With growing global concern over climate change, sustainable solutions for industry and transportation see their popularity increased. In this context, electrical energy is being proposed as an alternative to fossil fuels for many sectors such as aviation. This thesis will be the starting point of a long term project related with the electrification of short-range aircraft propulsion systems. More specifically, the possible advantages of a VF-PMSM in the context of aviation are explored. Analysis and design techniques are proposed to address this adoption in the future, as well as some preliminary conclusions on its viability.