10 July 2015
Airbus has succeeded in flying its all-electric E-Fan 1.0 prototype across the English Channel. The aircraft took off from Lydd, Kent this morning (Friday, 10 July) and took 36 minutes to fly to Calais, France, a distance of 46 miles.
Airbus is claiming the flight is the world’s first all-electric two engine aircraft taking off by its own power to successfully cross the Channel.
This odd phrase is because another pilot, Hugues Duval, flew his all-electric CRI-CRI twin from Calais to Dover and back again the previous evening. However, it’s believed that Duval’s aircraft did not takeoff from Calais under its own power. Instead it piggy-backed a Broussard plane, something that Duval does in air show displays.
At the moment, key facts about Duval’s flight are unclear. The pilot is believed to be under an exclusivity contract with the magazine, Paris Match.
Regardless of who can claim what record, the Airbus E-Fan flight is a historic occasion, a landmark moment towards electric aircraft. Airbus plans to put two versions of the E-Fan into production. They are the E-Fan 2.0, an all-electric two-seater intended for pilot training, and the E-Fan 4.0 which will have four seats and include a ‘range-extender’ internal combustion engine to charge the batteries inflight.
The E-Fan 1.0 prototype had a new type of battery for the flight – lithium-ion batteries giving a 60% increase in battery capacity compared to the aircraft’s original configuration. Flown by test pilot Didier Esteyne, the E-Fan weighs around 600 kilogrammes [1,320 pounds] and travelled at a maximum altitude of about 1,000 metres [3,500 feet].
“The E-Fan project and today’s historic Channel crossing show that the pioneering spirit and ingenuity demonstrated by Louis Blériot and the other early aviators is still alive today,” said Jean Botti, Airbus Group Chief Technical Officer.
“The 10th of July 2015 will now join the list of famous days in aviation history and I’m sure Blériot would be proud of this achievement. We continue to embody the spirit of innovation and tackle technical challenges which both advance aerospace as we know it today and pioneer the next generation of electric and hybrid flight.”
