Fly Electric They Said, It'll Be Fun They Said – And BETA's Flight to Montréal Proves Just That!
Oh, buckle up for this one dear readers! Gone are the days of explaining how engines run on the tears of dinosaurs. Now we're headed straight into the realms of electrical sorcery! Vermont's very own Beta Technologies claims they've flapped their electric wings, not just around the neighborhood, but all the way into Montréal! And without any magical incantations at that!
Starting off at their home base at Plattsburgh International Airport in New York, BETA's Alia eCTOL (Conventional Take-Off and Landing), a machine as enigmatic as its name, cruised for 30 minutes, covering a robust 55 miles (or 88.5 km for my metrically-inclined amigos). Did they just reinvent the way we perceive mileage?
Their test pilot, Chris Caputo, probably needed his morning coffee because he dared to fly into the bustling airspace of Trudeau International. And you thought parallel parking at the supermarket on a Saturday was tough! Emma Davis, a flight test engineer, sat shotgun, presumably to ensure Chris didn’t doze off.
“Ah,” I thought, “another grand PR stunt!” But no - Beta flew this electric bird all the way to their Montréal office. And why? Because talent. These guys, in just a short period since March, have grown their team from "Hey, let’s give this a shot" to 70 strong, proving once again that the folks up north are doing more than just syrup and hockey.
A tip of the hat to Mélanie Lussier, Aéro Montréal's president, who aptly remarked about this achievement. In essence, the flight, she said, has set the tone for the future. A future, where, if electric aviation plays its cards right, we might be saying goodbye to fossil-fueled flights. And I do enjoy cleaner air with my sarcastic remarks.
On this electrifying journey, Kyle Clark, the big boss at Beta, gushed about flying his electrical marvel into one of the busiest airports worldwide. And it makes sense, doesn’t it? If you're going to make a statement, make it BIG. I must say, the commitment of Quebec towards sustainability does shine brightly here.
Here’s the shocker though - this isn’t Beta's first rodeo. Over the past three years, their prototype has flown more than 22,000 miles (that's about 35,406 km, for those who fancy the metric system). And let's not forget they've charged this bird using their very own infrastructure. Are we seeing a future where our electric cars and planes share charging outlets at the mall? I'll let you ponder that.
Moving quickly toward FAA certification, if all goes well, we might soon see more electric birds taking to the skies. As for me, as much as I love the roar of a petrol engine, I'm warming up to this quiet electric revolution. After all, every revolution starts with a spark, right?
