Pilots Generating Buzz With Electric Aircraft

Annika Pexton curiously watched George Steed work on a Sonex Xenos kit.

“That doesn’t look that hard,” the 13-year-old Pexton told Steed, technical counselor for Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 406 in Bremerton, Washington.

But it wasn’t a normal build. The chapter acquired the motor glider with the intention of swapping its Volkswagen engine for an 80 hp Zero Motorcycles electric motor.

“Well, it’s not,” Steed replied. “Here’s a rivet puller.”

Pexton began attending weekly build sessions at the Bremerton Aviation Center for Education (BACE)—an old airport firehouse the chapter acquired and transformed into a learning hub for local middle and high schoolers. In February, about five years later, the “eXenos” made its first flight. Pexton is pursuing a glider-self launch endorsement to fly it.

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Steed, Pexton, and Mike Friend—the 36-year Boeing veteran who made the maiden flight—are part of the first cohort of pilots making use of electric aircraft. Students in flight schools across the U.S. are now training with electric models, such as Pipistrel’s Velis Electro, under an FAA exemption.

Some pilots even own electric aircraft outright. A few of them said that piloting and maintaining these models is just as easy—or easier—than owning a conventional aircraft.

“I have owned 13 different airplanes, including gliders,” Friend said. “The biggest difference with the electric Xenos is the utter simplicity of it. Get in, turn on the power, and go.”

Early Access

Father-daughter duo John and Heather Chirtea are some of the first to get their hands on California-based Pivotal’s single-seat, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) BlackFly prototype.

Both Chirteas are pilots. Heather earned her certificate about eight years ago after joining the aero club at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. John has flown more than a dozen aircraft, including single-engine, biplane, and rotorcraft models. He owns an Aeronca Champ—the same one he flew during his first lesson 71 years ago—and Alon A-2 Aircoupe nicknamed “Buttercup.”

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“I’ve never met an airplane I don’t love,” he said. “I have been reading about electric planes for a long time, and nothing really made sense.”

That is, until the Chirteas met Marcus Leng—the engineer who pioneered the BlackFly—at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where they witnessed the model’s first public flight. The pair’s excitement grew with annual pilgrimages. 

They designed BlackFly-shaped hats that they distributed to attendees and wore shirts that read “Future BlackFly Owner.”

The Chirteas were among the first people Pivotal contacted about its BlackFly early access program. For a sizable deposit, six were brought to the company’s Palo Alto, California, headquarters, where they trained in a simulator that displayed “where every fence line was, every boulder was, every tree was—everything on the ground,” Heather said.

John, who has flown stick-and-rudder aircraft for decades, said it took time to adjust to the BlackFly’s simpler flight controls—a joystick, digital display, and fly-by-wire system.

“You’re still trying to fly the airplane,” he said, “but you suddenly realize this thing can fly itself.”

Also unusual was the transition from hover to forward flight. Unlike other eVTOL concepts, which often use tilting propellers, the BlackFly’s entire airframe tilts when switching between flight modes.

Ultimately, though, the Chirteas said no aircraft they’ve flown was easier to learn. The ultralight does not require a pilot’s certificate, which Heather said “requires a virtual master’s degree, almost, to achieve—and tons of money, lots of time, and huge amounts of training.”

“I can’t say the same thing about my Champ, or Buttercup, or anything else that I have ever flown,” John said.

Since taking delivery of their BlackFly in August 2024, the Chirteas have flown it nearly 300 times. Some days they complete five or six sorties, lifting off from John’s backyard in the flying community of Milton, Delaware. The pair enjoy flying along Route 1 between Philadelphia and Rehoboth Beach and are often followed home by a parade of curious spectators. Each flight correlates with a spike in UFO reports.

“The cops all know who we are because we’ve been reported so many times,” Heather said.

On a few occasions, the aircraft’s digital display went dark. But the pair was able to resolve the issue by talking through it.

“We function as a team with the radios, so if he’s flying, he knows he has to call out where he’s going,” Heather said.

“And when she’s flying, I’m listening to her on the radio,” John added.

The BlackFly stays airborne for about 20 minutes, limited by its approximately 55-knot cruise speed and 17 nm range. It can only be flown during daytime within Class G airspace and cannot take off in winds faster than 18 knots or temperatures outside the range of 24 to 93 degrees Fahrenheit.

“We just follow our protocols, just like pilots do, and that keeps us safe,” Heather said.

John said the cost of maintaining the other aircraft he owns is “astronomical” compared to the BlackFly, which has few moving parts and a Pivotal team on standby to assist with repairs. Though he has not been able to insure it, the seasoned aviator said he doesn’t insure his gliders either.

The biggest downside, the Chirteas said, is simply how long they can fly. Heather suggested the FAA raise its Part 103 weight restriction so that electric aircraft could use heavier, rangier batteries.

“I don’t really want to go anywhere with this thing,” John said. “I just want to go up and fly for 20 minutes.”

Building the Future

Heather predicted there will soon be “huge adoption” of electric aircraft and said she would purchase “every single one that comes on the market.” That includes Pivotal’s flagship Helix, available in the U.S. for $190,000, with customer deliveries imminent.

And the market is growing. A few developers are building electric aircraft similar to Pivotal’s, such as the Air One, Jetson One, and Skyfly Axe. Some, such as Electra and Beyond Aero, are developing hybrid-powered regional or business models. Others are using electric aircraft to inspire or train prospective pilots. Houston-based Lift Aircraft is touring the U.S. offering experiential flights with its Hexa. American flight schools are already deploying the Velis Electro, 15 of which were delivered in 2024. And they could soon have other options, such as Diamond Aircraft’s eDA40 or Aura Aero’s aerobatic Integral family.

Friend—the ex-Boeing executive whom Steed said was “basically responsible for building the 787”—said introducing students to EAA Chapter 406’s eXenos was a treat.

“What was different from my Boeing project work was accepting that the airplane was first and foremost a teaching tool,” Friend said.

The chapter previously worked with hundreds of kids to build riveted aluminum aircraft such as the Zenith CH 701. Since 2021, a team of builders, engineers, and A&P mechanics has worked on the eXenos twice weekly for three hours a night. Many are mentors to local students that Steed said “come in on sort of a rotating basis.” The chapter’s Young Eagles coordinator hosts weekly RV and toolbox build sessions, essentially giving it a “farm team” of curious young aviators.

Chapter 406 secured airworthiness for the eXenos in January, and Friend began flying it in February. There were a few novelties, such as when Friend cut the engine and stopped the propeller while conducting preflight checks in the warmup area, to the surprise of onlookers. The debut flight lasted just 15 minutes and drained close to half the battery. But Steed said the electric Xenos “flies better” and is “certainly simpler” than the original.

“The first flights were great in that we learned very little,” Friend said. “What I mean by that is that we had done our homework, and the test flights only confirmed what we already knew.”

Friend and about 15 other chapter members created an LLC to take ownership of the eXenos. Steed said he paid about $1,500 for his 7.6 percent share. Storing the aircraft has been tricky—its rigid wingspan is too large for a standard T-hangar, so the chapter keeps it covered on the ramp. The electric, homebuilt motor glider is also a headache for insurers—Steed said they are “probably going with strictly liability.”

Friend is the only pilot named on the eXenos’ insurance. But the chapter is training others who will soon be added. It has taken solar panels from a demolished church and installed them on the roof of the BACE, which Steed predicted will make the aircraft a local staple once it can plug in.

“In essence, we should be able to fly this airplane forever—for nothing—just because of the solar gain that we’re getting from the top of this building,” he said. The chapter is now pursuing other projects, such as a Sport Performance Aviation Panther and Zenith CH 750, which the local Evergreen Soaring Club will use to replace its PA-25 Pawnee tow plane. But the interest generated by the eXenos is not going away. 

“I’m sure EAA 406 will build another electric airplane someday,” Friend said.

This column first appeared in the April Issue 969 of the FLYING print edition.