Atlas Signs Agreement With Electra To Build EL9 Hybrid-Electric Prototypes As Electra moves forward towards the flight-test stage of the development of their EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft, the company has partnered with Atlas to build that prototype fleet. Atlas is a company located in Wichita and they signed an agreement with Electra to manufacture and assemble the early airframes. Work is expected to commence this month on the first aircraft and have the first prototype ready for delivery for flight testing in 2027.
Atlas is very experienced with this kind of work as they make for prominent airframers in the industry like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Gulfstream Aerospace, and Textron Aviation. At this stage Electra is not ready to scale up but when they do they plan an $850 million investment in a production facility in Springfield, Ohio, that is expected to create approximately 2,000 jobs.
Electra has Letters of Intent from over 60 prospective operators for more than 2,200 aircraft. The EL9 is an interesting aircraft and catches the imagination of operators with its ability to take off in as little as 150-feet with a seating capacity for 9. This type of aircraft will potentially open more direct aviation services that do not necessarily require a full-fledged airport.
Before they can get to the EL9 aircraft they have been using a subscale demonstrator they call the EL2. In terms of propulsion, the aircraft’s powertrain is expected to utilize electric motors and a TG600 turbogenerator by Safran. Once the EL9 is certified and commences active service it is expected to be serving routes that span 50 to 500 miles. For more information: Electra Aero 10761 James Payne Court, Manassas, VA, 20110 www.electra.aero ***
