Eviation test pilot Steven Crane gives a thumbs up as he exits the company’s battery-powered Alice airplane, which flew for the first time Tuesday morning at the Grant County International Airport. The company is working with AeroTEC in Moses Lake to get the aircraft certified for commercial sale.
September 27, 2022
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Electric flight
Eviation's Alice aircraft makes initial battery-powered test flight in Moses Lake
MOSES LAKE — The very first test flight Tuesday morning of Eviation’s battery-powered Alice airplane only lasted about eight minutes. However, the implications for commercial flight could last for decades to come. “What we’ve done is made aviation history. This is about changing the way we fly,” said Eviation President and CEO Greg Davis as he stood with company test pilot Steven Crane on the ramp behind the main terminal at the Grant County International Airport. “And we are, well. obviously beaming with pride on this beautiful sunny day here at Moses Lake as we've just completed this flight.” Founded in Tel Aviv in 2015 by Omer Bar-Yohay and Aviv Tzidon, Eviation signed a deal with Seattle-based AeroTEC to test and certify the Alice at the Paris Airshow in 2019 and moved its headquarters to Arlington, Washington, in 2020. The company hopes to eventually produce passenger, cargo and executive transport versions of the all-electric, battery-powered aircraft for short-haul flights of 200 nautical miles (about 230 standard miles) or less...