Statistical Approach for Electric Taxiing Requirements for Regional Turboprop Aircraft

Abstract

Electric motorization of landing gear appears to be one of the alternative solutions to reduce fuel burn, carbon dioxide emissions, and noise during the taxi phase. Because turboprop aircraft operate on short routes, the taxi phase represents an important part of both flight time and fuel consumption. An electric taxiing system (ETS) sized to meet current operational practices could reduce the fuel consumption and remain nearly transparent to the pilots. This paper first presents a statistical approach to define the taxiing requirements for regional turboprop aircraft using 200 taxi phases of 77 aircraft. Requirements of maximum acceleration until 15 kt, a 25 kt top speed, and a 13,000 ft distance (including taxi-in and taxi-out) are determined in accordance with the analysis, operational practices, and pilots’ routines. For a speed higher than 15 kt, the acceleration requirement is adjusted using the isopower to limit the mass of the ETS. Then, an ETS with sufficient performance is sized to be integrated in the main landing gear of a regional turboprop aircraft (Dash 8-300). For a standard mission of 270 nautical miles, the expected fuel economy is 3.1% for a payload loss of 2.2% or 1.3 passengers due to the system weight.