Kite has developed its own dynamometer to test its electric propulsion systems.
Australian electric propulsion startup Kite Magnetics has opened its Green Aviation Test Facility in Melbourne.
The facility is equipped with an in-house-designed dynamometer and thrust stand for an electric motor.
Kite’s first production, the 120-kW KM-120 electric engine, is undergoing performance evaluation and reliability testing in the facility in preparation for flight testing in early 2024. Designed for fixed-wing electric training aircraft and electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicles, the KM-120 comprises an 800-volt inverter and air-cooled direct-drive electric variable pitch propeller support.
“In under 12 months and for less than $1 million we have progressed from an empty warehouse to a world-class test facility and a rapidly growing product lineup,” founder and CEO Richard Parsons says.
Kite’s motor uses a new nanocrystalline magnetic material, called Aeroperm, composed of randomly oriented nanoscale crystals embedded in an amorphous metal matrix. The material is used in the motor’s stator and reduces power losses in the core by a factor of 10 compared to the electrical steel used in conventional electric motors. The result is a lighter, higher-efficiency motor, Kite says.
Intended for type certification under future Part 33 regulations for electric engines, the KM-120 is designed for easy retrofit and factory installation in two-four-seat aircraft now powered by small piston aeroengines such as the Lycoming O-320 and O-360. Kite is also offering a half-length, 60-kW version of the propulsion unit, the KM-60.
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