Key moment in aviation as Rolls-Royce develops its electric plane
British company's Spirit of Innovation electric aircraft taxies out for first time ahead of world speed bid.
‘Shall we give it a go, then?” asks pilot Phill O’Dell as he and a small group of engineers quietly prepare to take a step towards making history at sleepy Gloucester airport....
Their small, sleek and low-slung, silver-and-blue aircraft – named Spirit of Innovation – attracts envious looks from pilots of other planes that look dated by comparison as it taxies out on to the runway for the first time, beginning essential tests ahead of its first planned flight in a few weeks.
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Atlantis Viewpoint
Rolls-Royce has made a great leap for the aviation industry by proving we can transform the way planes are powered. A speedy all-electric aircraft being developed with one eye on the record books has taken another step forward. The airplane travelled along a runway driven by its 400kw electric power-train for the first time last month. Taxiing is a critical test of the integration of the aircraft’s propulsion system, ahead of a flight test.
These first demonstration of its cutting edge propulsion systems can offer a blueprint for not just planes but air taxis and other futuristic forms of urban mobility. The answer to transforming an industry which represent 2% of global GHG emissions. It is only a matter of time before all aviation is powered by electric craft. Then, we need to ensure that the electricity production is coming totally from true clean energy sources for these new craft, otherwise we are only moving the polluting point from aircraft to power plants.
It is great to see new innovations to tackle some of our more challenging energy and transport transition problems. Hopefully in the near future this will be a reality. But in the meantime, we have all the technology we need to transition over 80% of all of our electricity production and transport methods to true clean energy systems.
