Seaplane firm soars into history books
B.C. pilot and CEO takes off in test flight of first all-electric, zero-emission commercial aircraft
As Greg McDougall prepared to fly the world’s first all-electric commercial aircraft Tuesday morning, he said “nervous” wasn’t quite the word to describe how he was feeling.
The fact that the Harbour Air CEO would be the first person to take the modified de Havilland Beaver on a full test flight didn’t faze him nor did knowledge of a charging glitch the night before.
McDougall had gone for a dinner break Monday evening while a crew of designers and engineers stared at their computers with furrowed brows, and he returned later to find them smiling and laughing, crisis averted.
“The emotion isn’t necessarily excitement, it’s more sort of anticipation and focus,” he said.
With the sun hanging low over the Fraser River in Richmond, McDougall advanced the throttle and took off. After landing, he said it felt just like flying any other plane, only with more kick.
“For me, that flight was just like flying a Beaver but it was a Beaver on electric steroids,” he said, adding he had to throttle back in order to delay the takeoff to be in line with about a dozen cameras.
“It wanted to fly,” he said. “With the tail wind, it was going to leap off the water.”
The brief but successful test flight marked a significant win for Harbour Air and partner magniX, which designed the 750-horsepower electric motor, in the race to electrify commercial aviation fleets.
Dozens of companies are working on electric planes, including Boeing and Airbus. Israeli company Eviation unveiled a nine-seat, all electric plane named “Alice” at the Paris Air Show in June, which is also a magniX project.
Roei Ganzarski, CEO of Seattle-based engineering firm magniX, described the test flight as the beginning of a revolution in aviation.
In 1903, the Wright brothers made history with the first successful flight, and in 1939, a Heinkel jet launched the jet age, he said.
“Since 1939, we’ve pretty much stayed stable. Today that team made history,” Ganzarski said, gesturing toward the design team.
Harbour Air announced in March that it had partnered with magniX with the goal of becoming the world’s first all-electric airline.
The 62-year-old Beaver was outfitted with the 750-hp electric motor, which gives it the capacity to fly about 160 kilometres before needing a recharge.
Weight, altitude and storage remain the biggest barriers to flying electric. A midsized passenger plane weighs 100 times as much as a midsized car and the battery technology hasn’t quite adjusted to the aviation market.
Fuel also remains about 40 to 50 times more power dense than batteries, Ganzarski said. But the team expects innovation in the battery industry to continue in the same way for aviation it has for electric cars. The key will be developing batteries that are more compact at the same time that they’re more powerful.
McDougall said the goal is to get passengers on Harbour Air electric flights within two years.