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CCS working with Eviation Aircraft on Alice

28 Jun '19

3 min read

Pic: Composite Cluster

Composite Cluster Singapore (CCS) is working with Eviation Aircraft on ‘Alice’ – a fully electric aircraft structure. CCS has designed the wing and belly fairings for Eviation and delivered the first shipset for assembly to Vannes. The work on the second prototype is on. The aircraft was displayed at the 53rd International Paris Air Show in France.

CCS is continuing to expand its activities in the electric propulsion aircraft, urban air mobility and unmanned vehicles sector. Leveraging the Composite Application Centre (CAC) consortium announced in 2018, CCS is spearheading high-impact projects, such as the wing development for Eviation’s ‘Alice’ aircraft.

‘Alice’ is a battery electric passenger aircraft under development by Israeli Eviation Aircraft. Built 95 per cent from composite materials, it will be controlled by fly-by-wire and powered by three electric engines, in a wingtip and pusher configuration. The nine-passenger aircraft with a range of 640 miles / 1,000 km at cruise speed of 240 knots, will have much lower direct operating cost than turboprop aircraft.

CCS has designed the wing and belly fairings specifically for Eviation and delivered the first shipset for assembly to Vannes in France. The entire CCS team has been very much engaged in this project from its inception and is currently working on the second prototype.

“Eviation has achieved tremendous results in a very short timeframe,” said Dr. Florian Doetzer, CCS’s managing director. “We are proud to contribute our part. Our team spirit is tremendous and it is due to our own staff’s and our partner’s professionalism that we’ve been able to meet our targets working across continents. I am proud of what we’ve achieved so far and there is more to come.”

“Today we are seeing the future of aviation with design, technology and material innovations that are paving the way for this new era of air mobility,” said Eviation CEO, Omer Bar-Yohay.

This highlights Singapore’s capabilities as an aviation hub in the region as the wing assembly was designed and manufactured locally. Specifically, aircraft with electric propulsion paves the way for a new era in the aerospace industry and Singapore authorities are supporting this development actively.

CCS has been working closely with Enterprise Singapore, the government agency championing enterprise development, on its growth plans, including the development of the prototype. “This is the first of many global innovation projects in the advanced materials space that can be done in Singapore,” said Ho Chi Bao, director (Advanced Manufacturing), Enterprise Singapore. “Additionally, the project is an outcome from the collaboration between Singapore companies and international partners, where they jointly develop capabilities in composite material design and manufacturing. Apart from aerospace, their new competencies could be applied in other industries locally and overseas.”

“The partnership between CCS and Eviation Aircraft is a significant milestone not only for Singapore’s aviation industry, but also for our materials design and development industry, which is important to enable better performance such as lightweighting and corrosion resistance across various end applications,” said Damian Chan, executive director (Chemicals and Materials), Singapore Economic Development Board. “This is in line with efforts to strengthen our innovation capabilities in advanced materials, including specialty polymers and polymer matrix composites, and we hope to see more such joint development projects in Singapore.” (SV)

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