18 Civil Aircraft You Have Not Seen At An Air Show—Yet

Graham Warwick July 16, 2020

Bristell Energic

BRM Aero’s two-seat Bristell Energic, the first aircraft with an electric propulsion system developed by Swiss startup H55—a technology spinoff from the Solar Impulse round-the-world project—made its first flight in Sion, Switzerland, on June 21, 2019. Credit: Anna Pizzolante/H55

HAPSMobile Hawk30

HAPSMobile, a joint venture between Japan’s SoftBank and unmanned-aircraft developer AeroVironment, flew the Hawk30 solar-powered high-altitude communications platform for the first time on Sept. 11, 2019, at the NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. Credit: Carla Thomas/NASA

Kitty Hawk Heaviside

Kitty Hawk, a startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, unveiled its Heaviside 2 single-seat electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft in October 2019, by which time the high-performance tilt-prop design had been in flight test for some time. Credit: Kitty Hawk

SyberJet SJ30i

The SyberJet Aircraft SJ30i light business jet made its first flight on Oct. 9, 2019, in San Antonio. With a new Honeywell Epic 2.0 flight deck, the SJ30i is an updated version of the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2, which first flew in November 1996. Credit: SyberJet

Volocopter VoloDrone

German Volocopter flew the VoloDrone, a heavy-lift unmanned version of its eVTOL air taxi, at Oberpfaffenhofen near Munich in October 2019. The 18-rotor drone is designed to carry 200 kg (440 lb.) up to 40 km (25 mi.). Credit: Volocopter

KAI LCH

The first civil helicopter to be produced in South Korea, the second prototype of Korea Aerospace Industries’ light civil helicopter (LCH), made its first flight on Dec. 5, 2019. The LCH is based on the Airbus EC155B1, and the first prototype flew at Airbus Helicopters in France in July 2018. Credit: Korea Aerospace Industries

Harbour Air/MagniX eBeaver

The eBeaver, a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver floatplane converted to electric propulsion by Harbour Air Seaplanes and motor developer MagniX, took off from the Fraser River in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the first time on Dec. 10, 2019. The eBeaver is the first electric commercial aircraft to fly. Credit: Harbour Air

Embraer 175-E2

The E175-E2, the third and smallest member of Embraer’s second-generation E-Jets E2 family, made its first flight from Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, on Dec. 12, 2019, beginning a three-aircraft, 24-month test program. The 80-seat regional jet is powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1700G geared turbofans. Credit: Embraer

Boeing 777X

The 777-9, the first and largest member of Boeing’s 777X long-haul twinjet family, made its first flight from Everett, Washington, on Jan. 25, powered by 105,000-lb.-thrust General Electric GE9X turbofans. The first delivery is planned for 2021. Credit: Boeing

Gulfstream G700

Gulfstream’s new flagship, the G700, made its first flight from Savannah, Georgia, on Feb. 14. Powered by Rolls-Royce Pearl 700 turbofans, enabling a Mach 0.9 high-speed cruise, the long-range, large-cabin business jet is a stretched development of the G650. Credit: Gulfstream

VoltAero Cassio 1

French startup VoltAero began flights of the Cassio 1 hybrid-electric propulsion testbed on March 10, from the Royan-Medis Aerodrome. The modified Cessna 337 Skymaster flew with two wing-mounted Safran EngineUS electric motors and a pusher piston engine. Credit: VoltAero

Viking Air amphibious firefighting aircraft

Viking CL-415EAF

Longview Aviation Services and Viking Air flew the first modernized CL-415EAF amphibious firefighting aircraft on March 10 at Cascade Aerospace in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The upgraded CL-215 has turboprop engines, new avionics and increased retardant capacity. Credit: Viking Air

Dornier Seawings Seastar

The updated new-generation Seastar amphibious aircraft, developed by Dornier Seawings, made its first flight from Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, on March 28. A development of the Dornier Seastar first flown in 1984, the aircraft features a Honeywell Primus Epic 2.0 flightdeck and new MT propellers. Credit: Dornier Seawings

SkyDrive SD-02

Japanese startup SkyDrive announced in April that it had completed manned flight tests of its single-seat eVTOL demonstrator, the multirotor SD-02. SkyDrive is aiming to have an eVTOL air taxi on the market by 2023. Credit: SkyDrive

Cessna SkyCourier

Textron Aviation flew the Cessna 408 SkyCourier twin-turboprop utility aircraft for the first time on May 17 from Wichita. Powered by Pratt & Whitney PT6A-65SCs, the aircraft is available in 6,000-lb.-payload freighter, 19-seat passenger or passenger-cargo combi versions. Credit: Textron Aviation

MagniX/AeroTEC eCaravan

Motor developer MagniX and certification specialist AeroTEC flew the electric-powered eCaravan for the first time on May 29 at Moses Lake, Washington. The aircraft is a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan with its Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprop replaced by a 750-hp electric motor, powered by batteries in the cabin. Credit: MagniX

Beta Technologies Alia

Secretive startup Beta Technologies revealed its Alia eVTOL aircraft in June, when the engineering prototype was airlifted by helicopter across Lake Champlain to Plattsburgh International Airport, New York, for expanded flight testing after completing hover tests in Burlington, Vermont. Photo credit: Eric Adams

Stratos Aircraft 716X

The Stratos 716X six-seat single-engine jet made its first flight on July 2 in Redmond, Oregon. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney JT15D-5 turbofan and designed to cruise at 400 kt., the 716X will be offered as an experimental kit-built aircraft, while the 716 will be FAA-certified for production. Photo credit: Stratos Aircraft

It may not seem like it, but the last 12 months have been fairly busy when it comes to new civil aircraft—and some not so new—entering flight testing. Among the more than dozen types that have taken to the skies are a handful of that new breed—electric-powered aircraft.

Graham Warwick

Graham leads Aviation Week's coverage of technology, focusing on engineering and technology across the aerospace industry, with a special focus on identifying technologies of strategic importance to aviation, aerospace and defense.

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