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The inaugural flight of the all-electric Cessna 208B Grand Caravan marks another milestone ushering in the new era of electric aviation
MOSES LAKE, Washington, May 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- magniX, the company powering the electric aviation revolution, and AeroTEC, a leading independent company focused on aerospace testing, engineering and certification, today announced the successful flight of an all-electric Cessna Grand Caravan 208B. The successful flight of the eCaravan, magnified by a 750-horsepower (560 kW) magni500 propulsion system, took place at the AeroTEC Flight Test Center at the Grant County International Airport (KMWH) in Moses Lake, Washington this morning. As the world's largest all-electric commercial aircraft, this is a significant milestone in disrupting the transportation industry and accelerating the electric aviation revolution.
"The iconic Caravan has been a workhorse of industry moving people and transporting goods on short routes for decades," said Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX. "This first flight of the eCaravan is yet another step on the road to operating these middle-mile aircraft at a fraction of the cost, with zero emissions, from and to smaller airports. These electric commercial aircraft will enable the offering of flying services of people and packages in a way previously not possible."
"I'm proud of the pioneering work performed by our engineers, technicians and flight test team," said Lee Human, President and CEO of AeroTEC. "There's no roadmap for testing and certifying electric aircraft – this is a new frontier and AeroTEC is on the front lines developing the processes and best practices that will pave the way for electric aviation."
The flying of the eCaravan serves as another critical step in the certification and approval process of the magni500 propulsion system, enabling future conversions of additional aircraft to magniX's all-electric propulsion technology.
The historic flight was captured via livestream and watched by people around the world. Following the flight, a virtual press conference was held in the Test Center's hangar. To view images, recording of the virtual press conference and videos of the first flight of the world's largest all-electric aircraft, please visit: https://magnix.aero/ecaravan/.
About AeroTEC
AeroTEC develops, tests and certifies new aircraft products, using innovative and scalable development, test and certification techniques to help large and small aerospace companies everywhere bring their products to market quickly, easily and efficiently. For more information, please visit www.aerotec.com.
About magniX
Headquartered in Redmond, WA , magniX is dedicated to connecting communities by enabling an era of clean and affordable commercial air travel with all-electric propulsion. Developed with proprietary technology, magniX offers a range of revolutionary solutions including the 375HP and 750HP all-electric motors – which produce zero emissions and increased efficiency – and power electronics solutions for various aviation applications. For more information, please visit: www.magnix.aero.
Media Contact:
Britta Gidican
Barokas Communications for magniX
magniX@barokas.com
Emily Brown for AeroTEC
ebrown@aerotec.com
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1174223/ECaravan_02.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/749902/magniX_Logo.jpg
