First flight: Electric Sky Jeep

An all-electric Zenith Sky Jeep has successfully completed its first flight.

A firm based at Old Buckenham Airfield in Norfolk, England, has been working on the electric Sky Jeep, which is based on a Zenith CH-750, for the past three years.

The goal is to provide “cheap and sustainable transport to deliver doctors, teachers, and medical supplies to remote communities across the world,” according to company officials.

It plans to work with charities and non-government organizations (NGOs) to tap into existing networks of solar powered energy grids on buildings in remote towns and villages so that the aircraft can recharge between delivering medical aid and attention.

The first test flight, held Jan. 20, 2023, was a “significant step forward for the project,” company officials said.

The Community Interest Company (CIC), which has partnered with Zenith Aircraft Company in the United States and several start-up investors, is the brainchild of husband and wife Tim and Helen Bridge, who founded the company in 2019 and began the work during the COVID lockdowns three years ago.

They replaced the experimental aircraft’s engine and fuel tanks with an electric engine and batteries, supported by solar charging stations on the ground. Both the aircraft and the solar system are based at Old Buckenham.

“Nobody else is building electric aircraft in this way,” said Tim Bridge. “Our aim is to provide a low-cost, rugged, and practical aircraft for use in rural and hard to reach communities, such as medics in Uganda and doctors in rural India. We knew it would work, but it’s great to actually see it in action. Now we have done that our next stage is to find the money to complete the second plane and replicate this so we can get them out into the field for testing.”

“As soon as funding allows, we hope to move towards getting this into communities where it can make a real difference,” he continued. “There are currently a billion people in the world with no access to healthcare, 5,000 people will die because of that just today. This can be a genuine lifesaver.”

The test flight was piloted by Tim Kingsley, a pilot at Norwich-based air charter company SaxonAir, which is backing the project.

“I’m very happy with how today went,” Kingsley said. “It was cold out there, there was a bit of crosswind, but everything went really well.”

“I’m delighted to be involved in this project and although it is still at its very early stages the vision is a really exciting one,” he added. “There’s nothing like this anywhere else in the world. I’ve seen first-hand the challenges some of these communities face and harnessing natural energy in such a way could make a real difference to so many people’s lives.”

In July 2019, the Bridges formed NUNCATS — No Unnecessary Novelty Community Air Transport Services — as a non-profit, social enterprise to spearhead the project. It has teamed with SaxonAir, the International Aviation Academy Norwich, Action Community Enterprises (ACE), East Coast College, and Vattenfall to give young people aged 16 to 25 the opportunity to start building one of the aircraft at a free aviation summer school.

NUNCATS officials, who say they are still looking for backers and sponsors to help fund the project, add the electric Sky Jeep kits will also be available for purchase by pilots and aircraft owners who want a greener option.

For more information: NUNCATS.org