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Note that they have agreed to buy them "conditionally… once the aircraft meet United's safety, business and operating requirements." The 2026 number in the tit

Note that they have agreed to buy them "conditionally… once the aircraft meet United's safety, business and operating requirements." The 2026 number in the title is probably without meaning. Nobody's meeting those requirements just yet.

sandworm101 5y ago
>>Nobody's meeting those requirements just yet. Someone is. What is very interesting about Harbour Air's approach is that they are not creating new aircraft but rather retrofitting electric propulsion onto their existing fleet. This is not an electric engine filling a niche application. Rather, this is electric replacing combustion engines on very longstanding commercial routes. https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-air-magnix-and-h55-partner-for-the-worlds-first-certified-all-electric-commercial-airplane/ https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-air-magnix-and-h55-partne... "After the successful first flight of the Harbour Air eBeaver powered by magniX in December 2019 and the ongoing flight tests since then, the companies have teamed up with H55 to bring their shared vision of clean, efficient and quiet commercial aviation to life by 2022. H55 will provide its proven modular battery technology to expand the eBeaver’s balance to weight ratio and endurance. The company’s battery modules have one of the highest energy densities on the market and will provide the entire energy storage system and redundant battery monitoring at the cell level for the eBeaver. "
- VBprogrammer 5y ago
  The eBeaver is about as relevant to conventional air travel as the existence of electric milk floats and forklifts was to ground transport for the past 50 years.
  - sandworm101 5y ago
    I take it that you have never been to Alaska. Or BC. Or Washington. Or anywhere else with more trees than people. Without bushplanes the entire resource extraction industry would grind to a halt. The conversion of a Beaver to electric follows on the past turbo-beaver conversion. It matters and is being watched by the industry.
    - minitoar 5y ago
      Still has a ways to go. The eBeaver range is dramatically less.
      - sundvor 5y ago
        You've got to start somewhere, right? Kudos to the developers of this.
        epx 5y ago
        In the 1990s, the idea of electric RC planes were ridiculed as well. I am moderately optimistic that 1:1 planes will eventually follow, as RC electric cars became "good enough" and 1:1 electric cars are a reality now.
        sandworm101 5y ago
        I had an electric RC plane in the mid 90s. It wasn't much, just a styrofoam body and pair of electric motors (no flight controls) but it was a cheap and functional RC plane.
        sundvor 5y ago
        Nice info, P and GP! I built a RC buggy car with lipo batteries; it's amazing how quickly it goes, and how well we've suspension etc works. Sadly most of the time was spent on the build, too hard to get to the local track with family and such, but still a great experience. It's just so quiet compared to the nitro ones too. Goes to show if you want to get somewhere, first you have to start. The other top trending thread on making a bit of progress every day comes to mind, it's amazing how far we can get over a long period of constantly making small improvements.

sandworm101 5y ago

>>Nobody's meeting those requirements just yet. Someone is. What is very interesting about Harbour Air's approach is that they are not creating new aircraft but rather retrofitting electric propulsion onto their existing fleet. This is not an electric engine filling a niche application. Rather, this is electric replacing combustion engines on very longstanding commercial routes. https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-air-magnix-and-h55-partner-for-the-worlds-first-certified-all-electric-commercial-airplane/ https://www.harbourair.com/harbour-air-magnix-and-h55-partne... "After the successful first flight of the Harbour Air eBeaver powered by magniX in December 2019 and the ongoing flight tests since then, the companies have teamed up with H55 to bring their shared vision of clean, efficient and quiet commercial aviation to life by 2022. H55 will provide its proven modular battery technology to expand the eBeaver’s balance to weight ratio and endurance. The company’s battery modules have one of the highest energy densities on the market and will provide the entire energy storage system and redundant battery monitoring at the cell level for the eBeaver. "

VBprogrammer 5y ago
The eBeaver is about as relevant to conventional air travel as the existence of electric milk floats and forklifts was to ground transport for the past 50 years.
- sandworm101 5y ago
  I take it that you have never been to Alaska. Or BC. Or Washington. Or anywhere else with more trees than people. Without bushplanes the entire resource extraction industry would grind to a halt. The conversion of a Beaver to electric follows on the past turbo-beaver conversion. It matters and is being watched by the industry.
  - minitoar 5y ago
    Still has a ways to go. The eBeaver range is dramatically less.
    - sundvor 5y ago
      You've got to start somewhere, right? Kudos to the developers of this.
      - epx 5y ago
        In the 1990s, the idea of electric RC planes were ridiculed as well. I am moderately optimistic that 1:1 planes will eventually follow, as RC electric cars became "good enough" and 1:1 electric cars are a reality now.
        sandworm101 5y ago
        I had an electric RC plane in the mid 90s. It wasn't much, just a styrofoam body and pair of electric motors (no flight controls) but it was a cheap and functional RC plane.
        sundvor 5y ago
        Nice info, P and GP! I built a RC buggy car with lipo batteries; it's amazing how quickly it goes, and how well we've suspension etc works. Sadly most of the time was spent on the build, too hard to get to the local track with family and such, but still a great experience. It's just so quiet compared to the nitro ones too. Goes to show if you want to get somewhere, first you have to start. The other top trending thread on making a bit of progress every day comes to mind, it's amazing how far we can get over a long period of constantly making small improvements.