Ravn in the Northwest said it will buy 50 electric planes from the West Coast-based company Airflow when, in fact, they come onto the market. Moreover, the Airflow’s planes will use batteries instead of gas to power the engines. However, the company has to first finalize its aircraft design. Marc Ausman, the Airflow CEO, said he hopes to have Airflow’s planes ready for service by 2025.
Ravn Alaska has High Hopes for Their Aircrafts
“In fact, my feeling is, if we can, in fact, build an aircraft that’s successful in Alaska, it can be successful anywhere in the world,” he said.
Short takeoff and landing aircrafts are basically Airflow’s planes that are electric versions. Moreover, it is the kind of small planes you might see private pilots flying around Alaska.
Each plane can fit nine passengers each, according to Ausman. In fact, they are not meant to replace Ravn’s current airlines. They are larger, Dash-8 plans. Moreover, Ravn says it has to service a nearby area and 12 other airports around Alaska.
The planes are actually designed for small airports and towns, Ausman said.
The reason behind that fact is partly because electric aircraft technology is more ascendable.
In fact, the internal combustion engines that planes presently use don’t scale down to smaller aircraft well, Ausman said.
“Whereas, the electric motors do scale down well,” he said. “Moreover, so we can put small electric motors, small propellers, all around the aircraft to achieve particular things.”
The planes are going to need half the length of a typical runaway to take off. Moreover, that could make them optimal for more rugged runways.
Battery Packs
Not unlike electric vehicle batteries are the batteries in Airflow’s planes. However, Ausman did say the battery packs are designed differently. That is to fortify them even more against the fires.
Those early electric planes are going to have ranges of 100 miles. In fact, some of Airflow’s planes will be hybrids. Moreover, there are those that will be able to fly for 500 miles.
Using a Prius Analogy to Describe the Electric Planes
“In fact, sort of think of it as a Prius. It is the first step to an all-electric car,” Ausman said.
