Mission Analysis and Aircraft Sizing of a Hybrid-Electric Regional Aircraft

The purpose of this study was to explore advanced airframe and propulsion technologies for a small regional transport aircraft concept (approximately 50 passengers), with the goal of creating a conceptual design that delivers significant cost and performance advantages over current aircraft in that class. In turn, this could encourage airlines to open up new markets, reestablish service at smaller airports, and increase mobility and connectivity for all passengers. To meet these study goals, hybrid-electric propulsion was analyzed as the primary enabling technology. The advanced regional aircraft is analyzed with four levels of electrification, 0 percent electric with 100 percent conventional, 25 percent electric with 75 percent conventional, 50 percent electric with 50 percent conventional, and 75 percent electric with 25 percent conventional for comparison purposes. Engine models were developed to represent projected future turboprop engine performance with advanced technology and estimates of the engine weights and flowpath dimensions were developed. A low-order multi-disciplinary optimization (MDO) environment was created that could capture the unique features of parallel hybrid-electric aircraft. It is determined that at the size and range of the advanced turboprop: The battery specific energy must be 750 watt-hours per kilogram or greater for the total energy to be less than for a conventional aircraft. A hybrid vehicle would likely not be economically feasible with a battery specific energy of 500 or 750 watt-hours per kilogram based on the higher gross weight, operating empty weight, and energy costs compared to a conventional turboprop. The battery specific energy would need to reach 1000 watt-hours per kilogram by 2030 to make the electrification of its propulsion an economically feasible option. A shorter range and/or an altered propulsion-airframe integration could provide more favorable results

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Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Robert L. Sicard, chief of the base at the FAA aeronautical center at Will Rogers Field

It'Ll Be A Picnic

Photograph taken for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "With these hostesses at the fifth annual picnic Saturday for Federal Aviation Agency Aeronautical Center employees.

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Photograph taken for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "Warning: We are going to tell about some one else's bright young daughter, then use a bit of space for your own. Janie Suzanne Cox upsets the old idea that children changing schools get a harmful effect on their educational development. She was born in Hawaii, where her father, Joe, was a naval aviator. Her second and third years were in San Diego, four to follow in Philadelphia, when her father was a test pilot. then second through fourth grades in Los Angeles.

[Photograph 2012.201.B1306.0636]

Photograph used for a story in the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Caption: "D.D. Thomas, acting administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, will speak in Oklahoma City Saturday at the dedication of the new air traffic control tower at Will rogers World Airport.

[Photograph 2012.201.B1289.0806]

Photograph used for a story in the Oklahoma Times newspaper. Caption: "Dr. Jerry Tobias, chief of communication processes in the Aviation Psychology Laboratory of the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aeromedical Institute, has been elected a Fellow of the American Speech and Hearing Association.

[Photograph 2012.201.B0096.0569]

Photograph used for a newspaper owned by the Oklahoma Publishing Company. Caption: "INTERNATIONAL training conference for air traffic control personnel in Paris in May will hear Perry S. Bolyard.

Maintenance of airport surface detection equipment (ASDE) facilities; an FAA handbook.

"SM P 6330.1."Mode of access: Internet