PORTLAND, OREGON ¨C A five-minute test flight of an all-electric commercial aircraft by Vancouver-based Harbour Air has taken a significant step in the quest to replace aircraft powered by fossil fuels, a mode of transportation increasingly viewed through the prism of global warming.
The neon-green and indigo-blue seaplane took off from the Fraser River in Richmond, British Columbia, as a small crowd cheered from the dock on Tuesday morning. The propeller aircraft, a six-passenger de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver prototype, was powered by a magniX magni500 electric motor and piloted by Harbour Air Chief Executive Officer Greg McDougall.
The test was ¡°far more than the laboratory exercises we¡¯ve seen in the past,¡± said Robert Mann, the New York-based head of aviation consultancy R.W. Mann & Co. ¡°It¡¯s a real serious, practical test.¡±
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