Cranfield, England and its local university are hubs for electric aircraft development. Dr. Guy Gratton is test flying The Light Aircraft Company’s eKub on 48-Volt battery power, ZeroAvia is crafting a Dornier 228 to run on hydrogen, and now Cranfied Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) is readying a Britten-Norman Islander for H2-powered flight in 2023. The Islander Living up to its name, Britten-Norman’s Islander seems to be busy worldwide island hopping. The twin-engine plane ever makes the world’s shortest scheduled flights, including this between Juist to Norden across the Wadden See. The 74-second flight is less than the time spent taxiing at the beginning and end of the hop. Designed and developed in the 1960s, 750 Islanders of the 1,280 built are in service with many small airlines and over 30 militaries. Now, other enterprises are banding together with Britten-Norman and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions (CAeS) to bring hydrogen flight to the Isles of Scilly, a popular English vacation destination. Three companies signed …
British Craft eKub
A Proper British Aeroplane eKub is the latest offering from The Light Aircraft Company (TLAC), a British company that specializes in modern adaptations of classic-themed flying machines. At nearby Cranfield University, Dr Guy Gratton, Associate Professor of Aviation and the Environment, teaches and acts as test pilot on the eKub. Gratton is also an Associate Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. TechXplor reports, “After taxi tests and “low hops,” the single seat Sherwood eKub made its first flight of 10 minutes and then a second flight later in the day of 22 minutes from Little Snoring airfield in Norfolk.” He can’t seem to get enough of the little ultralight single seater, posting a Tweet showing his takeoff in G-EKUB. He reports, “Back in the electric office today, more lessons learned, more progress towards practical and viable electric aeroplanes.” In response to a reader’s question about battery limits on flight time, he explains, “Looking increasingly that we’ll hit our …