Ampaire Inc., a developer of hybrid-electric powertrains for general aviation and commuter aircraft, has had a recent flurry of activity as it attempts to become one of the first companies to put an aircraft engine with a non-combustion component into passenger service.
Over the past 15 months, Ampaire has acquired two other companies with electrification technology for aircraft, arranged for a source of sustainable aviation fuel, set a new aviation record with a 12-hour flight in a plane outfitted with its hybrid-electric engine and relocated its headquarters from Hawthorne Airport into a larger hangar at Long Beach Airport.
It’s all part of a grand strategy to be a pioneering company in decarbonizing air travel.
“We are seeking to be the company that powers everything that can fly with a hybrid-electric power train,” said Chief Executive Kevin Noertker. “That starts with the retrofit of existing planes, then moves to originally designed planes and then to (electric vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft.”
Hybrid approach
Noertker, a former aerospace engineer at Falls Church, Virginia, contractor Northrop Grumman Corp., co-founded Ampaire eight years ago with fellow Northrop engineer Cory Combs. They immediately started working on the hybrid-electric powertrain, which Noertker called the “gateway” to all the advanced electrification technologies for air travel. In previous interviews, he likened it to the Toyota Prius, which has acted as the gateway to the full electrification of ground vehicles.
Noertker said the company is at least halfway through a three-year process with the Federal Aviation Administration for certifying the hybrid-electric powertrain. A major milestone on that path occurred in December when Ampaire’s test plane flew 12 straight hours in loops around Camarillo Airport – setting a record for the most consecutive hours flown by a hybrid-electric aircraft.
He added that the company hopes the FAA certification comes through by the end of next year.
“If that happens, at some point in 2026 we hope to put our powertrain into commercial service,” he added.
That would consist of converting existing nine-seat Grand Caravan aircraft manufactured by Cessna, a division of Wichita, Kansas-based Textron Aviation Inc.
That timetable would make Ampaire one of the first companies to have even a partial electric engine in a commercially operating aircraft.
“If they are indeed the first to have their powertrain approved by the FAA, that will be huge,” said Marty Bradley, an aerospace industry veteran-turned consultant who is also an adjunct professor in aerospace and mechanical engineering at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering.
Bradley said Noertker and his team at Ampaire realized early on that going the all-electric route – such as Santa Cruz-based Joby Aviation Inc. – carries severe limitations on range and practicality, chiefly because of the weight of the batteries.
Joby Aviation is pursuing the electric vertical takeoff and landing option, with a focus on moving people in “air taxis” within urban areas; the company recently announced it intends to begin an air taxi service in partnership with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines in Los Angeles and New York as early as next year.
But the hybrid-electric powertrain Ampaire has developed doesn’t need as many heavy batteries as an all-electric aircraft. And because of the electric battery component, fuel use is much more efficient than commuter planes currently in service.
“This opens up more extended range – easily up to 500 miles and perhaps farther,” Bradley said. Hybrid-electric planes could therefore easily travel between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
Noertker said planes with Ampaire’s hybrid-electric powertrain would be capable of nonstop flights from Los Angeles to Chicago, though most likely focusing on shorter-haul flights than that. He said he sees the Hawaiian Islands as an ideal market for the hybrid-electric aircraft: the distance between Honolulu on the island of Oahu and Hilo, the largest city on the Big Island, is just over 200 miles.
“That distance would allow for multiple round-trip flights with little or no refueling,” he said.
Other companies are also pursuing hybrid-electric powertrain technology for aircraft. But most are developing their own planes as well. For example, just last week Gothenburg, Sweden-based Heart Aerospace unveiled a prototype version of its own 30-seat plane with a hybrid-electric power train. But it won’t start test flights until later next year and certification and commercial service are years beyond that. (Heart Aerospace in May announced it plans to open a research and development hub in the Los Angeles area and hired a former SpaceX executive to help staff it.)
“The big advantage that Ampaire has is that it is starting by retrofitting existing aircraft with its hybrid-electric powertrains,” Bradley said. “This saves the very long and complicated step of certifying a new aircraft.”
Acquiring engine technology companies
Once Ampaire gets the FAA certification for its hybrid-electric power train, it will still need individual certifications for the process of installing its powertrain for each type of aircraft it plans to retrofit, starting with the Cessna Grand Caravan and then moving to larger capacity aircraft such as the 19-seat Twin Otter craft made by North Saanich, Canada-based Viking Air. Eventually, Noertker said, Ampaire is looking to install its hybrid-electric powertrains into even larger turbo-prop planes.
Beyond that, Ampaire has been jump-starting its technology to additional aircraft types with its recent acquisitions. In July of last year, Ampaire purchased Culver City-based Talyn Air for an undisclosed sum. Talyn Air was developing technology for drones and electric vertical takeoff and landing craft.
Then this past February, Ampaire acquired San Francisco-based Magpie Aviation, again for an undisclosed sum. Magpie was developing a variety of electric aviation technologies. This purchase is designed to aid Ampaire’s eventual entry into the full-electric aviation market.
Manufacturing hurdles
Beyond the immediate challenge of FAA certification for its hybrid-electric power train, Noertker said the company faces a longer-term challenge in scaling up production.
“We can readily make a dozen or two dozen hybrid-electric powertrains, which is why I’m saying with confidence that once we get certification, we can get them into planes as early as 2026,” he said. “But we’re facing an immature supply chain, which makes scaling up beyond that challenging.”
Bradley said problems exist up and down the supply chain. Many suppliers of the components for the hybrid-electric powertrains are startups themselves and have their own problems, while more established engine companies like Pratt and Whitney of East Hartford, Connecticut, have their own electrification programs and may be reluctant to enter into agreements with outside companies.
Noertker said the company is now putting a lot of effort into securing the supply chain.
Also, he said, Ampaire needs to secure contracts with third-party engine maintenance companies to handle maintenance and repair issues with the powertrains as they are put into commercial service.
Finally, for the internal combustion engine component of the hybrid-electric powertrain, Ampaire is seeking to use lower carbon – or sustainable aviation – fuel, often produced from biomass or waste. But such fuels are in short supply as demand has skyrocketed in recent years, meaning when available at all, they are more expensive than conventional aviation and jet fuel.
That was the impetus behind Ampaire earlier this year partnering with Ithaca, New York-based Dimensional Energy to supply sustainable aviation fuel for a ground test in Ampaire’s hybrid-electric power train.
New headquarters
With Ampaire’s expanding focus, Noertker said the hangar space it had been subleasing at Hawthorne Airport since the company’s founding became insufficient.
“We really needed a full hangar of our own, he said.
Recently, a full hangar opened up at Long Beach Airport when tenant JetZero, which is developing “blended wing” technology for next-generation aircraft, moved out to a larger hangar. Ampaire moved in last month.
