Ampaire's Electric EEL Demonstrator Set to Take Off in Hawaii Flight Trials
The so-called Hawai'i Bird test aircraft will be operated on market survey flights with local operator Mokulele Airlines.
Ampaire’s Electric EEL technology demonstrator aircraft is preparing to start flight trials with Hawaii’s Mokulele Airlines as part of the Elemental Excelerator program to demonstrate the viability of electric aircraft in commercial aviation. Since early November, the modified Cessna 337 Skymaster aircraft, which the company has named the Hawai’i Bird, has been based at Kahului Airport on the island of Maui, where it will be based for the next month.
The Ampaire team has been running ground tests on the Electric EEL, which had to be fully reassembled after being shipped to Hawaii from California. The “market survey flights” between various islands across the state are due to begin in early December.
