The centrally placed electric motor activates during an auto-rotation landing, which is performed by helicopter pilots in the event of a failure in the main turbo shaft engine.
In such an event, the electric motor, which is powered by a lithium-ion polymer battery, provides power to the rotor, allowing a pilot to control the helicopter during a descent.
‘The electric back-up system aims at easing the pilot’s work and reducing stress. I believe it will lead to even less fatalities, as well as less damages to the helicopter in case of engine failure in flight,’ said Jean-Michel Billig, Eurocopter’s executive vice-president of R&D.
‘It is all about improving safety by reducing the pilot’s stress and workload during an auto-rotation manoeuvre.
‘Integrating a system that included an engine, a converter and a battery into a helicopter, which already had a very complex system in terms of physical and technological characteristics, was very challenging,’ added Billig.
‘The power of the electric motor is sufficient to take over for a short period of time if the engine fails. Specifically, it comes into action at the two most difficult points of an auto-rotation landing: the beginning and just before landing. However, the power is not large enough to provide lift.’
Eurocopter recently demonstrated the electric motor in a test on the production version of its light single-engine AS350.
The EADS group subsidiary said its next step was to bring the concept to maturity and to evaluate its implementation on Eurocopter’s series production helicopters.
A spokesperson from Eurocopter told The Engineer that details relating to the size, weight and power rating of the electric motor remain confidential.
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