On September 30th we opened our hangar at Torp Sandefjord Airport to celebrate a milestone. Innovation Norway awarded NOEMI NOK 30 million for the flight test programme, on the condition that private investors matched it with NOK 40 million. That capital is now secured. The NOK 70 million programme is fully funded, and NOEMI can keep full speed towards the first flight.
The milestone was marked together with Innovation Norway CEO Håkon Haugli, County Mayor of Vestfold Anne Strømøy, Sandefjord Municipality's head of business development Jan Erik Hvidsten, and Torp Sandefjord Airport CEO Gisle Skansen.
Guests got an update on the NOEMI programme and toured the hangar. Among other things, they saw the propulsion test rig, our electric motors and sub-scale models. They sat in the full-scale mock-up and flew NOEMI in our flight simulator.
NRK, Norway's national public broadcaster, covered the day on TV and online under the headline "Building the world's first electric amphibious aircraft in Sandefjord."
WATCH AND READ:
NRK TV feature (Norwegian)
Article NRK.NO
"This grant is a strong recognition. The project has been thoroughly assessed by an external expert panel, and the award validates both the concept and the company. Now the flight test programme is fully funded, and we can keep full speed towards the first flight," says Eric Lithun, Founder and CEO of NOEMI Aerospace.
Next up is testing the electric propulsion system, while assembly of the first full-scale aircraft continues at Torp.