(Montreal) The Montreal specialist in pilot training and simulators CAE wants to train future pilots in electric planes.
Updated yesterday at 5:28 p.m.
The Montreal-based company plans to convert two-thirds of its fleet of 200 Piper training planes and develop a training program for electric planes. CAE unveiled the partnership with Piper Aircraft on Tuesday at the Farnborough Airshow in the UK.
“We are going to be the first operator,” explains CAE’s Chief Sustainable Development Officer, Hélène Gagnon, in an interview. This means that we have to develop the whole curriculum of: “how we train on an electric plane”. »
Mme Gagnon was unable to say when CAE will achieve its target of converting two-thirds of Piper aircraft. She explains that it is difficult to provide a precise timetable with the development of the new program and the regulatory steps to be taken.
“It’s a few years from now,” she says. Is it one year, three years, five years? We are in that range. It’s not in a lot of time. We start now. We will see a difference quite quickly. »
The development of training in Quebec, in collaboration with the National School of Aeronautics, is a first step that could lead to the electrification of Piper’s fleet of 28,000 training devices, adds Ms.me Gagnon. “We think there’s going to be interest from a lot of other flight academies using Piper aircraft,” she predicts.
In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, going electric will reduce noise pollution around schools, she points out. “When you have an electric plane, it’s a bit like an electric car. You don’t hear it. It’s gonna make a big difference. »
At the moment, the range of Piper’s devices is sufficient for the duration of a course, but not for covering long distances, which suggests the path that remains to be covered to electrify commercial aviation.
“You have to trade somewhere,” said Mr.me Gagnon. The electrification of larger devices is much further. The technologies are not yet mature enough. »
“By starting with small devices, there is sure to be an impact. I can’t quantify it, but all the research and development we do will help the industry mature. »
A trade fair in the light of global warming
The announcement comes at a time when discussions on carbon neutrality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions monopolize the exchanges of the major players in the industry gathered at the Farnborough Airshow. The record heat wave which rages at the same time in the United Kingdom, where the mercury is around 40 degrees Celsius, adds a symbolic dimension to the event.
“I can assure you that when you’re out on an airstrip and it’s over 40 degrees, it [la décarbonation de l’industrie] remains on everyone’s mind,” commented Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, during a telephone press briefing to take stock of Canada’s mission in Farnborough.
The Minister had already mentioned that he intended to make the development of green technologies a central element in the promotion of the Canadian aerospace industry.
“Soon, we will be able to make green aluminum, green steel, he listed during an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday. We are in the process of developing technologies that will allow us to develop new materials that are lighter. Also, we are developing different alternatives in biofuels, even hydrogen. »
Mr. Champagne believes that his representations to major players in the industry, such as Airbus, Boeing, De Havilland and Mitsubishi, have “resonated loud and clear”. “I leave Farnborough with a lot of hope because I feel that the message that Canada carries, that Quebec has carried, is in line with the industry’s objectives. »