The company flew its demonstrator from several commercial airports in Virginia.
US hybrid-electric aircraft developer Electra has completed a series of government-supported flights from US airports demonstrating the ability of its EL2 Ultra-Short aircraft to take off and land much like a helicopter.
The recent flights “tested point-in-space procedures and dedicated instrument routings”, Electra said on 22 September, noting the EL2 operated from three nearby airports: Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional, Virginia Tech Montgomery Executive and Blackstone Army Airfield.
The demonstrations involved the EL2 taking off from and landing on “access points historically only accessible by helicopters”, including taxiways and heliports.
The Virginia company says the flights place it one step closer to bringing its “blown-lift” aircraft to market. The aircraft’s props blow air over its wings in a manner that increases lift. By using “helicopter style instrument procedures”, the design has potential to provide regional air transportation that does not require traditional airport runways, Electra says.
While the EL2 is a demonstrator, Electra is developing another model for production, the EL9. It says that aircraft will be able to take-off and land in distances as short as 45m (150ft).
The recent flights were conducted in coordination with the Virginia Smart Airspace Programme, the Virginia Department of Aviation and the Federal Aviation Administration’s electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft Integration Pilot Program. That FAA effort seeks to aid companies developing small electric and hybrid-electric aircraft.
“This is the kind of practical flight testing needed to move [advanced air mobility] from concept to operational reality,” says Tom Jones, director of Virginia Tech’s Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. “The goal is not just to fly a route, but to generate the data and operational insight needed to help new aircraft types integrate safely, efficiently and repeatedly into the airspace system.”
Electra chief executive Marc Allen adds, “We showed that fixed-wing, ultra-short aircraft can use vertical flight landing areas and a new generation of instrument procedures to reach places conventional airplanes were never designed to access. This will both bring air service closer to the passenger and also expand capacity at commercial airports in completely non-congestive ways.”
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