The Israeli company Eviation announced the completion of the prototype of the passenger electric aircraft Alica and the beginning of preparation of the aircraft for the first flight. According to Flightglobal, the company intends to start flight tests of the aircraft in 2021. the developers plan to complete the alice certification in the second half of 2023.
Eviation Aircraft for the first time released the Alice project in 2017. the aircraft received three electric motors with pushing propellers and a battery of sufficient capacity for relatively short regional flights. the 12-meter-long alice prototype is designed for 9 passengers, but in the future, the developers plan to create a 22-seat version of the aircraft.
the aircraft received an elongated wing of a small sweep with a span of 13.5 meters and a v-shaped tail. electric motors with pushing propellers are installed one at a time on the wing tips and in the tail section. the maximum take-off weight of alice is 6.4 tons. it is assumed that the first versions of alice will be able to fly over a distance of up to one thousand kilometers at a speed of up to 240 knots (445 kilometers per hour).
Alice is equipped with a 920 kilowatt-hour battery weighing 3.2 tons. In January 2020, the battery of a prototype electric aircraft could cause a fire that occurred on board Alice. According to the Eviation report, before the fire, the aircraft's battery compartment became very hot, and later the battery exploded.
The developers do not disclose what modifications were made to the prototype of the electric aircraft. Presumably, the most serious revision was the change in the location of electric motors. Earlier, Eviation announced that the electric passenger aircraft Alice will receive a light cooling system microvcs (Micro Vapor Cycle System, steam cycle microsystem). It was developed by the American company Honeywell Aerospace. The cooling system was planned to be installed on the Alice prototype in July 2020 as part of the preparation of the aircraft for the first flight.
Vasily Sychev