First Hybrid Aircraft Takes Off

The biggest reason is that batteries were way to heavy to use in an airplane and still return positive results. But now we have advanced lithium-polymer cells which can be used to power the propellers of an aircraft.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, UK, and Boeing managed to create and even test flight a hybrid airplane recently, which is considered to be the first of its kind to get airborne.

"Although hybrid cars have been available for more than a decade, what's been holding back the development of hybrid or fully-electric aircraft until now is battery technology," says project lead from Cambridge's Department of Engineering Dr Paul Robertson.

"Until recently, they have been too heavy and didn't have enough energy capacity. But with the advent of improved lithium-polymer batteries, similar to what you’d find in a laptop computer, hybrid aircraft – albeit at a small scale – are now starting to become viable," he added.

Their creation is a single-seater light plane which gets powered by a Honda 4-stroke piston engine along with an electric motor/generator. The propeller can be powered by the whole system or by each motor individually depending on conditions.

For example, during takeoff, both the electric motor and the combustion engine are working together and provide enough power to put the aircraft up in the air. Once there, the engine can be switched to “generator mode” and recharge the battery while the propeller is driven by the electric motor.

The aircraft first did a few hops on the runway after which the real flight test took place at an altitude of over 1,500 ft (457 m). Results show the hybrid system is 30 percent more efficient than the conventional recipe. Further testing will commence to optimize the powertrain.