While the Covid-19 continues to ravages commercial airline, a small commuter airline has been quietly notching a milestone for the industry.
Last week Harbour Air completed its first full-length demonstration flight in the world’s largest all-electric aircraft.
The retro-fitted Cessna 208B Grand Caravan completed a full 28-minute flight over Washington state.
The plane is fitted with a battery-powered electric engine made by Seattle based magniX.
The 30 minutes’ capability for battery-powered continuous flight is enough for about 100 miles at normal cruising speed.
Last year Vancouver-based Harbour Air completed an all-electric test flight of a smaller float plane, which lasted just a few minutes.
The Cessna 208B was in the air for nearly three times as long and marks another important milestone as the largest ‘e-plane’ yet.
Harbour Air hopes to retrofit all its planes with 750hp magni500 electric powered engines.
The airline operates short commuter flights across the Pacific Northwest.
