23 August 2022
Vancouver, Canada based Harbour Air has flown its all-electric De Havilland Beaver floatplane on its first point-to-point direct flight.
The electric Beaver flew 45 miles in 24 minutes. It left Harbour Air’s terminal on the Fraser River adjacent to Vancouver Airport and landed in Patricia Bay, south-east of Vancouver Island.
Take-off was at 0812 with ample reserve power on landing at 0836, said the company. It’s the next step towards operating commercial flights.
Kory Paul, Harbour Air’s vice president of Flight Operations and one of the company’s test pilots, said, “This historic flight on the ePlane went exactly as planned. Our team as well as the team at magniX and Transport Canada are always closely monitoring the aircraft’s performance and today’s flight further proved the safety and reliability of what we have built.”
Harbour Air’s eplane project started in 2019 when the operator teammed with magniX, makers of the electric propulsion system. The Beaver had previously flown a ‘circuit’.
Today, the first ‘point to point’ commercial electric flight from Vancouver International Airport in Vancouver, Canada, to Victoria International Airport in Victoria, Canada, took place by @harbourair with the help of @magniX!
Another milestone for the history books! pic.twitter.com/kcVxEKxqfC
— magniX (@magniX) August 17, 2022
