Test Flight Of BETA Alia CX300 Electric Airplane Completed In Norway

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Norway is an ideal place for an electric airplane. Its crenelated coastline means getting to places by road can take a long time and involve multiple ferry crossings, even though the straight line distance between cities might be quite short. Electric airplanes are not ready for transoceanic flight, at least not yet, but they are superbly qualified for short hops of 150 to 200 miles, which happens to be the length of a typical journey between major cities and to offshore islands in Norway by air.

Bristow Norway is a Norwegian company that transports crews from the west coast of Norway to oil installations in the North Sea. It has headquarters in Stavanger and additional operations in Bergen, Florø, and Hammerfest. Most of its fleet consists of helicopters, but last week it flew a BETA Alia CX300 electric aircraft from its hub in Stavanger to Bergen in 55 minutes. According to Google Maps, by road, that 220-mile trip typically takes about 4 hrs 15 min. The airplane has a wingspan of 50 feet and can reach a maximum speed of 176 miles per hour.

BETA Alia Electric Airplane Based On VTOL

The CX300 is based on an electric VTOL aircraft that has been under development by BETA Technologies, a Vermont company formed in 2017. According to the New York Times, it has completed test flights in the United States and made its debut appearance at the Paris Air Show this year. BETA Technologies is competing against a growing number of rivals for investment from big airlines and governments like China and the United Arab Emirates.

What makes Norway’s plans interesting, say aviation analysts, is that the country has injected $5 million to make the test flight a reality. Next, Norway is planning to spend more to figure out how to adapt many of its 44 airports for electric flight.

By electrifying its transportation system, Norway will be able to meet its climate goals with little impact on its oil and gas industry, said Thina Margrethe Saltvedt, an analyst at Nordea, a Nordic bank. “Norway has signed the Paris agreement and must cut emissions. Electric aircraft have little impact on Norway’s existing industry, so this will face little resistance,” she said.

Norway is already using electric ferries on the sea, and now Avinor, the country’s airport authority, is pushing for electric commercial flights, particularly on what Norwegians call their “milk run routes.” Every day, 560 domestic flights crisscross the country, and more than three-quarters of them are shorter than 250 miles, according to Avinor. Many of these flights are subsidized by the government and are the only link to offshore islands and remote communities located above the Arctic Circle.

According to Aerospace Testing International, that first flight will be followed by several more over the next few months to gain knowledge about how a battery-operated aircraft will perform in regular service. For now, only a pilot and a co-pilot are aboard, along with a load of non-commercial cargo stowed on board.

“The route between Stavanger and Bergen is one of the most used in today’s traditional airline operations,” Dave Stepanek, executive vice president of transformation at Bristow, told ATI. “The route forms a key component of the test arena, and simulating a cargo mission here is an important and symbolic first step. This marks the start of several months of collecting critical data that will play a central role in shaping future flight operations.”

Shawn Hall, commercial director at BETA Technologies, said, “We are very pleased that flights between Stavanger and Bergen have now started. This phase is crucial to collecting valuable data needed to understand how electric aircraft can operate effectively in this unique landscape. It is exciting that this partnership, and our aircraft, can play a key role in shaping the future of regional air mobility.”

Three Testing Phases

The Alia CX300 test flight campaign is taking place in three phases, the first of which began August 8 with a series of takeoffs and landings from the airport in Stavanger. Phase two, which began last week, is focused on learning more about the in-flight behavior of the airplane while flying between Stavanger and Bergen. In the third phase, the aircraft will be operated on instruments.

Avinor and the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority have set up an international test arena for zero-emission aircraft whose purpose is to create and share knowledge and learning, as well as gain operational experience by testing in real operational environments. “We are very pleased that the test flights between Stavanger and Bergen are now fully underway. It is an important milestone for Norway as an international test arena, and will give us useful insight into operational conditions both on the ground and in the air,” said Karianne Helland Strand, executive vice president for sustainability and infrastructure at Avinor.

Electric Airplane Safety

I had a friend who was an avid private pilot. He often said, “There are old pilots and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.” People who fly airplanes are obsessed with safety, because the consequences of failure are so extreme. Many modern airplanes have triple or ever quadruple redundancies built into their operational systems, and still tragedies happen, such as the crash on takeoff of a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in India in July.

So far as is known — and no official explanation has emerged yet — the circuit breakers controlling the fuel pumps to both engines suddenly tripped as the plane was taxiing for takeoff. No fuel, no power. No power, no flight. Apparently the pilots were trying to reset the breakers as the plane plummeted back to Earth.

“The Achilles’ heel of all electric flight is the battery,” Guy Gratton, an aviation professor at Cranfield University in England, told the New York Times. He has been observing Norway’s electric flight ambitions to better understand what it may mean for the world.

Batteries today weigh 50 times more than what an equivalent amount of aircraft fuel would weigh. Unlike conventional craft, electric airplanes don’t get lighter as the journey progresses. In addition, Gratton said, the lifespan of the batteries available today may be reduced by the rapid high power charging electric flight will require. The batteries will also have to contend with powering a plane through headwinds and icy conditions, which could affect their performance. “I am somewhat skeptical about how good their range of endurance and payload will be,” Gratton said.

Electric aircraft will be about 30% cheaper to run than an equivalent traditionally fueled aircraft, said Simon Meakins, an executive at Bristow. Because it has no gearbox or hydraulic system and a simpler engine, it requires less maintenance as well. “You take away a lot of moving parts,” he said. EV advocates are familiar with similar arguments for why an electric car can cost more to buy but less to own. That sort of analysis appeals to commercial operators, who figure profits and expenses in pennies per mile.

Better Batteries Are Coming

As we say frequently here at CleanTechnica, the batteries that will be available in 2030 are still in laboratories today. Most observers think an energy density of 500 Wh per per kilogram will be needed before electric aircraft are commercially viable. Today’s best lithium-ion batteries are at 330 Wh per kilogram, but there are rumors of impressive gains being made by companies like CATL and BYD.

With regard to the Alia CX300, Bristow pilot Jeremy Degagne told the New York Times. “It’s a very simple and easy aircraft to fly. It’s just another aircraft, which is a good thing.” Familiarity is a very comfortable thing when you are in the air and surprises can be deadly.