Magpie Aviation MP-1 Cargo electric aircraft

[Stargazer]

This beautiful and different electric cargo pusher aircraft concept started out as a Sensurion Aerospace MP-1 Magpie program. A prototype was planned in 2015, and even registered with the FAA [N107MP, c/n 2015-00005MP-1], but it was never completed. When Sensurion folded, the project was taken up by Magpie Aviation (which has since been acquired by Ampaire) and renamed the MP-1 Cargo. Two things make the MP-1 Cargo project special:​

1. the open sourcing of the design;
2. the related concept of Aerotowing.

1. Open sourcing

In the spirit of it taking a village to build an aircraft, Magpie Aviation is open sourcing an electric cargo airplane design it just developed through a six-month R&D programme.

Magpie emerged on the scene last year with the unveiling of its unique airborne aircraft towing system. That technology, which enables meaningful ranges with current batteries, formed the basis for a new concept electric aircraft targeted at regional air cargo. Today, as part of its acquisition by Ampaire, the companies have decided to open source this design through a freely available white paper.

The aircraft, named MP-1 Cargo, has been designed with efficiency, ease of type certification and future upgrades in mind. It features a large wingspan, an upgradeable battery architecture, cable controls rather than fly-by-wire systems and a total range of 300 nautical miles (550 km) with a 3,500 lbs (1.6t) payload capacity.

Source: Revolution.aero (11 March 2024)

US start-up, Magpie Aviation, which has just been acquired by Ampaire, has published an open-sourced white paper detailing its proposed MP-1 Cargo electric aircraft. The document, published via LinkedIn, is a culmination of a six month R&D study undertaken with input from airlines, OEMs and regional governments. It covers the market analysis, technical design and economic modelling for the MP-1, all of which are freely available for download. The MP-1 has been designed to carry two industry-standard LD3 containers and have a range of 350 miles while carrying a 3,500lbs payload.

Source: AEROSPACE, April 2024

Regional air cargo is an ideal fit for early-generation electric aircraft due to the short distances of routes served. We ran an R&D study to investigate the opportunity, resulting in a concept aircraft called the MP-1 Cargo. The MP-1 Cargo was developed with input from several key air cargo stakeholders. Our white paper provides a detailed exploration of the MP-1's design, operating economics, along with key challenges and recommendations.
‍The paper is written for manufacturers, policymakers, researchers, and other enthusiasts of electric aviation. We have decided to openly share what we have learned to inspire further improvements and actions building from this work. Our goal is to help electrified aircraft play a pivotal role in the future of aviation – and we believe that, with the right regulatory support, aircraft like the MP-1 will play an important role in this future.
Download the MP-1 white paper

Source: https://www.magpieaviation.com/mp-1

2. Aerotowing

A modern twist on a century-old approach
Our vision is for electric aircraft to play a pivotal role in the future of aviation. Electric aircraft fly with zero emissions, are highly efficient and cheap to operate. However, given the low energy density of batteries, they're only able to fly short routes with few passengers. Magpie Aerotowing overcomes this limitation by using a network of tow aircraft to enable long-range electric flight.
‍Aerotowing – the approach of towing one aircraft with another – has a century-long history in aviation and is used in glider flying today. Magpie Aerotowing extends its applications across electric aircraft, eVTOLs, and military aviation.

Source: https://www.magpieaviation.com/

 

[dan_inbox]

Aerotowing? My BS-o-meter just overloaded...

 

[martinbayer]

Aerotowing? My BS-o-meter just overloaded...

Heck yeah - why only use one aircraft to do the job when you could tie up two?!?!?!

 

[HoHun]

Hi Dan,

Aerotowing? My BS-o-meter just overloaded...

I remember reading a WW2-era article in Flight (when their archive was still online) in which the suggestion was made to build a combination of highly-wingloaded long-range bombers and highly-powerloaded tow aircraft to launch the bombers and tow them to operational altitude.

The idea was that all the extra wing area the heavy bombers needed operate from the limited and often unpaved aerodromes was wasteful and even a hindrance for the rest of the mission, and the towing operation allowed the bombers to be optimized for the critical part of their mission over enemy territory.

Of course, nothing came of it. It was a bit like the Short Mayo Composite idea in general concept.

Other than that, there seems to be a certain similiarity of the lines of the Magpie and those of the Otto Celera

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

 

[Stargazer]

I remember reading a WW2-era article in Flight (when their archive was still online) in which the suggestion was made to build a combination of highly-wingloaded long-range bombers and highly-powerloaded tow aircraft to launch the bombers and tow them to operational altitude.

I guess that would be the Canadian Car & Foundry B-1000 (Burnelli design):

 

[GTX]

Quite an attractive design. Now remove the cockpit and make it autonomous.

 

[kocovgoce]

Hi Dan,



I remember reading a WW2-era article in Flight (when their archive was still online) in which the suggestion was made to build a combination of highly-wingloaded long-range bombers and highly-powerloaded tow aircraft to launch the bombers and tow them to operational altitude.

The idea was that all the extra wing area the heavy bombers needed operate from the limited and often unpaved aerodromes was wasteful and even a hindrance for the rest of the mission, and the towing operation allowed the bombers to be optimized for the critical part of their mission over enemy territory.

Of course, nothing came of it. It was a bit like the Short Mayo Composite idea in general concept.

Other than that, there seems to be a certain similiarity of the lines of the Magpie and those of the Otto Celera

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

The Italians built a bomber glider in World War II. They wanted to bomb Gibraltar But they never tried it, although they tested the bomber glider model.However, the Germans and Japanese used cargo gliders in World War II, as did the Russians to supply weapons to their partisans in the rear.

 

[Avimimus]

Aerotowing was also considered in the Soviet Union in the 1930s to help aircraft take-off and climb out.

Most power is used for take-off and climbing to altitude - cruise requires a much lower power level.

In theory towing could allow a faster climb with less weight wasted on powerplants during cruise (and thus less structural weight to support the powerplants), and thus a larger payload fraction.

If the towing aircraft is electrically powered it could also save a lot of fuel/emissions (and electric engines are generally good at this sort of thing).

The biggest issues are:

(1) Safety issues under tow. All of the same issues you get with glider towing, but at a larger scale (and requiring a stronger connection).

(2) The cruising aircraft might be underpowered, which could be an issue if it suffers engine failure.

(3) Possible issues with taxiing (and some feasible modifications to operations to allow fast turn-around times).

The idea of having multiple tow aircraft which act as a relay, and take over during cruise, requires in-flight docking between the aircraft. It also requires the towing aircraft to climb to meet the cruise aircraft (and then provide power or even carry batteries to recharge the cruise aircraft)... much more complicated and with fewer obvious benefits - but still theoretically possible.

Anyway, as unlikely as a small firm is able to pull this off - aerotowing in itself is an attractive idea - especially during take-off/climb.

 

[HoHun]

Hi Stargazer,

I guess that would be the Canadian Car & Foundry B-1000 (Burnelli design):

View attachment 759590

It's not the same I remember from Flight, but it's fascinating to see nevertheless!

I believe electric aviation has some quite different set of parameters to combustible-fuel aviation, and that energy storage weight does not decrease during flight might in fact make some unusual solutions attractive (again).

With electric propulsion, you don't actually need to physically tow the "payload" aircraft, it should be enough to pass along a cable to allow it to use the energy from the "towing" aircraft so it can enter the cruise phase with full batteries.

That's a bit like simplified rocket staging. However, I wonder if one could take this a bit further actually and build an aircraft in which the battery cells are self-contained drones that are released from the payload aircraft when low on energy, and return to a recovery base on the remaining energy autonomically.

With the low energy-density of batteries, I presume all kinds of weird schemes will have to be considered. That might become a great source for future forum discussions! ;-)

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)