Oshkosh Air Show: Smiling DC-3’s and electric flight

Dubbed “the world’s greatest aviation celebration,” the annual Oshkosh Air Show has been putting the most futuristic technologies side-by-side with some of the most beautiful vintage planes — all in the same Wisconsin field. Formally known as the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) AirVenture Air Show, the hugely popular event has been taking place since 1953, with more than 500,000 people from all over the world attending each year — everyone from airplane builders and pilots, to aviation companies and enthusiasts. This year, we’re taking a look at GE Aviation’s presence at the show — which includes the push to radically change how planes of the future use electric power — and getting a close-up look at the main attractions via flip-cam videos shot by GE’s Eden Cruz. Here’s a quick peek at one of the daily air shows at the weeklong event.

Another big attraction is AeroShell Square, which is really the air show’s center stage. All types of aircraft are featured on the grounds — such as an F-16 “with GE engines that the pilot declared he loves,” Eden says, a B-17 bomber, and experimental aircraft. It’s a happy place to be, judging by the ear-to-ear smile on the DC-3 “Duggy.”

During the air show, GE signed an agreement with the University of Dayton to launch an Electric Power Integrated Systems Research & Development Center — a major R&D move that fortunately comes with the acronym EPISCENTER. It will focus on advanced energy management on planes — generating power, distributing and controlling it, and creating new energy storage technologies. In the clip below, taken at the signing ceremony, Austin Schaffter, Vice President, Electrical Power Systems for GE Aviation, explains that it’s not just about replacing hydraulics and pneumatics, but taking a “systems” approach that weighs the interaction of all of the electrical components simultaneously. The Aviation team says it’s like creating a “Smart Grid” on airplanes — and in cars, too, as the research will be applied to all kinds of vehicles.

Another piece of the future of electric flight at Oshkosh came with GE’s announcement that it just won a Research and Development contract from the Air Force Research Laboratories to develop advanced power distribution technology. For example, after a generator creates the electrical power on a plane, historically it’s been distributed by relatively slow electro-mechanical contactors. The new research is into so-called “solid-state” technology, which offers intelligent switching that manages the process more efficiently and far faster. The GE team explains that the speed is critically important when developing aircraft that rely on much more electrical power than current planes.

Also focusing on electric flight was Pranav Patel, chief marketing officer for GE Aviation Systems, who gave a talk about Advanced Battery Systems at the Aviation Learning Center at the air show. Pranav explained that in the future, batteries will have “brains” — which means the battery management system will know how to manage the voltage, current, temperature and more.

But at the heart of Oshkosh are all of the pilots who build their own planes and fly them to the show each year. In the video below, Eden catches up with David Gallagher, an Evaluation engineer in GE’s Assembly, Test and Overhaul Center of Excellence, who flew to the air show in his Zenith Zodiac, which he built himself over the course of 22 months.

Welcome to the Oshkosh Ritz: Throughout the “Homebuilt Area” of Oshkosh are pilots who have built their own planes and each year come to the air show to learn from each other. This section includes forums, workshops and a campground — although many pilots will set up a tent and sleep right beneath the wings of their planes. You can see some of the four-star rooms in the background behind this vintage plane at the show.

Learn more in these GE Reports stories:
* “Size doesn’t matter: Flying GE from Oshkosh to Wales”
* “Technology, thrills & GE deals fly at Oshkosh Air Show”
* “Blades of glory: Flying high with GE’s new turboprops”

* Read more GE Aviation stories on GE Reports
* Watch the official Oshkosh video, narrated Harrison Ford