Oshkosh Part 2: Flying ‘smart grids’ & a salute to vets

The Oshkosh Air Show just wrapped, and as we described in our first story, one of the themes this year was electric flight. As Chet Fuller, president of GE Aviation Civil Systems, explained at the first ever World Symposium on Electric Flight during the air show, the future of flight will involve electrically powered components taking on a much bigger share of the plane. Importantly, all of those new technologies have to interact seamlessly and with maximum efficiency. “It’s basically putting smart grid on the airplane,” he says.

It’s the norm at Oshkosh: The annual Wisconsin air show — dubbed “the world’s greatest aviation celebration” — is a major destination for do-it-yourself pilots, many of whom build their own planes.

As the Chicago Tribune wrote this week, “The concept of electric aircraft generated a resounding buzz amid the drone of pistons and the roar of gas turbine jet engines” at the air show. They describe the “electric airliner” of the future as “a hyper-efficient aircraft as large as a Boeing 737, although weighing much less. It would run quieter and cleaner than any other commercial plane ever made, requiring two-thirds less energy, according to NASA-funded research. The hybrid-powered jetliner of the future would operate on batteries or jet fuel, depending on whether it’s cruising or taking off and climbing, when the most thrust is required.”

But even now electric aircraft technologies are poised to make a big impact in terms of creating a greener footprint for planes. “It’s critical in lowering emissions, lowering fuel burn, lowering weight, and making the aircraft quieter,” Chet explains in the video clip below.

On display at one of GE’s booths at Oshkosh were advanced electric power technologies to intelligently manage the energy throughout a plane. For example, GE is focusing on battery R&D, since energy storage while flying will become increasingly important if an electrically powered plane is going to stay aloft for longer periods of time. Other technologies on display include motors, flight control systems, and silicon carbide technologies being developed by GE Global Research, which will enable components to have a smaller footprint and reduced weight — while increasing efficiency and performance.

For example, the miniaturization of key power modules on planes of the future will potentially cut the space used and the weight by one-third; the modules will have twice the reliability; and they’ll be able to withstand temperatures that are three times higher than those endured by today’s technologies. And unlike today, in which a plane’s electric power creates peaks and valleys of energy usage, aircraft of the future will be able to intelligently manage power loads so that the spikes are eliminated and the usage is smoothed — making the plane more efficient, just like a smart grid on the ground.

In the clip below, GE’s Eden Cruz — who shot all of our Oshkosh flip cam videos — catches up with Lou Vogt for a walkthrough of GE’s Electric Power booth, which was designed to give the non-technical public an overview of how all of the components of an electrically powered plane need to interact.

And in the video below, which was running at GE’s booth, you can see the evolution of airborne electric power, starting with the first flight using an electric compass in 1913.

As Mark Moore, an aerospace engineer and conceptual design expert at NASA, told the Tribune, “Electric propulsion will be a ‘game-changer and transform aeronautics in the next 20 to 30 years.” The paper continued: “Moore said the first breakthroughs will occur with small aircraft, personal air vehicles that will replace the automobile on some trips; an expansion of unmanned aerial vehicles, currently used by the military, to civilian use; followed by much more environmentally responsible commercial transport planes.”

Whereas GE’s theme was electrical power, Oshkosh’s overall theme this year was a “Salute to Veterans.’” In the clip below, Mark Neubauer, a GE Honda Systems engineer who has been attending the show for 15 years, gives Eden a tour of the “Warbirds” area of the air show.

The tie to veterans is of particular importance to GE, as there are 11,000 veterans working at the company. (In fact, GE was just ranked as the number one employer for veterans in a survey by Military Times EDGE magazine.) As Mark notes in the clip below, 130 GE employees are currently on active duty.

Learn more in these GE Reports stories:
* “Oshkosh Air Show: Smiling DC-3’s and electric flight”
* “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 by Harrison Ford