Jason Ford

EADS unveils four-engine electric aerobatic plane

News

The world’s first four-engine electric aerobatic plane is set to be unveiled at the Green Aviation Show in France.

The Cri-Cri, based on the world’s smallest twin-engine aircraft, uses a specially developed battery management system to provide enough power for 30 minutes of cruise flight at 110kph.

European defence company EADS, working with Aero Composites Saintonge and the Green Cri-Cri Association, built the plane as ‘a flying laboratory’ to test new technology for the development of environmentally friendly, high-performance aircraft.

‘Today, electrical propulsion fits pretty well with some applications [such as city cars],’ said Emmanuel Joubert, manager of the Cri-Cri programme at EADS Innovation Works.

‘The idea was to choose the right aircraft where electrical machines can bring more power and boost during acrobatics and better performance during climb phase,’ he added. ’The Cri-Cri is well adapted for that and its electrification by four engines results in a world-first.’

The plane’s designers used several new technologies to adapt the craft from the original 1970s Cri-Cri, designed in France by Michel Colomban as a home-built aerobatics plane.

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