Piaggio Aerospace has recently welcomed Clean Aviation representatives to its lab in Villanova d’Albenga to show the development of the ‘More Electric Fly-by-Wire’ technology, a project that is part of the Cleansky2 Small Air Transport Aircraft demonstrator (SAT).
The SAT is a project co-funded by Joint Undertaking – a public-private partnership between the European Commission and the European aeronautics industry – and realized by Piaggio Aerospace together with Italian and other European partners.
A Fly by Wire version of the P.180 has virtually taken off from Villanova D’Albenga, where the headquarters of Piaggio Aerospace is located, in a simulated first flight performed by a real aircraft. Challenging conditions have been created in the lab, to demonstrate that the aeroplane would work securely even in a real flight. In particular, the flight control system has been successfully tested in two critical situations: engine failure soon after the take-off and crosswind during landing.
SAT Demonstrator can be regarded as a valuable tool to develop and integrate new technologies in modern aircraft with increased capability and safety, improved performance and reduced climate impact: it is a key asset for Piaggio Aerospace, satellite companies, universities, and research centre to accelerate high tech and green transition of the aviation market.