice-President of NASA EPFD Program at magniX. “The NEAT test campaign is a cornerstone of the NASA EPFD program and achieving success under conditions up to 27,500 feet is a significant milestone. Results such as this, and our recent Letter of Intent from Harbour Air for 50 of our magni650 engines, are major steps on our path to leading the electrification of regional aircraft.”

FMI: www.magnix.aero