Autumn in France

VoltAero, the French aerospace company founded by former Airbus chief technical officer Didier Esteyne, has broken ground on a final-assembly line on the Rochefort Charente-Maritime Airport (LRH) in France’s southwestern Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

The 7,874-square-foot facility will serve as the build-up site and delivery center for VoltAero’s inchoate line of Cassio general aviation regional aircraft, and will house the contraption’s final-assembly line, a workshop, a logistics area, and design/engineering offices. Operated at full-capacity, VoltAero anticipates the LRH installation will produce approximately 150 Cassio family aircraft annually. Moreover, the structure’s layout allows for future expansion to an ultimate area of 24,278-square-feet.

In addition to meeting or exceeding the requirements of France’s RT 2005 regulations for energy-efficient buildings, the new assembly facility features a mixed concrete/wood design that makes use, where appropriate, of wooden floors, as well as rainwater harvesting and photovoltaic panels for electrical power.

Construction of VoltAero’s new plant is underway and slated to continue through August 2024.

VoltAero’s Chief Technology Officer and CEO Jean Botti stated: “With today’s groundbreaking milestone for our final-assembly facility, VoltAero is once again delivering on its promise of bringing a clean-sheet design airplane to market for safe, quiet, efficient, and eco-friendly flight using electric-hybrid propulsion.”

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region president Alain Rousset remarked: “The production of Cassio aircraft at Rochefort Airport ensures that our region will be at the forefront of the aeronautics sector’s decarbonization. Nouvelle-Aquitaine was one of the first partners for Jean Botti and his teams as they began developing their hybrid-electric aircraft concept, and we look forward to seeing Cassio airplanes as they are delivered from the final assembly line.”

The construction of VoltAero’s final-assembly facility at Rochefort Airport will be managed by a regional association of airports known as the Syndicat Mixte des Aéroports de La Rochelle - Ile de Ré et Rochefort - Charente-Maritime. The prime contractor by which the plant will be built is Rochefort-based SD Architectes agency.

Syndicat Mixte des Aéroports de La Rochelle - Ile de Ré et Rochefort - Charente-Maritime president Gérard Pons asserted: "VoltAero represents the type of highly innovative companies that we are looking to support at Rochefort Airport in developing the aviation industry’s future.”

In addition to the region’s road, rail, and sea transportation links, the site upon which VoltAero’s new assembly structure is being erected affords the eVTOL-maker direct access to Rochefort Airport’s existing 9,186-foot-long-by-147-foot-wide runway.

VoltAero’s Cassio 330 is a single-pilot, four-passenger, Short Take-off and Landing (STOL) aircraft, the numerical designation of which pertains to the machine’s combined hybrid-electric power-rating of—more or less—330-kilowatts.

The hybrid-electric propulsion scheme by which the Cassio 330 is compelled aloft comprises a 221-horsepower, four-cylinder Kawasaki reciprocating engine and a 241-horsepower Safran ENGINeUS smart electric motor. The latter powerplant drives a single, two-meter-diameter, aft-facing, centerline-thrusting pusher-propeller.

The Cassio’s electrical system provides power during taxi, takeoff, primary flight, and landing. The Kawasaki internal-combustion engine recharges the aircraft’s batteries while in-flight and serves as a backup in the event of electrical malfunction. 

In all, VoltAero plans to produce three iterations of its Cassio design, each sharing a high degree of modularity and commonality. Certification of the Cassio 330 will be followed by the releases and certifications of the six-seat Cassio 480, with a combined electric-hybrid power output of (you guessed it) 480-kilowatts, and the 10-12-seat, Cassio 660, with a combined electric-hybrid power output of …

VoltAero’s design for the Cassio aircraft family is based on a sleek, aerodynamically-optimized fuselage, a forward canard, and an aft-set wing with twin booms that support a high-set horizontal tail—after the fashion of a radically modernized, Cessna 337 Skymaster.

VoltAero has selected AKIRA Technologies to facilitate the integration and validation of Cassio’s hybrid propulsion unit. A fellow-French concern, AKIRA Technologies—which formerly specialized in the design and production of energy conversion systems and test benches—has been tasked with designing and developing the Cassio hybrid propulsion unit’s gearbox, integrating subject gearbox with the extant Kawasaki/Safran architecture, and ground-testing the lot.

FMI: www.voltaero.aero