Phill O’Dell said: “Flying the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ at these incredible speeds and believing we have broken the world-record for all-electric flight is a momentous occasion. This is the highlight of my career and is an incredible achievement for the whole team. The opportunity to be at the forefront of another pioneering chapter of Rolls-Royce’s story as we look to deliver the future of aviation is what dreams are made of.”
While all three organisations share a passionate pioneering spirit, Rolls-Royce through the development process has learnt from the motorsport background of both partners and in particular the pace of start-up Electroflight. Meanwhile we have shared expertise and technology with our partners including the rigorous safety and testing methods needed by the civil aviation industry – this combination has helped turn a concept into a world record breaker.
Dr Tim Woolmer, YASA’s Chief Technology Officer and Founder said, “Electric flight is set to be as transformative for mobility as the jet engine was 70 years ago. It’s thrilling to see our ultra-high performance, super-low weight electric motors powering the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ to these great speeds, and to know that collaborative projects like ACCEL take us one step closer to emissions-free electric flight becoming a commercial reality for all.”
The ACCEL programme has also been supported by two further great British pioneers, Jaguar Land Rover who have loaned all-electric zero emission Jaguar I-PACE cars as towing and support vehicles and Bremont, the luxury watchmaker, who were the official timing partner for the record attempt. The aircraft took off from the MoD’s Boscombe Down site, which is managed by QinetiQ and flew profiles according to the FAI guidelines for record attempts in the Powered Aeroplane C-1C Electric class. Test Pilot, Electroflight Steve Jones flew the ‘Spirit of Innovation’ aircraft for the 15km and the time to climb to 3000 metres record runs that have been submitted.
Gary Elliott, CEO of the Aerospace Technology Institute, said: “The ACCEL project demonstrates that strategic investment in UK technology and innovation can achieve extraordinary world-beating results, and sets us firmly on the path to decarbonising passenger flight in the future. This achievement of Rolls-Royce, Electroflight and YASA will resonate for many years to come and inspire the next generation of aerospace engineers. They deserve their place in the record books, and the ATI is proud to have played our part in that. Congratulations to the whole team.”
Our involvement in the ACCEL project is just one of the ways in which we are looking to make aviation more sustainable. In June, we announced our pathway to net zero carbon emissions – a year on from joining the UN Race to Zero campaign – committing to ensure our new products will be compatible with net zero operation by 2030 and all our products will be compatible with net zero by 2050.
Notes to editors:
Pictures and B-Roll video footage can be found here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rolls-royceplc/albums/72157705298410174
https://vimeo.com/rollsroyceplc
Find out more about the Spirit of Innovation and ACCEL project