An electric generator system includes a rotatable shaft that is configured to rotate about a central longitudinal axis of the shaft, and a pilot permanent magnet generator (PMG) mounted to the shaft such that the pilot PMG is configured to rotate about the central longitudinal axis with the rotatable shaft. The system includes a wound field flux-switching electric machine having a rotor and a stator. The rotor is mounted to the shaft such that the rotor is configured to rotate about the central longitudinal axis with the shaft. The stator includes both a direct current (DC) field coil and an alternating current (AC) armature coil. The DC field coil is operatively connected to the pilot PMG for exciting the DC field coil.