Aviation Week reported that after struggling for years “with a variety of technical problems and setbacks, NASA has decided to conclude its X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft demonstrator program at the end of September without attempting a flight.” The program “announced its decision on June 23 on a conference call with reporters.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: Maxwell Experimental Aircraft
NASA Completes High-Voltage Testing of X-57 Maxwell Experimental Aircraft
ExecutiveGov reports that NASA “has completed the high-voltage testing of its all-electric X-57 Maxwell aircraft at the agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.” The test “plugged an auxiliary power to the” Empirical Systems Aerospace-developed aircraft “to ensure that all integrated systems could function as designed at full power, NASA said Friday.” The test was “the first time the X-57’s propellers spun under electric power since Empirical Systems delivered the aircraft to NASA in October 2019.” NASA will now “put the experimental aircraft through verification and validation testing.”
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NASA’s X-57 to Fly as Soon as December
Aviation Week reports, “NASA plans to attempt first flight of its X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft ‘no earlier than’ this December. The initial flight will be ‘very short’ and will set the stage for a series of follow-on flight tests of the fixed-wing demonstrator.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)