Sikorsky Innovations will unveil The Firefly Aircraft – the company’s first electric helicopter – on Monday at the AirVenture exhibition in Oshkosh, Wisc.
The Innovations team on Project Firefly, which is part of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. based in Stratford, took the propulsion system out of an S-300C helicopter and replaced it with a high-efficiency, electric motor and digital controller, along with a lithium ion energy storage system.
Firefly features an all-electric drive system, a safe and efficient high-density storage system, automated monitoring and alert technologies, and next generation cockpit displays, according to a Sikorsky press release.
The 200-horsepower motor increases the energy efficiency of the aircraft by 300 percent.
While the aircraft will debut Monday along with other electric aircraft in the Aviation Learning Center in Oshkosh, the Firefly’s first flight is not anticipated until later this year. Ground tests and safety of flight reviews must be complete in accordance with Sikorsky standards for all aircrafts.
“World fuel reserves are continuing to dwindle as demand increases. This inversion of the supply/demand cycle will increase operating costs of all fuel-based vehicles, especially in the aviation industry. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the commercial helicopter market, where the critical role rotorcraft play could be threatened by spiraling fuel costs,” said Mark Miller, Vice President, Sikorsky Research & Engineering, in a statement.
Sikorsky is a company under United Technologies Corp. in Hartford.
