Electra Completes Groundbreaking Flights at Commercial Airport Using Helicopter-Style Instrument Procedures and Novel Take Off and Landing Areas for its Ultra Short Airplane

 Flights under the FAA integration pilot program lay the groundwork for future operations for Electra's flagship EL9 and help establish a national blueprint for AAM instrument flight networks

MANASSAS, Va., Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Electra today announced it successfully completed first-of-its-kind flights from a heliport on a commercial airport ramp at the Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport. The operations showcased the breakthrough capabilities of Electra's fixed-wing Ultra Short aircraft to use vertical flight landing areas and helicopter-style instrument procedures to support reliable, affordable, and safe regional operations without adding traffic to congested airport runways.

Using Electra's hybrid-electric EL2 Ultra Short aircraft, the flights tested point-in-space procedures and dedicated instrument routings across numerous Virginia airports, including Virginia Tech/Montgomery Regional Airport (KBCB) in Blacksburg, Roanoke–Blacksburg Regional Airport (KROA), and Allan C Perkinson/Blackstone AAF Airport (KBKT).

The flights at each of these locations, plus two additional sites in Newport News and Richmond, all took off and landed on small heliports, vertiports, taxiways, and other novel Ultra Short access points historically only accessible by helicopters. Electra conducted the work in coordination with the FAA eVTOL and AAM Integration Pilot Program (eIPP), the Virginia Smart Airspace Program, Virginia Tech, the Virginia Department of Aviation, and PennDOT, the lead eIPP participant for Virginia operations.

The operational milestones mark a major step toward integrating fixed-wing Ultra Short aircraft into the National Airspace System using low-cost, scalable procedures designed around the unique performance of next-generation electric and hybrid-electric aircraft and will support future operations of Electra's flagship EL9. 

"What happened in Virginia provides a glimpse into the future of flight," said Marc Allen, CEO of Electra. "We showed that fixed-wing, Ultra Short aircraft can use vertical flight landing areas and a new generation of instrument procedures to reach places conventional airplanes were never designed to access. This will both bring air service closer to the passenger and also expand capacity at commercial airports in completely non-congestive ways. Direct Aviation is not just about a new aircraft, but a new operating model that brings air travel closer to communities and saves travelers huge amounts of time on their journeys."

These flights build on Electra's role in the Virginia Smart Airspace Program, a pioneering effort to develop scalable instrument flight procedures and novel access points for Advanced Air Mobility. The program is focused on enabling aircraft with new performance capabilities to operate safely and predictably through point-in-space procedures, dedicated routing, and airport and vertiport integration, all while collecting data.

During flights, Electra and its partners collected operational data to compare aircraft performance against procedure requirements and inform future evaluation of fixed-wing AAM operations using helicopter-style instrument procedures. Through over a year of program development leading up to this month's testing, Smart Airspace partners and the FAA designed flexible vertiport and heliport approaches to accommodate the Ultra Short, evaluated and tested novel approach and departure instrument procedures for the Ultra Short, and workshopped new air traffic concepts to allow the Ultra Short to land off-runway at airports safely and efficiently.

"This is the kind of practical flight testing needed to move Advanced Air Mobility from concept to operational reality," said Tombo Jones, Director of Virginia Tech's Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership. "The goal is not just to fly a route, but to generate the data and operational insight needed to help new aircraft types integrate safely, efficiently, and repeatably into the airspace system."

"This is a breakthrough moment for Advanced Air Mobility," said Dr. Parker Vascik, Director of Product Strategy at Electra. "All in all, we demonstrated the core enabling principle of Ultra Short aircraft feeding into major airports in a manner that complements rather than burdens the air traffic system—by accessing airspace and airport surfaces currently underutilized by conventional traffic. This is a first step toward developing guidelines and procedures for Ultra Short operations at major airports and novel access points."

The EL9 Ultra Short is designed to deliver helicopter-like access with the benefits of fixed-wing flight, advancing Electra's Rule of Six: the combination of expanded access, quiet operations, meaningful payload, practical range, uncompromising safety, and affordability needed to make Advanced Air Mobility practical at scale.

About Electra 

Electra.aero, Inc. (Electra) is an advanced air mobility (AAM) company building hybrid-electric Ultra Short airplanes that deliver unprecedented performance advantages to fly people and cargo seamlessly without airports, emissions, or noise. With the EL9 Ultra Short, Electra is pioneering Direct Aviation, the next level of connectivity that brings air travel closer to where we live, work, and play. Electra's Ultra Short technology delivers 2.5x the payload and 10x longer range with 70% lower operating costs than helicopters and eVTOLs with significantly greater safety and far less certification risk. 

Electra's team includes some of the most respected and successful entrepreneurs and engineers in novel aircraft design, with over 40 prior aircraft successfully developed and/or certified. Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell Aerospace, and Safran are among Electra's strategic investors along with Prysm Capital, the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), and other private investors. Electra's contracted customers include the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and NASA along with over 2,200 letters of intent from 60+ commercial customers, including both airlines and helicopter operators. 

Media Contact:
Matthew Bowen
Vrge Strategies
[email protected]

SOURCE Electra.aero