BETA Technologies and the Multistate Collaborative eIPP National Integration Complex have announced the completion of the first electric conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) aircraft flights conducted under the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the Virginia Department of Aviation, and the Maryland Aviation Administration have led the programme. “The inaugural campaign demonstrated routine operations across a multistate corridor connecting Virginia and Maryland,” said the company. “The flights covered approximately 275 nautical miles, flying between Virginia Tech/Montgomery Executive Airport (KBCB) in Blacksburg, Virginia; Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport (KCHO) in Charlottesville, Virginia; Frederick Municipal Airport (KFDK) in Frederick, Maryland; and Martin State Airport (KMTN) in Baltimore County, Maryland. This milestone comes just months after BETA was selected to participate in seven of the FAA’s eight eIPP launch programs, more than any other electric aircraft developer.
BETA and United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a biotech company, have a partnership to develop and operate electric CTOL and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft to deliver the manufactured organ products when they become commercially available, says Beta. The partnership aims to reduce the cost, increase the reliability, and lower the carbon footprint of large-scale organ delivery operations. United Therapeutic’s subsidiary, Unither Bioelectronics, led by Mikael Cardinal, has advised and partnered with BETA on technologies including autonomy, aircraft aerostructures, and the strategic deployment of charging infrastructure.
“United Therapeutics contracted BETA to build an electric aircraft capable of delivering lifesaving cargo, and today we delivered on that agreement,” said Kyle Clark, founder and chief executive officer of BETA Technologies. “Our long-term partnership with United Therapeutics has shaped BETA and our mission to build the aircraft, infrastructure, and operational ecosystem. Since it began, we have safely flown our aircraft over 160,000 nautical miles and built charging infrastructure across 123 sites in the United States and Canada. Today’s successful missions, set the stage for routine medical applications through electric flight at a much lower cost nationwide.”
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(Image: BETA Technologies)