BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — An all-electric aircraft took a pit stop at Tri-Cities Airport on Wednesday while on its way to its home base in Vermont.
BETA Technologies’ electric net-zero aircraft called the ALIA is an example of the company’s effort to “make flight more sustainable, safe, and efficient,” according to a news release.
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News Channel 11 spoke with flight test engineer Emma Davis, who said that electric aviation is not only more sustainable and environmentally friendly, but it reduces air noise, as well.
“The big thing is electric aviation, right?” she said. “Not only is it clean, sustainable, it’s quiet. You know that oftentimes, you’ll hear a lot of airplane noise, a lot of jet noise when turbine engines are running and whatnot.”
ALIA is flying through Tennessee on our way back to BETA’s HQ in Vermont after concluding its first deployment with the Department of Defense, where we were stationed at Duke Field, Eglin Air Force base (AFB) for three months of experimental operations and training with the 413th Flight Test Squadron through the Air Force’s Agility Prime program. In 4 years of piloted flights, BETA’s aircraft have flown enough miles to make it around the world ~1.5 times.
BETA Technologies
More information on the company can be found on its website Beta.team.
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