Meet the Hybrid Electric Aircraft That Can Both Take Off and Land on a Football Field

(Manassas, Virginia)  “We talk about Direct Aviation, which is the ‘Jetsons Dream’ – being able to go from where you are to where you want to go, without the difficulty of long drives to the airport, TSA lines and everything else,” explained Electra CEO Marc Allen in an introduction to his company’s hybrid electric ultra short take-off and landing (eSTOL) aircraft.  “That’s what we’re building.”

Photo of Electra’s EL9 ultra short hybrid-electric aircraft pictured at an Electra hangar courtesy of Electra.

Okay, cool!

Electra is the developer of the forthcoming EL9, an ultra short hybrid-electric aircraft capable of carrying nine passengers with 50 lbs of baggage each (or 3,000 pounds of cargo) on trips between 50 and 500 nautical miles – well more than needed to travel from, for example, New York to Boston (a distance of 214 miles) – which requires only 150 feet of runway space for takeoff and landing.

For reference, 150 feet of runway is significantly less space than an American football field, which is 120 yards, or 360 feet, long in total.  Compared to other, traditional aircraft, turboprop and very light jets (VLJs) require between 2,500 and 5,000 feet of runway to take off and land. 

Moreover, of the more than 5,000 public-use airports in the United States alone, a significant number have runways measuring 2,500 feet or more; about 500 – 550 of these airports enable commercial air operations (think Delta, United, American Airlines). 

If we begin to consider 150 feet of landing space sufficient for a “non-traditional runway,” the number of existing “non-traditional airports,” when coupled with potential new developments, increases astronomically.

Put simply, the sort of accessibility, simplicity and ease of use offered by Electra’s EL9 – which is targeting commercial certification in late 2029 to 2030 – could dramatically change the way we live and work in the United States and throughout the world as we know it.

Photo of Electra CEO Marc Allen in front of an EL9 ultra short hybrid-electric aircraft pictured at an Electra hangar courtesy of Electra.

“If you think about Washington D.C. and New York – as of now, it’s a four-hour door to door trip; our airplane is going to make it a two-hour door-to-door trip,” Allen explained.  “Why? Because now you’ll be able to fly out of the heliport or barge down by Wall Street, and can land in a parking lot at a mall, whether that’s in Tysons Corner or Bethesda, both close to D.C.”

As another example, Allen explained that a trip from New York City to East Hampton, which may typically take 2.5 – 3.5 hours by car, could instead be accomplished by a short 30-minute hop via Electra’s EL9.

Just as interesting is that to some extent, some of the infrastructure required for EL9 to begin to scale in the New York area already exists in somewhat unexpected places:  for instance, Downtown Manhattan’s Heliport, which in December of 2024 became the domain of Downtown Skyport – a joint venture between advanced air mobility (AAM) infrastructure provider Skyports Infrastructure and Group ADP, a leading airport design, construction, financing and operations firm – already accommodates the 150 feet of runway takeoff and landing space needed for Electra’s EL9 operations.

Visualization of the Downtown Manhattan Heliport as a sustainable, multi-modal transportation and logistics hub, courtesy of Downtown Skyport via the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC).

The use cases for EL9 go well beyond the Northeastern United States:  Electra is a partner in three of eight of the U.S. government and Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) recently-selected Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) projects – including those demonstrations which will be held by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Transportation.

Allen explained that his belief that Electra’s EL9 will be the key to the Future of Direct Aviation is rooted in his company’s ability to achieve what it deems the “Rule of Six.” 

Per Allen, the Rule of Six involves an Aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer’s (OEM) ability to provide the following:

1. Access, similar to the access provided helicopters, which do not require long runways,
2. Quiet, because, Allen said, “people don’t love aviation noise,”
3. Payload,
4. Range,
5. Affordability, “so that you reach a broad and large market, and really enable democratization,” and
6. Safety, “the number one rule of aviation,” Allen said.

“Thus far, no one has been able to achieve all six of these [phenomenon] together,” Allen explained.  Allen believes that Electra’s EL9 will change that.

Photo of Electra’s EL9 ultra short hybrid-electric aircraft prototype pictured inside a hangar courtesy of Electra.

Per Electra’s website, “Electra’s Direct Aviation model uses Ultra Short aircraft to unlock thousands of new Ultra Short access points – including fields, parking lots, and underutilized runways – bringing air travel closer to where people live, work, and play. By pairing practical infrastructure with transformative capability, Direct Aviation enables trips that were previously impractical or impossible and expands economic opportunity to communities of every size.”

With respect to cost, Allen walked us through the Cost per Available Seat Mile (CASM) for the EL9 vs. other aircraft.  The EL9’s projected CASM of roughly $0.80 compares to about $2.60 for a traditional helicopter, and $1.90 for an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, he explained.

“The economics are, quite frankly, amazing,” Allen said.

Electra currently maintains more than 2,200 aircraft on pre-order from more than 60 operators worldwide.  In January, the company signed a Pre-Delivery Payment (PDP) deposit agreement with Bristow Group Inc. (NYSE: VTOL) which secured for Bristow the first delivery slot for Electra’s EL9.

Rendering of an Electra EL9 featuring Bristow Group livery courtesy of Electra.

Prior to this past January, Bristow and Electra had been working together for five years, starting with a pre-order agreement in 2021; the recent PDP development converts Bristow’s pre-order LOI into a fixed agreement for five EL9 delivery slots to be delivered in the EL9’s first year of production, plus option rights for Bristow to acquire another 45 aircraft at the same fixed terms, according to Electra.

“Electra’s EL9 fundamentally changes what regional air mobility can be,” said Dave Stepanek, Bristow Executive Vice President, Chief Transformation Officer at the time of the announcement from Bristow and Electra. “Its ultra-short performance, quiet operation, and lower operating costs create opportunities that simply do not exist with today’s aircraft. Securing delivery slot one and reserving delivery slots in the first year of production ensures Bristow will lead this new industry and bring advanced air mobility capabilities to our customers first. We are confident that with this order we will extend our legacy of innovation and deliver new levels of access, speed, and sustainability to our customers across the many markets we serve.”

Electra EL9 Ultra-Short Specs, per Electra:

• Ferry Range:  1,100 nm + 45 min reserve
• Capacity:  9 pax + 50 lbs baggage each (or 3,000 lbs cargo)
• Cruise speed:  175 ktas ( ~201 mph), which is 5x faster than average ground vehicle speed
• Takeoff and landing footprint:  150 foot ground roll
• Acoustics:  75 dBA at 300 feet at takeoff (comparable to road traffic); billed as 100x quieter than helicopters
• Emissions: 40% lower fuel burn vs. comparable aircraft on an average 100-mile route. Electra’s system works with sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and can eventually use hydrogen for zero-emissions flight
• Battery specs:  Batteries can charge in flight or on the ground
• Operating Costs:  70% lower operating costs vs. helicopters