Superconducting-engine Based Electric Airplane to be displayed at MAKS 2021

The first Russian electric airplane, whose engine works on a superconducting system, will be showcased at MAKS 2021 air show, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told reporters on Wednesday.

“This is what was done with the Fund of Advanced Studies – an electric airplane based on superconductivity principles,” Borisov said in comments quoted  by TASS.

In January, a Russian research institute announced ground tests of the world’s first electric hybrid aircraft engine based on a superconducting magnet system in Chaplygin in Novosibirsk, Russia.

This is probably the first aircraft engine based on superconducting system that has entered ground tests. A superconductor offers no resistance in the transfer of electric current making it possible to generate substantially higher electric power to run a turbine from a small power source as compared to an engine of similar size without a superconductor.

Following the successful ground tests, a flying laboratory based on the Yak-40 aircraft will be created, according to the General Director of the Research Center Zhukovsky, Andrey Dutov had told Russian MoD’s TV channel, tvzvezda.ru reported on February 5.

The General Director added that such aircraft should commence flying around 2030.  The engine has no comparables in the world, he said, adding that and representatives of Airbus and Siemens approached the institute with a proposal for cooperation.

The creators of the electric motor hope that in two years there will be another laboratory that will be able to fly on all electric motors without additional (fuel based) motors, Dutov had said.