The Star: April 18, 2024

Thursday April 18 2024 The Star
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 15
Flying into an electric future
A Cass Bay resident
is leading the charge
helping electric planes
take off in New Zealand.
Reporter Dylan Smits
spoke with Gary
Freedman about his
career promoting green
technology
GARY FREEDMAN’S long time
love of hang gliding transitioned
into flying small aircraft as a
hobby in 2012.
“One day I was driving my
electric car to the airfield to fly a
petrol plane and I just knew that
wasn’t quite right. To do all this
work in renewables, I was driving
an electric car, but my hobby was
burning petrol.”
The thought set him off on a
search for innovative companies
investing in electric aviation
technology.
In 2016, before his move to Cass
Bay from the United Kingdom,
Freedman visited the Pipistrel
aircraft manufacturer in Slovenia
and took a test flight in the fullyelectric
Alpha Electro.
“I just thought it was fantastic.
I really enjoyed it. It was quiet. It
was smooth. The performance
was great and it wasn’t burning
fossil fuels.”
TAKE-OFF: Gary Freedman is a tireless advocate for electric airplanes in New Zealand. He
hopes to see the purchase of more models which will bring down aviation emissions. In
2021 Gary Freedman achieved a world record breaking flight across the Cook Strait. It was
the first time an electric plane has made the 78km flight from Blenheim to Wellington.
The Alpha Electro is a
two-seater aircraft with
interchangeable battery units
which power an electric motor.
There is no fuel, the only liquid
in the aircraft is coolant for the
motor.
Freedman bought the plane
when founding Electric Air in
2020, making it New Zealand’s
first and only fully-electric plane.
He now flies it regularly from
bases at the Rangiora airfield and
Christchurch Airport.
Freedman loves flying because
it “turns your world into a three
dimensional playground”.
“You have stunning views
below you. It’s a chance to have a
bit of fun and play in the clouds.”
Even better, he says using an
electric plane allows you to fly
“guilt free” without worrying
about burning fossil fuels.
Originally from London,
Freedman says he has
always been outdoorsy and
passionate about protecting the
environment.
Since moving to Cass Bay
in 2018 with his wife and two
children, he has combined his
passions for flying and clean
energy through Electric Air.
“I’m a person who has
always loved the outdoors and
nature. Even as a young person
I was always pretty aware of
the sensitivity of nature and
biodiversity.”
Promoting knowledge and use
of electric planes in New Zealand
has become one of Freedman’s life
missions.
He claimed a world record
and milestone for electric planes
in 2021 with the world’s longest
flight over water.
The journey took him 78km
from Blenheim to Wellington,
soaring over Cook Strait.
“It was a fantastic feeling. We
had the goal of flying over Cook
Strait because it had been about
100 years since the first flight over
in a petrol plane.”
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