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Harbour Air Signs To Electrify Beaver Seaplane Fleet

Graham Warwick April 22, 2024

Harbour Air’s prototype electrified eBeaver prototype has completed 78 test flights.

Credit: Harbour Air Seaplanes

Canada’s Harbour Air Seaplanes has confirmed plans to electrify its De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beavers and to offer the propulsion conversion to other operators. The Vancouver-based seaplane airline has ratified a letter of intent with MagniX to purchase 50 magni650 electric engines.
Harbour Air and MagniX cooperated to convert a Beaver to electric propulsion and make the first fully electric flight by a commercial aircraft in December 2019. That ePlane 1.0 prototype has now logged a total of 78 flights, and Harbour Air is building the ePlane 2.0 conforming prototype.

“After 78 test flights, we have brought the aircraft in for some architecture updates. We are close to having it back online to continue to test the aircraft and adapt the lessons learned to our certification prototype,” Harbour Air tells Aviation Week.

Harbour Air is targeting Canadian and U.S. supplemental type certification of the Beaver conversion for 2026, after FAA Part 33 type certification of the 650-kW magni650 electric engine and Transport Canada validation. Following certification, the company plans to begin retrofitting its fleet and offering the conversion to other customers.

“A key element to the Harbour Air electrification vision is to develop a sustainable aviation hub on the west coast, providing electrification conversions and services to third parties,” the company says. The agreement with MagniX “helps solidify this vision by ensuring the supply of electric engines for our fleet as well as our customers.”

The ePlane 1.0 prototype is flying with an early magni500 electric motor in place of its original Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior radial piston engine. Harbour Air intended to replace the radial engine with a 350-kW magni350 but moved to the larger, more capable magni650 for the ePlane 2.0 to meet loss of power control certification requirements. Swiss startup H55 is developing the battery system for the certification aircraft.