Electra’s EL2 Goldfinch prototype is flying as soon as once more, following its first main modification and heavy upkeep cycle. With it, we’re advancing a brand new class of air journey that connects individuals and locations in methods by no means earlier than doable. Direct Aviation is reworking how aviation works and who it serves.
The EL2 is our two-seat hybrid-electric prototype, a testbed that’s informing the design of our nine-passenger EL9 manufacturing plane.
Since its first flight in November 2023, the EL2 accomplished 14 months of flight testing, accumulating invaluable information and efficiency insights.
In December, we paused to improve the plane with new programs. Now, with a newly reconfigured EL2, we’re again within the sky — increasing the flight envelope for testing, refining, and validating the EL9’s breakthrough Extremely Brief capabilities.
What we’re constructing is not like something flying at the moment: a fixed-wing plane that takes off and lands in simply 150 toes — lower than the size of a soccer area. That’s why we name it the Extremely Brief. Our blown-lift know-how and hybrid-electric structure make it doable.
The Extremely Brief unlocks new entry factors for air journey — from parking heaps and grass fields to small airstrips — bringing air service to communities with out present aviation infrastructure. It revitalizes common aviation airports with quiet, clear, and community-friendly operations. And the EL9 can feed massive airport hubs with out congestion by working on taxiways, ramps and FBOs.
This implies vacationers can go instantly from the place they’re to the place they wish to be — no lengthy drives, no crowded terminals, no airport hubs. It’s air journey designed round human wants, not airport logistics.
This shift isn’t nearly comfort. It’s about quieter, cleaner, cheaper air journey serving communities that conventional aviation leaves behind. With hybrid-electric propulsion, we’re delivering a transformative and sensible answer that works inside at the moment’s regulatory and infrastructure panorama — and positions us for the long run.
The EL2’s return to flight, backed by our current $115 million Sequence B elevate, retains us on observe to finalize the EL9’s design, enter preproduction, and start flight testing in 2027. We’re not simply constructing a brand new plane —we’re redefining air journey as we all know it.
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