Daher is highlighting its vision for sustainable flight at EBACE 2022 in Geneva this week, featuring the EcoPulse™ distributed propulsion hybrid aircraft under development by Daher, Safran, and Airbus with the support of France’s CORAC civil aviation research council. The purpose of the project is to develop the key architectural elements for future hybrid airplanes.
Didier Kayat, Daher CEO, stated: “In taking bold steps to decarbonize airplanes, we need to evolve the way we build them – applying innovative materials and rethinking their industrialization – while also decarbonizing the entire process that leads to the aircraft manufacturer’s assembly lines.”
The EcoPulse™ demonstrator has now been powered up at Daher’s Tarbes facility in preparation for flight test later this year. The demonstrator uses the TBM 900 series turboprop as the baseline airframe with minimal systems equipment and augments its standard turboprop propulsion system with six 50KW electric motors driving six wing-mounted propellers.
Kayat commented on the company’s decision to create three new innovation centers, called Techcenters, to cover each of its core businesses: aircraft manufacturing, aerospace equipment, and logistics. The Aerostructures Techcenter in Nantes will accelerate Daher’s innovation in composite structural components while reducing their technological maturity lead time. The Aircraft Techcenter in Tarbes is dedicated to the aircraft manufacturing business, and includes materials laboratories, rapid prototyping workships, and facilities for mechanical engineering testing, systems integration, as well as flight test preparation and operations.
The Daher TBM960, the latest member of the TBM family, is on display at EBACE. The TBM960 is a high-performance turboprop aimed at both business and personal markets that features fully integrated engine and propeller controls for easier single-pilot operations.
Daher also owns Kodiak Aircraft, which makes the most advanced 10-seat short take-off and landing turboprop. With single-pilot operations, the Kodiak 100 is built for multiple missions, including unimproved runways, and can be equipped with floats.
