The airframe for VoltAero’s Cassio hybrid-electric aircraft will be developed by Sonaca Group, applying this Belgium-headquartered company’s expertise in optimized aerostructures to the VoltAero family of four, six and ten-seat airplanes.
Under the terms of the agreement unveiled on October 29, Sonaca Group will transition Cassio from its current design status into a production-ready definition, and will oversee the aircraft’s manufacture by an aerostructures producer to be announced at a future date.
“Our partnership with Sonaca Group takes us one very important step closer to production,” said Jean Botti, VoltAero’s CEO and Chief Technical Officer. “It continues our excellent progress in evolving a family of hybrid-electric airplanes – building on the flight evaluations now underway with VoltAero’s hybrid-electric power module aboard our Cassio 1 testbed aircraft.”
VoltAero’s proprietary design for Cassio is based on a sleek, aerodynamically-optimized fuselage with a forward fixed canard and an aft-set wing with twin booms that support a high-set horizontal tail. Propulsion will be provided by a hybrid-electric power module in the aft fuselage “pusher” position, which integrates a cluster of electric motors with a high-performance internal combustion engine that serves as the range extender.
