Electric Aircraft Starts Flight Testing at USAF Base with Its Own Version of ‘Hot Pitting’
Nov. 16, 2023 | By Unshin Lee Harpley
The Air Force and contractor BETA Technologies started flight testing “Alia,” a sleek, quiet, electric aircraft, last week at Duke Field, Fla.
The electric aircraft, delivered to Duke Field on Oct. 26, is owned and operated by BETA crew, but the Air Force’s rotary wing test squadron, the 413th Flight Test Squadron, wrote the test and safety plan.
On Nov. 7, Alia flew 68 nautical miles from Duke to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla,, landed and recharged, and returned. The aircraft took about an hour to fully recharge.
“This process is similar to the military flight operation, hot-pitting, where an aircraft flies a mission, lands for refueling and then flies again. Only with Alia, the fuel is electricity,” the service noted in a release.
It was also the aircraft’s first mission without being accompanied by a chase aircraft.
https://www.airandspaceforces.com/electric-aircraft-alia-starts-flight-testing-usaf-base/