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."