Northwest Aerospace News February | March 2019 Issue No. 7 | Page 24

W
e’ve all heard Boeing execu-
tives extol the value of point-to-point
flying — that passengers want to go
where they want to go, free from the
hassles of flying through major hubs.
A Boeing HorizonX-backed Kirkland
startup wants to put an even finer point
on it, with an entirely new technology
that will open up direct air service be-
tween secondary – maybe even tertiary
– travel markets with seat mile costs
comparable to 70-seat turboprops now
on the market.
Zunum Aero has a goal to do it with
hybrid-electric motors that will cut
greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per-
cent to start – with the promise of even
greener flights in the future.
The idea of an electric aircraft flying
commercial routes may seem a bit like
science fiction, but Zunum Aerospace
co-founder and Chief Technology
Officer Matt Knapp says the concept
is rooted in proven, currently existing
systems.
“There’s no enabling technology that
we’re going to need that’s not already
available,” he said. “We’re starting out
with a hybrid, and as battery technolo-
gy improves, we’ll be able to transition
and burn even less fuel.”
What Zunum has in mind is a twelve-
seat prop-driven plane that it’s dubbed
the ZA10.
Initially, the plane will run off a
hybrid-electric engine – sort of like a
car, but with much more power. Initial
plans are for the company to use lith-
ium-ion batteries to power the ducted
fans – at first with a traditional fos-
sil-fuel engine to recharge the batteries
on longer flights.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
Zunum Aerospace co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Matt Knapp
But in the long term, Knapp and other executives have said, there are enough inter-
esting developments in the battery industry at this point that they’re designing their
plane to take advantage of whichever battery chemistry proves to be most powerful.
With twelve seats, the ZA10 won’t be challenging for gate space at major airports any
time soon. And that’s kind of the point, according to Knapp.
Zunum’s vision is for a plane that can revitalize regional air travel, he said. The ad-
vantage for operators is lower operating costs – both fuel and crew.
Initial estimates show the ZA10 will have seat-mile costs competitive with a 76-seat
Bombardier Q400, Knapp said, but airlines would need to sell far fewer tickets to fill
a flight – and wouldn’t need to hire cabin crew. And with at least the first part of the
flight powered by electricity, fuel costs will be considerably less.
It should also be far quieter – as much as 80 percent quieter than comparable planes,
the company says.