Harbour Air, the all-seaplane airline, has announced completion of significant project milestones in the conversion of the world’s first seaplane to ePlane.
Partnering with MagniX, an electric motor manufacturer for electric aircraft, the Harbour Air maintenance team has successful installed a 540-kW MagniX electric motor in a 60-year-old De Havilland Beaver aircraft and is now working hard to connect the internal systems in preparation for its first flight.
According to Harbour Air officials, the company is currently on track for the first test flight to take place before the end of the year. By mid-November, the company expects to have a concrete timeframe to test the first fully electric flight.
Harbour Air flies approximately 40 floatplanes to islands and coastal communities on the B.C. west coast and the goal is to eventually convert the full fleet to electric power.
