Ampaire Inc., a developer of hybrid-electric powertrains for general aviation and commuter aircraft, has had a recent flurry of activity as it attempts to become one of the first companies to put an aircraft engine with a non-combustion component into passenger service.
Over the past 15 months, Ampaire has acquired two other companies with electrification technology for aircraft, arranged for a source of sustainable aviation fuel, set a new aviation record with a 12-hour flight in a plane outfitted with its hybrid-electric engine and relocated its headquarters from Hawthorne Airport into a larger hangar at Long Beach Airport.
It’s all part of a grand strategy to be a pioneering company in decarbonizing air travel.
“We are seeking to be the company that powers everything that can fly with a hybrid-electric power train,” said Chief Executive Kevin Noertker. “That starts with the retrofit of existing planes, then moves to originally designed planes and then to (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.”
Noertker, a former aerospace engineer at Falls Church, Virginia, contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., co-founded Ampaire eight years ago with fellow Northrop engineer Cory Combs. They immediately started working on the hybrid-electric powertrain, which Noertker called the “gateway” to all the advanced electrification technologies for air travel. In previous interviews, he likened it to the Toyota Prius, which has acted as the gateway to the full electrification of ground vehicles.
Noertker said the company is at least halfway through a three-year process with the Federal Aviation Administration for certifying the hybrid-electric powertrain. A major milestone on that path occurred in December when Ampaire’s test plane flew 12 straight hours in loops around Camarillo Airport – setting a record for the most consecutive hours flown by a hybrid-electric aircraft.
He added that the company hopes the FAA certification comes through by the…
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