BETA Advances ALIA CTOL Pilot Training Program in Preparation for Customer Operations

In the fast-evolv­ing world of elec­tric avi­a­tion, BETA Tech­nolo­gies is mak­ing sig­nif­i­cant strides.

The com­pa­ny recent­ly com­plet­ed its first ALIA CTOL Pilot Train­ing pro­gram review with a cus­tomer, mark­ing a cru­cial step toward final­iz­ing a train­ing prod­uct for the ALIA CTOL as BETA pre­pares to deliv­er ini­tial air­craft to Part 135 cus­tomers.

A Col­lab­o­ra­tive Approach to Pilot Train­ing
BETA guid­ed a team from biotech com­pa­ny Unit­ed Ther­a­peu­tics (UT) and its sub­sidiary Unither Bio­elec­tron­ics through a com­pre­hen­sive train­ing pro­gram tai­lored for the ALIA CTOL. The pro­gram cov­ered foun­da­tion­al aca­d­e­mics, nor­mal and emer­gency pro­ce­dures, and oper­a­tional employ­ment, ensur­ing pilots are well-pre­pared for future air ambu­lance oper­a­tions

Com­pre­hen­sive Cur­ricu­lum for Elec­tric Avi­a­tion
The three-stage cur­ricu­lum review encom­passed ground train­ing require­ments, famil­iar­iza­tion, and oper­a­tional employ­ment of the ALIA CTOL. It includ­ed overviews of ALIA ConOps, aero­dy­nam­ics, air­craft man­u­als, and lim­i­ta­tions. Exten­sive sys­tems aca­d­e­mics focused on elec­tric propul­sion, bat­tery-elec­tric stored ener­gy, and fly-by-wire flight con­trols.

Sim­u­la­tor Train­ing and Real-World Appli­ca­tion
Par­tic­i­pants engaged in sim­u­la­tor rehearsals, apply­ing their new­found knowl­edge with prac­ti­cal exer­cis­es, per­for­mance plan­ning, pre­flight, and ground oper­a­tions. They com­plet­ed both IFR and VFR flight plans in the sim­u­la­tor, mir­ror­ing the routes they plan to oper­ate once in ser­vice.

Prepar­ing for Part 135 Oper­a­tions
Devel­op­ing and review­ing this train­ing pro­gram with Unither’s Oper­a­tions Team is a sig­nif­i­cant step towards ready­ing pilots for Part 135 oper­a­tions of the ALIA CTOL. As BETA pre­pares to deliv­er ini­tial air­craft to cus­tomers, this tai­lored cur­ricu­lum will be approved by the FAA.

A Lega­cy of Safe­ty and Inno­va­tion
BETA has always pri­or­i­tized safe­ty in its flight train­ing. The com­pa­ny has trained its own pilots to safe­ly flight test ALIA and has guid­ed pilots from var­i­ous orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing the FAA, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, UPS, Unit­ed Ther­a­peu­tics, and Bris­tow. BETA’s com­mit­ment to safe­ty has earned them the trust and con­fi­dence of the FAA.

Pio­neer­ing the Future of Elec­tric Avi­a­tion
BETA con­tin­ues to make progress towards FAA cer­ti­fi­ca­tion for both ALIA CTOL and ALIA VTOL, with antic­i­pat­ed cer­ti­fi­ca­tion in 2025 and 2026, respec­tive­ly. The com­pa­ny has also com­menced man­u­fac­tur­ing these air­craft at its pro­duc­tion facil­i­ty in South Burling­ton, Ver­mont.

(Images: BETA Tech­nolo­gies)

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