Sponsor:

Boeing

Industry Mentor:

Cameron Carnegie
Matt Orr
Bill Connell
Abe Askari

Faculty Adviser:

Behcet Acikmese
Jinkyu Yang

Recent developments in electric motors, controllers, power generation and most importantly batteries have led to the development of hybrid gas-electric cars such as the Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt. These vehicles use a combination of energy storage in fossil fuels and chemical batteries to achieve their fuel efficiency, range, and performance goals. There are also fully electric cars such as the Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf. The technology for batteries in the next decade will be challenged to store enough energy, by themselves, for practical general aviation travel.

This project is for the design of a STOL Hybrid-Electric STOL air taxi. The entry into service (EIS) is 2028 for a STOL 4-seater with 400 nmi of range. The intent is to have energy storage to supplement takeoff, climb, go-around and emergencies via batteries and electric motors with an engine providing additional power and/or direct propulsion for cruise to extend the range and recharge the batteries during cruise.