Milestone as first electric flight takes off from Cambridge Airport
The take-off of the Pipistrel Velis Electro from Marshall Airport marked a key moment for the Cambridge teams involved in establishing electric aviation as a future option for aircraft design.
As the wheels left the ground, a new era in flying had taken off - stop-and-start aviation - and representatives from the major organisations involved were on hand to experience and celebrate the moment the concept of electric aircraft became a reality.
Contributors to Cambridge’s vision for the future of travel included world-class expertise from the Whittle Laboratory, Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), alongside representatives from London-based 4AIR, who sponsored the flight, and Marshall Airport, who hosted the momentous occasion.
Dr Deepanshu Singh, a Research Associate at the AIA (Aviation Impact Accelerator) based at the Whittle Laboratory, said: “We’ve done a lot of research and now it’s really great to see and feel the physical hardware - I’m super-excited to experience that and also the bigger picture is that electric flight is now a regional prospect along with short-term flight.”
Eliot Whittington, chief systems change officer at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL): “Today is really interesting because the aviation sector is very good at some things but not so much at new ways of thinking and this is a new way of flying and one that brings with it a huge amount of potential.
“If you look at any new technology - such as the mobile phone, for instance - it changes the way people think of things and that’s what’s happening here.”
The Pipistrel Velis Electro is the first ever type-certified, electric-powered aircraft, fully approved for pilot training. It is powered by a 56kW (75bhp) electric engine, and flies up to 12,000ft or up to 60 minutes, with a cruise speed of 98kcas (roughly 113mph). It costs around £180k. 4AIR is a specialist in sustainable aviation which has been working with AIA for three years to bring electric aircraft to the forefront of the Cambridge teams’ thinking: this particular aircraft, though built in Slovenia, will help direct future progress in sustainable aviation taking place in Cambridge.
“Transforming aviation is only possible through close collaboration between industry and academia,” said Rob Miller, professor of aerothermal technology and director of the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, “and our partnership with 4Air is a great example of what can be achieved.
“It is really great to get our scientists out of the lab and on this electric plane to see what can be achieved in the real world.”
Pilot Adam Twidell, who is director of future flight for 4AIR, said of how flying the Pipistrel Velis Electro electric aircraft differs from flying a combustion engine aircraft: “It’s just so seamless and quiet, it handles brilliantly. The cockpit is sleek and well-designed and, with far fewer switches and controls, it’s the ideal vehicle for pilot training. Every pilot I’ve seen flying in it has a huge smile on their face.”
Not just pilots. Cambridge Independent photographer Keith Heppell, who took the photos shown here, said: “I’ve flown in small planes many times before, but this was unique because, unlike say a Cessna, whereyou start the engine up and go through the systems, here it was press the button and off you go!
“At the bottom of the runway the engine goes off while you wait for permission to take off. Then you press the button like you do on a stop-and-go car and off you go. It’s instant and you don’t hear any engine noise, just the tyres going over the concrete runway. It’s surprisingly quick to get off the ground, then when you land it’s almost like gliding in.”
You can read more about the flight and the future of aviation in an age of net zero in next week’s edition of the Cambridge Independent.
