It was short but ever so sweet. Almost 116 years to the date the Wrights made aviation history so too did a Canadian Turbo Beaver airframe just outside Vancouver, BC.
For the first time in aviation history a commercially scheduled air carrier flew an all-electric airplane. It took off from the Fraser River and flew for only 5 minutes but it ushered in the real significant possibility of electric propulsion commercial air travel.
Harbour Air, an all-seaplane scheduled commercial airline based in Vancouver, BC made the historic flight in a Beaver aircraft mated to a MagniX Magni500 electric motor flown by Harbour Air's CEO Greg McDougall. This current configuration can fly for 60 minutes on a single charge. He said the airline plans to spend the next 2 years getting this electric aircraft certified and approved for commercial flight. After certification, they will concentrate on extending flight time. Harbour Air currently flies to 12 destinations on the West Coast, has a fleet of 53 floatplanes and employs 450 people between BC and Seattle.