China’s First Certified Electric Airplane Ready for Mass Production

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

China has seen Yuneec’s early entry into the electric aircraft field.  The parent company is now making drones and camera gear in China, but its Greenwing International subsidiary in Cable, California appears to be defunct, according to Bill Lofton’s EV Hangar.  Yuneec’s E430 two-seater and e-Spyder ultralight, all flown at the big AirVenture shows, will seemingly not come to market. A craft similar to the E430, the RX1E Ruixiang, is ready to go into mass production, however.  Developed by Shenyang Aerospace University in Shenyang City in China’s Liaoning Province, the long-winged two seater is the first electric aircraft certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). Certification was a major accomplishment, according to Yang Fengtian, chief designer of the airplane.   “Unlike military aircraft and commercial jets, there are certain criteria that an electric plane must have before given permission to fly. The plane has to be light enough, and the batteries need to be efficient and reliable, and overall it has …