Overview
- Whisper installed two eQ250 electric ducted fans on a modified Aériane Swift 3 glider and test pilot Zac Majors completed three piloted flights totaling 130 minutes under an FAA special airworthiness authorization in Tennessee.
- The company reported the eQ250 delivered increased thrust while cutting operational noise by about 20 decibels and improving efficiency by roughly 20 percent compared with comparable systems.
- During an early full-power pass at about 100 feet agl the team measured roughly 52 dB(A) against a 34 dB(A) background level, and Whisper says each eQ250 can produce up to about 80 pounds of thrust.
- The test installation is powered by five EPiC 1.0 battery modules from Electric Power Systems and aims to validate propulsion, battery and control systems before wider evaluations.
- Whisper frames the flights as an early step toward quiet short-to-medium-range regional air mobility and possible U.S. Air Force autonomous logistics and STOL/VTOL concepts, with further flights and independent validation and certification still required.