AEROSPACE
ELECTRIC
AVIATION
The world’s first fully-electric aircraft built for commercial use
has taken to the skies, flying for just under 15 minutes.
Words by Tom Austin-Morgan • Image magniX
The ‘electric aviation age’
has been ushered in with
the inaugural test flight
of world’s first
fully-electric
commercial aircraft,
taking off on the
morning of 11 December 2019 from the
Canadian city of Vancouver and flying for
15 minutes.
The e-plane is a collaboration between
Seattle engineering firm, magniX, that
designed the plane’s motor, and Vancouver
charter company Harbour Air, North
America’s largest seaplane airline which
offers air taxi services for half a million
people a year between Seattle, Vancouver,
Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and
coastal communities.
“Today, we made history,” says Greg
McDougall, CEO and founder of Harbour
Air Seaplanes. “I am incredibly proud of
30 » MARCH 2020 » WWW.MADEIN.IE
Harbour Air’s leadership role in redefining
safety and innovation in the
aviation and seaplane industry. Canada
has long held an iconic role in the history
of aviation, and to be part of this
incredible world-first milestone is
something we can all be really proud of.”
Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX, adds
that the technology would mean
significant cost savings for airlines and
zero emissions: “The transportation
industry and specifically the aviation
segment that has been, for the most part,
stagnant since the late 1930s, is ripe for a
massive disruption. Now we are proving
that low-cost, environmentally friendly,
commercial electric air travel can be a
reality in the very near future.
“The partnership between magniX and
Harbour Air is a natural fit for both
companies located in the Cascadia
corridor — there is already a large volume
Xxxxxx
of travel in and around Seattle and
Vancouver, so being able to enable travel
at lower operating costs and reducing the
environmental impact locally makes sense.
“This signifies the start of the electric
aviation age and proves that commercial
aviation in all-electric form can work.”
The airplane is a six-passenger vintage
1957 de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
which has been retrofitted with magniX’s
Magni500 750hp (560kW) propulsion
system. Ganzarski claims this is the largest
and only motor in its power class and,
excepting the 260kW motor that Siemens
flew on a race plane, it is the only electric
motor to have powered and flown a
commercial aircraft.
McDougall piloted the e-plane along the
Fraser River near Vancouver international
airport: “For me that flight was just like
flying a Beaver, but it was a Beaver on
electric steroids. I actually had to back off
/WWW.MADEIN.IE