NASA reveals the first images of its all-electric X-57 Maxwell plane - NASA X-57 Maxwell artist concept 2.jpg ...

....that will be 500 per cent more efficient than conventional aircraft while
producing zero emissions and less noise pollution

more at
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...ell-plane.html

*The artist impression images show the prototype all-electric aircraft in flight

•It will eventually be used to create the standards used for future electric
planes

•The X-57 Maxwell is the first manned X-plane produced by NASA in two decades

NASA has shared the first pictures showing its new all-electric X-57 Maxwell
plane that will be quieter and up to 500 per cent more efficient than
conventional aircraft.

It will be the first manned X-plane produced by NASA in two decades and is
designed to help develop standards for future all-electric aircraft.

The X-57 Maxwell started life as a four-seater Tecnam P2006T conventional light
aircraft that had its piston engines replaced with 12 electric motors.

NASA says it has bespoke skinny wings that will boost efficiency by reducing
drag in flight and has rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to provide power.

The aircraft has been developed by a team of engineers, researchers, pilots,
visual artists, and many other people at NASA.

It gets its takeoff and landing propulsion from 12 high-lift electric motors on
the edge of the wing before wingtip propellors take over when in flight.

These are just prototype artist impressions, rather than the completed plane.

NASA says when it is fully developed the X-57 could be 500 per cent more
efficient at cruising speeds than conventional aircraft.

This would be while producing no in-flight emissions and much less noise.

The small, experimental airplane has a high-aspect ratio wing and 5ft diameter
wingtip propellers it used to recover energy while in flight.

'The X-57 aircraft uses 12 small motors located across the wing to increase
airflow so that the wing produces lift even when the aircraft is flying slowly,'
NASA said.

The craft will eventually be used to set the standard for all future all
electric aircraft and provide rules for those planes to be licensed to operate.

NASA said: 'Electric power is efficient and reliable. Electric motors can be
placed anywhere on the plane to improve efficiency.'

The plane requires 'no fuel, no combustion engine' and 'It's powered 100 per
cent by a cutting-edge distributed electric propulsion system,' said NASA.

The X-57 gets its name from a Scottish physicist who pioneered electromagnetism.

'James Clerk Maxwell, a 19th century Scottish physicist, pioneered the theory of
electromagnetism,' NASA said.

Adding: 'This paved the way for Einstein's theory of special relativity and
Planck's formulation of quantum mechanics.'

The plane is a 'small, experimental airplane powered by electricity,' according
to NASA, who say it's 'all-electric technology will make flying cleaner,
quieter, and more sustainable.'

It's part of the X-plane series of aircraft developments. X-planes are
experimental US aircraft and rockets that test new technologies and aerodynamic
concepts.

This has included the Bell X1 - the first plane to fly the speed of sound at
Mach 1 - crewed by 'Right Stuff' legend Chuck Yeager in 1945.

The X-15 holds the unofficial world speed and altitude records for an airplane
after reaching Mach 6.7 and 354,200 feet - it was flown seven times by first man
on the Moon Neil Armstrong before he became an astronaut.

The more recent X-29 was built of carbon fibre composite material to allow for
greater flexibility and was the first forward swept wing aircraft to fly
supersonic.




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