Electric Propulsion Platforms at DFRC
Jonathan Barraclough, DFRC/RF
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center is a world-class flight research facility located at Edwards AFB, CA. With
access to a 44 sq. mile dry lakebed and 350 testable days per year, it is the ideal location for flight research. DFRC has been
undertaking aircraft research for approximately six decades including the famous X-aircraft (X-1 through X-48) and many
science and exploration platforms. As part of this impressive heritage, DFRC has garnered more hours of full-sized electric
aircraft testing than any other facility in the US, and possibly the world. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Dryden was the home
of the Pathfinder, Pathfinder Plus, and Helios prototype solar-electric aircraft. As part of the ERAST program, these electric
aircraft achieved a world record 97,000 feet altitude for propeller-driven aircraft. As a result of these programs, Dryden’s staff
has collected thousands of man-hours of electric aircraft research and testing.
In order to better answer the needs of the US in providing aircraft technologies with lower fuel consumption, lower
toxic emissions (NOx, CO, VOCs, etc.), lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and lower noise emissions, NASA has
engaged in cross-discipline research under the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD). As a part of this overall
effort, Mark Moore of LaRC has initiated a cross-NASA-center electric propulsion working group (EPWG) to focus on electric
propulsion technologies as applied to aircraft. Electric propulsion technologies are ideally suited to overcome all of the
obstacles mentioned above, and are at a sufficiently advanced state of development component-wise to warrant serious R&D
and testing (TRL 3+). The EPWG includes participation from NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), Glenn Research
Center (GRC), Ames Research Center (ARC), and Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC). Each of the center participants
provides their own unique expertise to support the overall