In the cockpit of a Learn2Fly training plane at Canberra Airport. Photo: James Coleman.
Electric aeroplanes could one day make flying between Canberra and Sydney only “a little bit more expensive” than taking a Murray’s coach – but there’s a lot of work to be done first.
“Electric airplanes are where EVs were probably about 15 years ago,” Learn2Fly head of operations Andrew Scheiffers said. “There are lots of concepts, and lots of money being thrown around, but the tech is still a long way away.”
Learn2Fly, a flight training school based at Canberra Airport, has just secured a $750,000 grant from the ACT Government to create an “electric aircraft training and maintenance hub”.
The school, which caters to everyone from beginners to advanced pilots, won’t be building the planes themselves. Instead, the focus will be on the other side of the industry – training, maintenance and certification – without which the technology will never take off in Australia.
“There needs to be a training organisation, a maintenance organisation – it’s equally as important as the planes themselves – that can train pilots and engineers and also develop the certification pathway, because there isn’t one at the moment,” Mr Scheiffers said.
This requires “a whole bunch of work” with Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to map out the “regulatory pathway that a person would follow to build, maintain and operate an electric aeroplane in Australia”.
“Here’s how you train for it, here’s how you structure that training, here are the documents you need. Here’s an aircraft you could use.”
Learn2Fly is uniquely positioned for the job, with one of its senior staff members also serving as the director of Infinitus Aero, an Australian company developing electric propulsion systems for zero-emission fixed-wing aircraft.
Learn2Fly’s head of operations, Andrew Scheiffers. Photo: James Coleman.
The planes already exist. Sydney Seaplanes, for instance, has talked about using them for their regular service between Lake Burley Griffin and Rose Bay when it eventually takes off.
And at first glance, they don’t look that different from conventional planes.
“It is a standard aircraft,” Mr Scheiffers said.
“When you push the lever forward, it makes more power. Flying-wise, it’s pretty similar – only quicker to respond because you don’t have to wait for an engine to spool up.”
The real difference will be in cost.
“We reckon the electric aeroplane’s going to cost about half as much to run as an existing one,” he said.
“Because they’re small, we’ll be able to run them more frequently. The idea is we’re going to compete with the bus here. It won’t quite be the same price – because it’s only moving eight people, not 40 – but not by much more.”
The Learn2Fly fleet at Canberra Airport. Photo: James Coleman.
He said Canberra Airport was also perfectly placed to make it work.
“The airport is massively underutilised, and regional connections are really expensive. Electric aircraft solve a lot of those problems. They’re cheaper, a single pilot can operate them, and they don’t need all the ground-handling gear you need for big planes. Why not an air taxi service?”
As with electric cars and trucks, however, battery life remains the major obstacle. Current models can only fly for about an hour on a charge – and less once the 25 per cent safety reserve is accounted for.
“That means you get about 45 minutes of flight time, and an average lesson is 1.2 hours, so at the moment, the aircraft are pretty limited in scope.”
Still, there are some training advantages.
“You’re not waiting for engines to warm up or doing endless checks,” he said.
“You just turn it on and go. Shutdowns and fuelling time also disappear, so that will save time.”
Even with the ACT Government’s backing, Mr Scheiffers stressed it will be years before electric planes are a common sight at Canberra Airport.
“The very first step is talking to CASA,” he said. “And I hate to say it, but that means sitting in meeting rooms with shiny bums, trying to figure out what this looks like. CASA might say it’s not possible yet, or they won’t put it on the regulatory timeframe.
“So we’ll be advocating hard to get it up the agenda – and maybe even drafting the standards ourselves. Another option is a three-year exemption to allow us to run trials, collect the data, and then use that evidence to shape permanent rules.
“And if we’ve got the ACT Government in the room with us saying, ‘We’re funding this, we want it to happen’, then those conversations with CASA become more persuasive.”
Most electric planes are limited to eight passengers for now. Photo: James Coleman.
The grant was one of three announced this month under the ACT’s $17 million Energy Innovation Fund, which has backed more than 20 local projects since 2016.
Other recipients include Aratherm Services ($450,000) for its ‘Commercialising Electric Heat’ project, which aims to cut industrial gas use, and the Canberra Innovation Network ($195,000) for a program connecting researchers, start-ups and investors to drive energy transition technologies.
Minister for Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water, Suzanne Orr, said the projects show “the impressive creativity and strategic thinking of Canberra-based organisations”.
“This electric aircraft hub will pave the way for sustainable regional air travel while supporting the energy transition,” she said.
