Electra.aero has built a technology demonstrator vehicle that it will use to complete the development of its hybrid-electric eSTOL aircraft. During an event on Monday attended by some 200 guests at its headquarters in Manassas, Virginia, the company revealed the two-seat model, which it says is the world’s first blown-lift aircraft powered by distributed electric propulsion.
Flight testing is expected to start over the summer to track performance that will help Electra’s engineers complete the design of the nine-passenger production aircraft that could also be used to carry up to 2,500 pounds of freight. The company is aiming to produce an aircraft with exceptional short takeoff and landing performance that will be able to operate from landing surfaces of little more than 300 feet and fly routes of up to around 400 nm at a cruise speed of 175 knots. If it operated from longer runways of up to around 1,000 feet, payload and range could be increased.
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