Airbus Helicopters

Matthieu Connaulte

Damien Mariotto

Christian Mercier

Marc Gazzino

Nadine Dyrla

Joris Cezard

Marie-Laure Hopdjanian

A rotary wing aircraft having an electrical installation including at least one thermopile for powering at least one piece of electrical load equipment. Technical specifications for the thermopile specify: a usable power for supplying to the load equipment in the range 20 W to 200 kW, a power rise time lapse lying in the range 3 s to 30 s, and a low operating time for usefully supplying a predetermined quantity of electrical energy lying in the range 10 s to 180 s. The invention applies in particular to rotary wing aircraft.

Thermopile energy storage for a rotary wing aircraft

An aircraft () having at least one rotor () driven by a main gearbox (), at least one fuel-burning engine (), an on-board electricity network (), and at least one electrical machine () corresponding to the engine () and capable of operating both in electric motor mode and also in electricity generator mode, each electrical machine () being mechanically connected to said main gearbox () by first connection means () and being electrically connected to said on-board electricity network (). Second mechanical connection means () connect each electrical machine () mechanically to a gas generator () of an engine.

Rotary wing aircraft with a hybrid power plant

A method of assisting a pilot of a single-engined rotary wing aircraft () during a stage of flight in autorotation, said aircraft () including a hybrid power plant having an engine (), an electric machine (), and a main gearbox (). Said aircraft () also includes electrical energy storage means () and a main rotor () mechanically connected to said hybrid power plant (). According to said method, while in flight, the operation of said engine () is monitored in order to detect a failure thereof, in particular by monitoring for a drop of power on said main rotor (), and then in the event of a failure of said engine () being detected, said electric machine () is controlled to deliver auxiliary power Wto said main rotor (), thereby enabling the pilot of said aircraft () to be assisted in maneuvering said aircraft () during said stage of flight in autorotation following said failure.

Method of assisting a pilot of a single-engined rotary wing aircraft during a stage of flight in autorotation

A method of managing an engine failure on a rotary wing aircraft () having a hybrid power plant () with at least two fuel-burning engines ('), at least one electric machine (), and a main gearbox (). Said aircraft () also has electrical energy storage means () and a main rotor () mechanically connected to said hybrid power plant (). In said method, during each flight, the operation of said engines (&#x2032;) is monitored in order to detect a failure of any one of them, and then once a failure of one of said engines (&#x2032;) has been detected, said electric machine () is controlled, if necessary, to deliver auxiliary power Win order to avoid a deficit appearing in the total power Wof said hybrid power plant (), thereby enabling the pilot of said aircraft () to fly said aircraft () safely without degrading said hybrid power plant ().

Method of managing an engine failure on a multi-engined aircraft having a hybrid power plant

A hybrid power plant () for an aircraft () comprises at least: a hybrid drive system () having a main on-board electricity network () and an auxiliary electricity network (); and a selective adaptation interface () arranged to enable electrical energy to be exchanged selectively between the main and auxiliary electricity networks (). At least one engine and a hybrid drive auxiliary electrical machine () are mechanically connected to a transmission (); said machine () being electrically connected to at least one auxiliary electrical bus () in parallel with at least one auxiliary device for delivering electric charge.

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Eguilles, France

Matthieu Connaulte