A French hybrid electric propulsion company will release a 260 kW (350 horsepower) version of its unit for use in homebuilt/experimental and light sport aircraft next year. VoltAero intends to eventually put the HPU210 power unit in a certified aircraft called the Cassio in coming years but said it’s making it available for the amateur built market after a year of flight testing on a modified Cessna 337 called the Cassio S. “We’ve validated our hybrid propulsion architecture on our in-house Cassio S flying testbed, which has logged more than 185 flight hours and flown approximately 25,000 kilometers in a full range of operating conditions.”
The HPU 210 uses the four-cylinder supercharged engine used in Kawasaki’s most powerful super bike, the Ninja H2 SX 998 cc puts out 207 horsepower while screaming at 10,000 rpm. It provides about 70 percent of the power for the aircraft and the 60 kW electric motor kicks in when…
