GKN, Eviation collaborate on Alice all-electric aircraft

GKN Aerospace (Redditch, U.K.) and Eviation (Qadima, Israel) announced on May 18 that they have signed a collaboration agreement covering the design and manufacture of wings, empennage and electrical wiring interconnection systems (EWIS) for Alice, a regional electric aircraft recently launched by Eviation. With this aircraft, Eviation aims make long-distance flights up to 650 miles more sustainable.

As part of GKN Aerospace’s collaboration agreement with Eviation, design and manufacturing activities are already ongoing on-site at Eviation and in several GKN Aerospace engineering centers across Europe.

GKN Aerospace designs and manufactures lightweight aerostructures and EWIS systems for a variety of commercial aircraft, is a key partner in the Airbus Wing of Tomorrow program and is market leader in lightweight business jet empennages. The company says it is using its experience and capabilities to mature teh design of the empennage, wing and EWIS of Alice.

“We are excited to collaborate with Eviation and to support the development of this all-new electric aircraft. The development of all-electric aircraft is ground-breaking; it’s a step change in aviation and we are delighted to contribute. As technology leaders in wing, empennage and EWIS design, we can bring unrivalled knowledge and expertise to the project,” says John Pritchard, president of civil airframes at GKN Aerospace. 

“GKN Aerospace brings tremendous expertise to the program, allowing us to think again about what could be achieved with advanced aerostructures,” says Omer Bar Yohay, Eviation’s CEO and co-founder. “I trust that we’ll see GKN Aerospace take on a growing part of our development and manufacturing effort as the program matures and the Alice nears production.”