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Electric R44 Completes First Airport-to-airport Flight
In a historic
first, a fully electric-powered Robinson R44 helicopter flew from one airport
to another. The 21-nm flight took place on Saturday at 11 a.m. local
time from Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal, California, to
Palm Springs International Airport. The electric R44 flight was flown by OC
Helicopters CEO Ric Webb and Martine Rothblatt, CEO of Lung Biotechnology parent
company United Therapeutics.
Tier 1 Engineering and Lung
Biotechnology are collaborating on the electric
R44 project. The plan is to use
electric-powered helicopters and eVTOLs for delivery of transplantable organs
on short-distance flights from airports to hospitals after the organs are
delivered by electric and sustainable-fuel-powered fixed-wing aircraft to
airports near hospitals.
This version of the
electric R44 is the third-generation design of the R44 electric-propulsion system.
It features a quick-swap battery back that can be changed in 15 minutes or
charged in one hour. Plans call for FAA certification of the R44
electric-propulsion system and development of “newer energy cells” that will
extend range to hundreds of miles, according to Rothblatt.
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