NASA Administrator Visits X-57 Maxwell Mod II Aircraft

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine visited the agency’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell in its first of three configurations as an electric aircraft, at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Administrator Bridenstine was briefed on the status of the aircraft in its current configuration called Modification II, or Mod II, which features the replacement of traditional combustion engines with electric motors. The goal of the X-57 project is to share the aircraft’s electric-propulsion-focused design and airworthiness process with regulators, to advance certification approaches for distributed electric propulsion in general aviation.