ElFly Looks to the Future

Dean Sigler Batteries, Electric Aircraft Components, Electric Powerplants, Hybrid Aircraft, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Elfly, the recently-formed Norwegian aircraft company, looks to a future of responsible, emission-free flight with its nine-to-thirteen passenger amphibians.  Three partners, Eric Lithun (Chief Executive Officer), Tomas Brødreskift (Chief Technology Officer), and Eirik Sandal (Chief Financial Officer), are dedicated to making electric flight along the seaside an everyday occurrence.

Lithun was interviewed about the new machine and explained its benefits.

Note the humility of the team’s vision and their willingness to learn during the development process.  As Lithun explains, they can save funds by staying in the nine-passenger mode and expanding with market opportunities.  That market may be imminent, with recent announcements of letters of intent

Recent interest jumped after a “dry spell” during which Lithun had difficulty finding interest in his “niche” seaplane.  That now seems over with Danish operator Nordic Seaplanes signing an agreement for 15 Noemis.     This would make Nordic, the only European operator of scheduled seaplane operations, as Elfly’s first customer.  Contingent on Noemi’s certification in 2030, Nordic would take delivery of five aircraft, with options for up to ten more.  Revolution.aero reports, ” If fully realized the deal could be worth up to $150m for Elfly.”

Lithun is optimistic about the prospect.  “The renaissance of the seaplane is coming.  Collaborating with this well positioned European partner [Nordic], with its wealth of operational experience here and overseas, makes a lot of sense.  We can learn much from them about operating in a challenging environment and together we aim to tap seaplane markets beyond Scandinavia.

“Look how close we are to the city center, this is why we chose this location. Coastal air mobility from city center to city center is happening right here in Denmark today. Nordic has customers that travel multiple times per week. If we can achieve similar performance with zero emissions and much lower noise we are opening up new opportunities for mobility.” 

Ole Christensen, Nordic CEO and chairman  adds, “We have a very successful operation with our Twin Otters (they have 57), but we are excited to embrace a future into 2030 that is electric.  With Elfly’s Noemi in a nine-seat configuration, we are making an investment in clean technology, sustainability, which will assure our business well into the future, not just for Denmark but as we look to expand into other coastal markets too.”

Elfly could fly its Noemi on existing Nordic Seaplane routes, currently served by Twin Otters.  Other routes in other regions could follow

Those markets include any area with regional harbors or landing areas that could be served by seaplanes.  These include seaside areas like the Washington coast, Dubai, The Maldives, or Indonesia, just a few potential bases.

Noemi should save on operating costs, reduced maintenance, and other factors that could allow small operators to show a profit.  This could be beneficial for Elfly and its customers.

An Earlier Amphibian

Over a decade, Tomas Brødreskift and his father took on one of the most ambitious home-built aircraft projects ever, incorporating an incredible number of innovations.  These included a sophisticated (complicated) hybrid energy system incorporating components as described in a 2017 blog entry.  “The power system features an Engiro DMM97 electric drive system with a Wankel Super Tec (WST) KKM 352 multi-Diesel fuel engine driving an Engiro DMG60 generator that produces 60 kilowatts.  This keeps the two kilowatt-hour Kokam battery pack charged that in turn drives the tail-mounted motor with its custom DUC propeller.  All of this is controlled by a single lever in the cockpit, a kind of hybrid FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control).”  Your editor had the pleasure of meeting Tomas at Oshkosh and hearing his presentation at the first Sustainable Aviation Symposium in 2016.

Elfly’s CTO with friends on completion of his Equator P2, a very sophisticated home-built airplane

Elfly recently struck a partnership with H55, Andre’ Borschberg’s Swiss firm.  Elfly will distribute the company’s electric version of the FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) for battery-electric aircraft.  Elfly will take three for starters, with options to acquire two more.  This could be a secondary income stream for Elfly.

Combining a visionary design with acute engineering and growing interest in their design, Elfly may become more than a niche player in the electric aircraft market.

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