Photos of the Day: Experimental Wing Tests Electric Propulsion Tech

The LEAPTech project will test the premise that tighter propulsion-airframe integration, made possible with electric power, will deliver improved efficiency and safety, as well as environmental and economic benefits

Technicians unload the LEAPTech experimental wing upon its arrival at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center. The wing was then mounted on a specially modified truck for ground testing.

The experimental wing, called the Hybrid-Electric Integrated Systems Testbed (HEIST), is mounted on a specially modified truck. Testing on the mobile ground rig assembly will provide valuable data and risk reduction applicable to future flight research. Instead of being installed in a wind tunnel, the HEIST wing section will remain attached to load cells on a supporting truss while the vehicle is driven at speeds up to 70 miles per hour across a dry lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base.

Within a few years NASA hopes to fly a piloted X-plane, replacing the wings and engines of a Tecnam P2006T with an improved version of the LEAPTech wing. Using an existing airframe will allow engineers to compare the performance of the flight demonstrator with that of the original P2006T.