SAE Update - May 2022 - 23

EVENTS
flights are planned out.
At Ampaire, similar testing
different types of aircrafts with a
focus on regional vehicles that
can help significantly reduce fuel
use and emissions by using
electric and hybrid engines.
Electric engines, as defined by
SAE International, convert
electrical energy into rotational
motion that turns the front
propellers. A recent test using a
completely electric engine
allowed a plan to travel 418 miles
in the UK.
The decision to look into
electric solutions comes as
current sustainable aviation fuels
and fueling stations are not
enough to reach the industry's
sustainability goals.
" Right now, the demand is
much, much higher than the
supply, " said Susan Ying, Senior
Vice President at Ampaire and
SAE Board of Directors Vice
President of Aerospace. " The
consistent suppliers you can
count with one hand-4 to 5
suppliers, and this is for
hundreds of thousands of
airplanes that need to fly around
the world. And this is at 5
airports around the world-2 in
Norway, 1 in Sweden, 1 in the U.S.,
and 1 in Australia. In business as
UPDATE
usual, we can only accommodate 5-10% of the goal by
2050, and that is just not acceptable. So we really do
need other solutions. "
As industry moves forward, it's also important to
keep in mind where it's been. With its more than 100year
history as a leader in aerospace, Boeing is keenly
aware of the challenges that come with industry as it
ages.
" Boeing is over 100 years old, and it's got the
processes and specifications that have built up over
100 years. But as it grows and is precedence-based,
its complexity grows in its precedence base, " said
Jason Clark, Vice President, Boeing Commercial
Airplanes, Fabrication and Supply Chain
Engineering. " We have to consider that property has
blended in things we once considered very
proprietary. At a certain point in time, the
competition of the production system will be not
there. The technologies will be relatively the same. If
you look to automotive as a guide, you see that same
thing. "
Ying also referenced the automotive industry,
noting that the work in the sector with electric
vehicles has allowed for faster movement in aerospace
as this sector looks to adopt similar technology.
But no matter the focus for the path, its one that
must be traveled together.
" What we have got to make sure is that we're
putting in place the things that allow this great
industry of ours to thrive, making sure we are in that
continuous improvement mode while maintaining the
performance mode we need for our customers, " Clark
said. " This is a global industry. We cannot do this
without having a diverse industry workforce spread
across the planet. " n
A longer, previously published version of this article was written as
an SAE blog post by Tory Irwin and can be found here.
May 2022
23
https://www.sae.org/blog/aerotech-trial-error-keynote?_ga=2.134574065.1466473992.1649189671-660935854.1633461645
SAE Update - May 2022

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