Electra tests helicopter-style procedures for Ultra Short

Electra announced the successful completion of first-of-its-kind flights from a heliport located on the commercial airport ramp at Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport.

The flights demonstrated the capabilities of Electra’s fixed-wing Ultra Short aircraft to operate from vertical-flight landing areas and use helicopter-style instrument procedures, enabling reliable, affordable and safe regional operations without adding traffic to congested airport runways.

Using its hybrid-electric EL2 Ultra Short aircraft, Electra conducted flights to test point-in-space procedures and dedicated instrument routes at several airports across Virginia. These included Virginia Tech/Montgomery Regional Airport (KBCB) in Blacksburg, Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (KROA), and Allan C. Perkinson/Blackstone AAF Airport (KBKT).

Flights at these locations, along with two additional sites in Newport News and Richmond, took off and landed from small heliports, vertiports, taxiways and other Ultra Short access points traditionally used only by helicopters. Electra conducted the operations in coordination with the FAA’s eVTOL and AAM Integration Pilot Programme (eIPP), the Virginia Smart Airspace Programme, Virginia Tech, the Virginia Department of Aviation and PennDOT, the lead eIPP participant for operations in Virginia.

The operational milestones represent a significant step toward integrating fixed-wing Ultra Short aircraft into the National Airspace System. The low-cost, scalable procedures are designed around the capabilities of next-generation electric and hybrid-electric aircraft and will support future operations of Electra’s flagship EL9.

“What happened in Virginia provides a glimpse into the future of flight,” said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra. “We showed that fixed-wing, Ultra Short aircraft can use vertical flight landing areas and a new generation of instrument procedures to reach places conventional airplanes were never designed to access. This will both bring air service closer to the passenger and also expand capacity at commercial airports in completely non-congestive ways. Direct Aviation is not just about a new aircraft, but a new operating model that brings air travel closer to communities and saves travelers huge amounts of time on their journeys.”

The flights build on Electra’s participation in the Virginia Smart Airspace Programme, which aims to develop scalable instrument flight procedures and new access points for Advanced Air Mobility. The programme focuses on enabling aircraft with new performance capabilities to operate safely and predictably through point-in-space procedures, dedicated routes, and airport and vertiport integration, while also collecting operational data.

During the flights, Electra and its partners collected operational data to compare the aircraft’s performance with procedure requirements and support future evaluations of fixed-wing AAM operations using helicopter-style instrument procedures. Over more than a year of development leading up to this month’s testing, Smart Airspace partners and the FAA designed flexible approaches for vertiports and heliports to accommodate the Ultra Short. They also evaluated and tested new approach and departure instrument procedures and developed air traffic concepts to enable the Ultra Short to safely and efficiently land away from airport runways.

“This is the kind of practical flight testing needed to move Advanced Air Mobility from concept to operational reality,” said Tombo Jones, Director of Virginia Tech's Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. “The goal is not just to fly a route, but to generate the data and operational insight needed to help new aircraft types integrate safely, efficiently, and repeatably into the airspace system.”

“This is a breakthrough moment for Advanced Air Mobility,” said Parker Vascik, Director of Product Strategy at Electra. “All in all, we demonstrated the core enabling principle of Ultra Short aircraft feeding into major airports in a manner that complements rather than burdens the air traffic system, by accessing airspace and airport surfaces currently underutilised by conventional traffic. This is a first step toward developing guidelines and procedures for Ultra Short operations at major airports and novel access points.”

The EL9 Ultra Short is designed to provide helicopter-like access while offering the benefits of fixed-wing flight. It advances Electra’s Rule of Six, which combines expanded access, quiet operations, useful payload, practical range, safety and affordability to support the large-scale adoption of Advanced Air Mobility.