An aircraft propulsion system comprises a gas turbine engine arranged to provide propulsive thrust and a fuel cell system having an air input port, the aircraft propulsion system being configured such that air from a compressor of the gas turbine engine is provided to the air input port during operation of the aircraft propulsion system. The fuel cell system is able to provide appreciable electrical power at altitude without the need for a dedicated compressor.

A powertrain system of an aircraft includes one or more electrical components to provide electrical power to one or more electrical loads of the aircraft. The system further includes a rechargeable cryogenic heat sink containing a volume of cryogenic cooling material. The cryogenic heat sink is configured to cool the one or more electrical components. A method of operating a powertrain system of an aircraft includes generating thermal energy at one or more electrical components of the powertrain system, fluidly connecting a cryogenic heat sink to the one or more electrical components, and cooling the one or more electrical components via a volume of cryogenic cooling material of the cryogenic heat sink.

An engine assembly includes a propulsor, a gearbox, an engine, a gas turbine engine, and an electric control assembly. The gearbox includes a gear assembly coupled with the propulsor. The engine includes an air inlet, an exhaust outlet, and an engine output shaft. The engine output shaft is coupled with the gear assembly and configured to drive rotation of the propulsor through the gear assembly. The gas turbine engine includes a first rotational assembly, a compressor section, a turbine section, and a combustor. The compressor section is connected to the air inlet. The combustor is connected to the exhaust outlet. The combustor is configured to direct a combustion gas through the turbine section to drive rotation of the first rotational assembly. The electric control assembly includes a first electric motor. The first electric motor is coupled with the gear assembly. The first electric motor is configured to selectively apply a rotational force to the gear assembly to further drive rotation of the propulsor.

A system includes a propeller assembly comprising a propeller, a drive shaft coupled to the propeller assembly, wherein the drive shaft when in operation generates rotation of the propeller, a reduction gearbox coupled to the drive shaft, wherein the reduction gearbox when in operation alters a rotation speed between a power turbine shaft and the drive shaft, and an electric motor disposed between the propeller assembly and the reduction gearbox, wherein the electric motor is coupled to the drive shaft, wherein the electric motor when in operation imparts torque to at least partially rotate the drive shaft.

Electrical power systems for distributing electrical power in arrangements including one or more gas turbine engines; one such system includes: one or more rotary electric machines coupled to a gas turbine engine spool; a set of converter circuits connected to the rotary electric machines converting between alternating current (ac) and direct current (dc), wherein the rotary electric machines and the converter circuits output a number R2 of dc power channels, each channel having an index r=(1, . . . , R); and a group of N dc load channels connected to the R dc power channels by a switching arrangement, wherein N>R and each dc load channel has an index n=(1, . . . , N). For each respective N load channels, a current limiting device (CLD) limits the current flowing from power channels to a load connectable to the electrical power system via the respective load channel.

A cooling system for an engine of an aircraft of a having hybrid-electric propulsion system including a nacelle body including a bottom cooling air intake disposed below a propeller hub for supplying air to an oil-air cooler, wherein the bottom cooling air intake includes a splitter dividing the bottom cooling air intake into a first channel and a second channel.

Disclosed herein are high-power hybrid electric jet propulsion systems and methods for creating thrust using electric propulsion and chemical reaction. Embodiments include powering a Stage1 (6) electric machines (6b) through motor controllers for spinning a shaft (5), which spins a fan (2) to draw in air through the engine cowl (1) into Stage1 (6) where it gets compressed and heated. The air is then passed into a cyclonic combustion chamber (7) for mixing with a fuel to create a medium (X1). The medium (X1) is then passed into the turbine blades (8a) in Stage2 (8) to the spin shaft (5). The shaft (5) is configured to produce the high bypass thrust (10) and the jet exhaust thrust (9).

A rotor drive system includes a mast defining a rotation axis, an electric motor with a stator portion fixed to the stationary mast, a rotor portion rotatably relative to the stator portion, and a clutch disposed along the rotation axis and connected to the rotor portion of the electric motor. A rotor assembly is rotatable about the rotation axis and operably connected to clutch such that, when rotational speed of the rotor assembly exceeds rotational speed of the rotor portion of the electric motor, the clutch disengages the rotor assembly from the electric motor rotor portion.

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising at least one rotor motor. The rotor motor is powered by a micro hybrid generation system. The micro hybrid generator system comprises a rechargeable battery configured to provide power to the at least one rotor motor, a small engine configured to generate mechanical power, a generator motor coupled to the small engine and configured to generate AC power using the mechanical power generated by the small engine, a bridge rectifier configured to convert the AC power generated by the generator motor to DC power and provide the DC power to either or both the rechargeable battery and the at least one rotor motor, and an electronic control unit configured to control a throttle of the small engine based, at least in part, on a power demand of at least one load, the at least one load including the at least one rotor motor.

A propulsion system for an aircraft includes an electric generator and a turbomachine. The turbomachine is configured to be mounted to a first wing of the aircraft and is operable with the electric generator. The propulsion system additionally includes a first propulsor mechanically coupled to a shaft of the turbomachine and a second propulsor assembly configured to be mounted at a location away from the turbomachine and the first propulsor. The electric generator is in electrical communication with the second propulsor assembly for powering the second propulsor assembly.