• 30 Oct 2022 09:35 AM
• 0

Electra Completes Ground and Flight Tests

Electra, a Falls Church, Virginia-based company developing eSTOL aircraft, announced on Sept. 7 that it completed ground tests of a low-emissions, hybrid eSTOL aircraft propulsion system (shown). Electra is seeking to integrate the hybrid-electric turbogenerator into its nine-passenger eSTOL aircraft before scaling the system for larger aircraft. The tests occurred at the company’s facility in Switzerland. A two-seat demonstrator is planned for flight next year. Meanwhile, Electra revealed that it had completed its first flight of a solar-battery hybrid-electric, high-altitude research aircraft. The Dawn One, an uncrewed aircraft with a 90-ft (27-m) wingspan, flew on Sept. 9 at the company’s facility in Manassas, Virginia. Originally a project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Dawn One is part of a program at Harvard University that seeks to use innovative technologies to better understand and evaluate the changing climate; it is funded by NASA and the Weld Foundation for Scientific and Environmental Development.