The French civil aviation authority, DGAC, and the French Aviation Federation (FFA) showcased its Pipistrel Alpha Electro, an all-electric, single-engine light aircraft, at the Paris Air Show.
The aircraft has been supported by several partners, including AFI KLM E&M and the Air France Group.
The FFA acquired the Alpha Electro from Slovenian manufacturer Pipistrel to evaluate its operation in real-life conditions in a flying club. Until then the aircraft had only flown in an experimental, private capacity, the FFA coordinated a long and complex pioneering process which resulted, in March 2018, in the DGAC and EASA issuing a flight permit in the framework of a community association training process.
"Commercial aviation started with light aviation, this will also be the case with electric aviation," said Olivier Seyller, Air France captain and head of the airline's cadet training program. "The aircraft is powerful, has an hour of autonomy and is very simple and convenient to operate. It could very well become an alternative to traditional combustion-powered aircraft, for instance as part of training operations for our cadet pilots."
AFI KLM E&M is closely involved in the FFA project, which chimes with the objectives and practices of its own platform dedicated to innovation, The MRO Lab.
Apart from direct financial support, AFI KLM E&M is putting its mechanics and technicians expertise at the disposal of the FFA's Fab'Lab' to contribute to the evaluation of this new aircraft type.
It is a small-scale laboratory for the future of aviation," commented James Kornberg, director engineering and maintenance innovation AFI KLM E&M. "We are naturally interested in the potential of electric propulsion and in all the new questions it raises in terms of certification, operability, and, of course, maintenance. Our experts contribute their support to the FFA and in return, we benefit from a unique observation post for the behaviour of an electric aircraft in real operating conditions. That can only teach us a lot about only-just emerging technologies, but ones that have a tremendous potential for the coming decades.