Electra Hybrid-Electric eSTOL
Pat & Dennis Bender Experimental Aircraft Development Fund
J. Dennis Bender
Office, Home & Cell Phone: 859-391-5226
5726 La Jolla Blvd. – Suite 311
La Jolla, CA 92037-7345
&
Office - 100 Riverside Pl. - Suite 303
Covington, KY 41011-5711
We support experimental-aircraft development and applications for EMS, under-served-rural-communities, native-Americans, border-patrol, forestry-management, educational purposes, etc. (After initially incorporating in KY to form a single 501(c)(3), we dissolved that entity for a simplified form creating two entirely self-financed, private-philanthropies. A Vanguard National Trust account has been setup foreach making annual-grants for specific experimental-aviation-related projects in conjunction with the Experimental Aircraft Assoc. Foundation [EAA] in Oshkosh, WI., the eVTOL organization, San Diego Air & Space Museum and similar organizations. David J. Bender is my Estate Rep.
www.JDBender.com – Pat & Dennis Bender eVTOL Experimental Aviation Fund (Vanguard National Trust)
www.JDBender.org – Pat & Dennis Bender Dementia Diagnosis Fund (Vanguard National Trust)
November 24, 2023
“The aim of Electra is to fill a gap in air-travel-between-50-and-500-miles, where most trips today are made by automobile. The key to saving time is to operate-close-in, which means getting in and out of small spaces quietly and safely, while still being fast enough to cover long distances.”
23-minute-flight-duration and 30-mile-limit - Really? My 210MPH Z51-C-8 Corvette can get you there as quickly, plus travel 400-miles, before refueling, with existing fueling-stations located all over the world. I’ll likely be gone by 2028, so speed it up! None of these previous wildly-overly-optimistic-estimates has ever come to fruition in this eVTOL-segment, at least so far, so it will likely be 2030+.
Electra Completes World’s First Hybrid-Electric eSTOL Aircraft Flight
Electra’s new class of sustainable aircraft unlocks the promise of regional air mobility with lower operating costs and improved flight performance.
Electra announced today that it has successfully completed the first flights of its EL-2 Goldfinch, a hybrid-electric, ultra-short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft.
“The Goldfinch completed an all-electric test flight on November 11 and a hybrid-electric flight on November 19, both piloted by Cody Allee, from the Manassas Regional Airport in Virginia. The first hybrid flight lasted 23-minutes, reached an altitude of 3,200 feet, and covered a distance of approximately 30-miles,” said Electra’s Vice President and General Manager JP Stewart. “We’re looking forward to further expanding the envelope of this aircraft and demonstrating the full capability of Electra’s technology.”
The two-seat Goldfinch-eSTOL technology demonstrator is the world’s first blown-lift aircraft using distributed-electric-propulsion and a hybrid-electric-propulsion-system. The aircraft uses 8-electric-motors to significantly increase wing-lift and enable ultra-short-takeoffs-and-landings while dramatically reducing-noise-and-emissions below those of conventional aircraft and helicopters. Hybrid-electric-power provides long-ranges without the need for ground-based-charging-stations.
Electra is developing a 9-passenger version of the aircraft for commercial and government markets that can take-off-and-land with ground-rolls as short as 150-feet and fly at speeds of 200 mph for distances of 500-miles. [Now that is more realistic!] Electra’s eSTOL product is backed by strong market interest; Electra currently holds pre-orders from more than 30 customers for over 1,700 aircraft, totaling more than $6-billion in backlog. Electra will develop a prototype of a full-scale pre-production eSTOL aircraft under a previously-announced strategic-funding-partnership valued up to $85-million with the U.S. Air Force AFWERX Agility Prime Program. Certification and entry into commercial-service under FAA Part 23 regulations is targeted for 2028.
“The aim of Electra is to fill a gap in air-travel-between-50-and-500-miles, where most trips today are made by automobile. The key to saving time is to operate-close-in, which means getting in and out of small spaces quietly and safely, while still being fast enough to cover long distances,” said Electra Founder and CEO John Langford. “Electra will be able to take you from downtown Manhattan not only to Kennedy Airport, but to Washington, DC. It will bring air service to thousands of communities where air travel today is not a practical or affordable option. It also opens vast new opportunities for middle-mile-cargo-logistics.”
{Electra Hybrid-Electric eSTOL}
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