Why Not Improve the Ground Gear While You’re Working on Electric Flight?

Wright Electric, Inc has found another use for their proprietary electric motor tech, creating the Dynamo 30 kW Generator at the behest of the U.S. Air Force.

Would it be overkill for some small aircraft operators? Probably, but those that usually drag around a giant trailer cart will see a lot to love here. Wright's characteristically efficient electric motor tech will one day be used for electric conversions of existing aircraft, but developers at Wright quickly found their equipment could be easily used as an aircraft start cart–and went from there. The resulting Dynamo Generator can be used as a microgrid hub or general multi-use generator, and is apparently good enough to have a handful of pre-orders from DOD clientele already. The benefits against a standard start cart of similar performance is simple: Wright says it offers a “90% reduction in combined system weight: 8,000 pounds to 800 pounds.” They cite less vibration, less space, and about 50% greater efficiency over legacy generators of similar size and capacity.

It’s understandable why the DOD would be interested. The idea of small VTOL or STOL operations is all the rage right now, with AFWERKS and DARPA plugging away on whatever AAM platform they can conceivably use in-theater. Whatever shape those aircraft eventually take, they’ll require equally modernized ground support equipment. It’s much easier to haul around a sub-1,000-pound cart from one improvised airfield to the next, than something closer to 10,000 pounds.

Wright showed off their technical chops on the project by describing their development process. “We learned that while inverter generators have been rising in popularity in the below-2 kW portable generator market, no one had developed an inverter generator at the 30+ kW level due to the need for a 30 kW 3-phase inverter.However, Wright had developed a 3-phase 30 kW inverter for Dynamo! We realized we had something unique. So we started speaking with potential customers, and within a few months we had 300+ pre-orders for a commercial variant of Dynamo.”

The “commercial” version omits the aircraft start card capability, which led to its use in the film industry, maritime use, and snagged some 300+ orders for them. Wright has also floated the offer to sell their 30-kW 3-phase inverters to OEMs of other generators, apparently content to share their secret sauce as long as it supports their greater strategic aims.

The commercial variant is only a generator, without the aircraft start cart feature. One customer wanted to use it for the specialized needs of the film industry. Another wanted to use it as part of a battery-solar backup power module. A third wanted to use it in a space-constrained maritime application.

FMI: www.weflywright.com