Ampaire completes longest hybrid-electric flight ever
Ampaire’s EEL demonstrator has made the single longest nonstop flight ever made by a hybrid-electric aircraft.
The 1,135 mile journey formed part of a flight from Los Angeles to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.…
Ampaire’s EEL demonstrator has made the single longest nonstop flight ever made by a hybrid-electric aircraft.
The 1,135 mile journey formed part of a flight from Los Angeles to Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Ampaire test pilot Elliot Seguin took off from Camarillo Airport on 20 July to reposition to Mojave Airport in California (85 miles) in order to avoid the potential for early morning fog the next morning.
A day later, he flew the 1,135 miles from Mojave to Hays, Kansas. The next morning, on 22 July, he completed the trip, flying 660 miles to Oshkosh’s Wittman Regional Airport.
Fuel savings
The EEL demonstrated fuel savings of up to 40 per cent versus a standard Cessna Skymaster, on which it is based.
The EEL is a parallel hybrid, with one conventional combustion engine and an independent electric drivetrain. Optimised hybrid electric aircraft can demonstrate substantially higher fuel savings and emissions reductions.
Flying more miles than any other
“By the time the EEL returns to California it will have flown more miles than any hybrid-electric aircraft, over 15,000, including airline demonstration flights in Hawaii and the UK. It is flying with great reliability and demonstrating the workhorse nature of hybrid-electric aircraft,” said Susan Ying, Ampaire’s SVP of Global Partnerships.
“We are taking the technology and expertise developed with the electrical EEL and applying it to our first commercial product, the hybrid-electric nine-seat Eco Caravan regional aircraft, which will make its first flight later this year. That aircraft will demonstrate fuel savings up to 70 per cent and emissions reductions up to 100 per cent when using sustainable aviation fuel.”
Ampaire is moving rapidly to bring the benefits of electrification to aviation markets, starting with the Eco Caravan and scaling its technology to larger regional aircraft.
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