A Strange Aerial Visitor

BETA Technologies - Alia

Over the past few days residents in the area may have seen a strange aircraft being chased by a helicopter.

No this isn't a fugitive from Area 51... this is a state of the art electric vertical aircraft (EVA) from BETA Technologies in Burlington, VT.

This is the Alia. It represents a new breed of vertical take off and landing aircraft.

The machine works much like the quadcopter I use to take the aerial photos I post on here.

It is a small airframe with quad rotors to provide vertical lift with 50 foot wings and a pusher prop for thrust.

The aircraft will be capable of flights up to 250 miles and be able to fully charge in under an hour.

It was designed and built in Vermont after years of design and transported to Plattsburgh due to the less congested airspace in the area.

The move itself was epic with the aircraft being under slung a transport helicopter to its base at the Plattsburgh International Airport.

This is is some really revolutionary stuff. We've seen how flight technology has developed in the last decade in terms of quadcopter technology. 

Now we're seeing some of those same concepts being converted into vehicles that will be moving people and cargo. A vehicle that is much easier to build, maintain and could be much safer than a traditional rotorcraft.

It is very cool to see Plattsburgh playing a part in the future of aviation.

Unfortunately for me I was caught without any better camera than my cellphone as this awesome aircraft was performing a test flight nearby.

Anyway these are the pictures I was able to get where you can sort of make out the aircraft.

Also included is a link to the BETA Technologies website where you can see better pictures of this incredible machine.

https://www.beta.team/