Air Force awards first airworthiness approval for human flight in electric aircraft program
空军授予首个电动飞机人类飞行计划的适航批准
The U.S. Air Force has awarded the first airworthiness approval for a manned electric aircraft to BETA Technologies, a partner in the AFWERX Agility Prime program. This enables BETA to begin flying its ALIA aircraft in the Agility Prime program. The airworthiness award from the Air Force is the latest milestone in BETA’s test program after recently entering its next phase of flight testing.
美国空军向AFWERX Agility Prime计划的合作伙伴Beta Technologies授予了第一个载人电动飞机的适航性批准。这使得测试版能够开始在Agility Prime计划中驾驶其Alia飞机。空军颁发的适航奖是Beta测试计划继最近进入下一阶段飞行测试后的最新里程碑。
“U.S. Air Force engineers spent more than a year examining BETA’s ALIA aircraft, evaluating its design and flight capabilities against the demanding MIL-HDBK-516C standard,” said Camron Guthrie from BETA. “U.S. Air Force personnel and subject matter experts evaluated the aircraft’s design and maintenance requirements along with the company’s operations and flight test plans.
“美国空军工程师花了一年多的时间检查测试版的Alia飞机，对照苛刻的MIL-HDBK-516c标准评估其设计和飞行能力，”测试版的卡姆龙·格思里说。美国空军人员和专题专家评估了飞机的设计和维护要求，以及公司的运营和飞行测试计划。
“Electric aviation is a National Security priority and fortunately this was recognized early by the Air Force,” said Kyle Clark, BETA’s founder and CEO. “The speed and efficiency of the Air Force Agility Prime program to support sustainable electric aviation has been remarkable. The people and expertise that the Air Force has brought to the electric aviation industry and specifically our ALIA program is accelerating the development of incredibly capable, safe and reliable aircraft.”
Beta的创始人兼首席执行官凯尔·克拉克说：“电动航空是国家安全的优先事项，幸运的是，这一点很早就得到了空军的认可。”空军Agility Prime计划支持可持续电动航空的速度和效率令人惊叹。空军为电动航空行业带来的人员和专业知识，特别是我们的ALIA计划，正在加速开发功能强大、安全可靠的飞机。“
Under a new contract to be signed in June, the Air Force will have access to the first of its kind, manned 7,000-pound class electric aircraft, and first of their kind immersive electric vertical takeoff and landing simulators located in Washington, D.C. and Springfield, Ohio.
根据将于6月份签署的一份新合同，空军将获得首架此类载人7000磅的电动飞机，以及位于华盛顿特区和俄亥俄州斯普林菲尔德的首个沉浸式电动垂直起降模拟器。
“This agreement will enable Air Force acquisition professionals to make data driven decisions informed by real assessments of military utility,” said Col. Nathan Diller, AFWERX director.
AFWERX主任内森·迪勒上校表示：“这项协议将使空军采办专业人员能够根据对军事用途的真实评估，做出数据驱动的决策。”
BETA’s aircraft simulation and training facilities allow Air Force pilots and engineers to experience the future of electric vertical flight by rehearsing and testing the ALIA aircraft in a variety of potential mission sets and scenarios. The advanced urban air mobility technology simulator near the Air Force Research Laboratory in Springfield, Ohio, provides easy access to the Air Force’s greatest technical experts and acquisition professionals. The Washington, D.C. facility provides an ideal venue for future operational concept developers across the Air Force, joint force, and interagency to conduct research, assessing the opportunities of the electrified future. These state-of-the-art simulators are physics based and include weather, emergency handling, and mission scenarios with multiple aircraft.
Beta的飞机模拟和培训设施允许空军飞行员和工程师通过在各种潜在任务设置和场景中排练和测试ALIA飞机来体验电动垂直飞行的未来。位于俄亥俄州斯普林菲尔德空军研究实验室附近的先进城市空中机动性技术模拟器使人们可以轻松接触到空军最伟大的技术专家和采购专业人员。华盛顿特区的设施为未来空军、联合部队和跨部门的作战概念开发人员提供了一个理想的场所，以进行研究，评估电气化未来的机会。这些最先进的模拟器是基于物理的，包括天气、紧急处理和多架飞机的任务场景。
Agility Prime seeks to expand technology transition paths to accelerate emerging dual-use markets by leveraging government resources for rapid and affordable fielding. In a first-of-a-kind arrangement, AFRL engineers used unique equipment and analysis capabilities to conduct structural testing on the ALIA aircraft. This valuable data will advance the flight test program safely while providing valuable insight to the Air Force on a unique and novel aircraft design.
Agility Prime寻求通过利用政府资源进行快速且负担得起的现场部署来扩展技术过渡路径，以加速新兴的两用市场。在一项首创的安排中，AFRL工程师使用独特的设备和分析能力对Alia飞机进行结构测试。这些有价值的数据将安全地推进飞行测试计划，同时为空军提供关于独特和新颖飞机设计的宝贵见解。
“Agility Prime is about creating a new path to adopt advanced technologies in the Department of Defense by working with innovative companies like BETA in ways that enable new markets,” Diller said. “The engineering, test, and acquisition professionals in Air Force Materiel Command have phenomenal expertise to help accelerate this and other emerging markets.”
迪勒说：“Agility Prime旨在通过与Beta等创新公司合作，创造一条在国防部采用先进技术的新途径，使新市场成为可能。”空军物资司令部的工程、测试和采购专业人员拥有非凡的专业知识，有助于加快这一市场和其他新兴市场的发展。
In March, BETA advanced to the next phase of its flight testing program, completing an interstate flight with ALIA from its Plattsburgh, New York, home airport test facility to the company’s headquarters near Burlington International Airport in Vermont. To abide by Federal Aviation Agency protocols concerning the flight of experimental aircraft beyond designated test areas, BETA completed rigorous testing to ensure reliable and predictable aircraft performance. In the same week ALIA flew its first interstate flight, BETA also set a new record for range and altitude in ALIA of 130 nautical miles and 8,000 feet respectively.
今年3月，测试版进入了下一阶段的飞行测试计划，完成了与ALIA从纽约普拉茨堡的总部机场测试设施到佛蒙特州伯灵顿国际机场附近的公司总部的州际飞行。为了遵守联邦航空局关于实验飞机在指定测试区以外飞行的协议，Beta完成了严格的测试，以确保飞机性能可靠和可预测。在Alia进行首次州际飞行的同一周，Beta还创下了ALIA的航程和高度分别为130海里和8000英尺的新纪录。
BETA added to its growing customer list securing agreements with BLADE and UPS for its ALIA aircraft and charging stations. BETA partners now span medical, logistics, defense and passenger segments.
Beta加入了其不断增长的客户名单，与Blade和UPS就其ALIA飞机和充电站达成协议。Beta合作伙伴现在涵盖医疗、物流、国防和客运领域。
