>
Donald Trump, the National LP convention, and the LP Fundraising Scheme
Appeals Court Hammers Prosecution about FBI Conduct in Whitmer Kidnap Plot
400 Legend Ballistics From The Leading Ammunition Manufacturer
The first reverse microwave in the U.S.: you can have it at home to save energy while cooking
BREAKTHROUGH : Lightsolver Makes Ultrafast Laser Based Computers
$300,000 robotic micro-factories pump out custom-designed homes
$300,000 robotic micro-factories pump out custom-designed homes
Skynet Has Arrived: Google Follows Apple, Activates Worldwide Bluetooth LE Mesh Network
The Car Fueled Entirely by the Sun Takes Huge Step Towards Production
A new wave of wearable devices will collect a mountain on information on us...
Star Trek's Holodeck becomes reality thanks to ChatGPT and video game technology
Blazing bits transmitted 4.5 million times faster than broadband
Nonetheless, when a Beaver lifted off from Vancouver Harbour Tuesday morning, it signaled what many aerospace industry insiders say is commercial aviation's future. For the first time, an aircraft that carries paying passengers took off with an electric motor.
Startup magniX's Magni500 electric motor powered the Vancouver-based Harbour Air's Beaver into the air. The small airline's chief executive, Greg McDougall, piloted the aircraft during the brief flight over the water, followed by a gentle landing in the harbor. He taxied the plane back to a dock, where a small crowd watching the event cheered.
Plenty of electric-powered aircraft have flown, but Harbour Air is the first airline that is betting its business on electric motors. The airline expects regulators to certify its retrofitted aircraft in about two years, with commercial flights beginning in 2022.
For years, the aerospace industry has been talking about whether electric-powered commercial air travel is viable. Tuesday's flight declared "this is real," magniX CEO Roei Ganzarski tells Fortune. "This is an airline flying their own aircraft."
Harbour Air is a small airline with 42 small seaplanes flying routes around British Columbia's Strait of George.
MagniX is in talks with other airlines, although Ganzarski declined to say how many, citing confidentiality agreements. "There are definitely a lot of conversations going on," he says.