JeppUpdater
Well-Known Member
(Yeah, you thought this was gonna be about something else, didn’t you? “Oh remember that time Jepp got banned?” Well you can TOTALLY say Beaver on here.)
Seems sacrilegious to put an electric motor on Beavers and Otters, and some of the claims (1000 nm in 6 years) rely on battery technology that isn’t really close to feasible yet, but props for innovation. Couple questions - do we just start limiting max takeoff weight to max landing weight? You aren’t exactly burning batteries like fuel. And how long does thousands of pounds of batteries take to charge for a flight?
Seems sacrilegious to put an electric motor on Beavers and Otters, and some of the claims (1000 nm in 6 years) rely on battery technology that isn’t really close to feasible yet, but props for innovation. Couple questions - do we just start limiting max takeoff weight to max landing weight? You aren’t exactly burning batteries like fuel. And how long does thousands of pounds of batteries take to charge for a flight?
Airlines With Electric Engines Are Coming
Harbour Air says it will convert more than three dozen seaplanes to electric motors.
www.bloomberg.com
There’s no shortage of companies working to build electric aircraft, but a Canadian airline and a Seattle-area engine maker say they’ve found a quicker route to electrification by converting a small bush plane with batteries and an electric motor.The first passenger flights for British Columbia-based Harbour Air Ltd. would be in late 2021 under a partnership with MagniX Technologies, pending regulatory approvals, the companies said on Tuesday.
They plan to swap kerosene fuel tanks for a MagniX electric motor and lithium-ion battery packs on a Harbour Air De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver aircraft, which seats six passengers, to begin test flights in November. The propulsion system will have a range of about 100 miles. The goal is an emissions-free, quieter aircraft that is certified by both U.S. and Canadian aviation authorities, Greg McDougall, Harbour Air’s founder and chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview. The suburban Vancouver-based seaplane company flies about 500,000 passengers each year from British Columbia and downtown Seattle.