Photo by: Sean Haffey Photography Hampshire
Developed by a consortium of Airbus, Daher Socata and Aero Composites Saintonge, the E-Fan concept aircraft made its first public flight on April 25 and was demonstrated again at the 2014 Farnborough International Airshow, which took place in the UK last month. The plane comes in two- and four-seat derivatives, with the two-seater version pictured above. The E-Fan is expected to enter service by the end of 2017 and will be marketed initially to flying schools. But Airbus’s long-term goal is to develop electrically powered regional airliners. The lithium-polymer batteries are far heavier than jet fuel, but are also more energy efficient.