According to Bristow’s website, they already operate AS350 B2 A-Stars. Maybe their interest in this thing is a hedge against govt manipulation of petro fuel costs and availability.
That’s exactly what I thought. You can bet the buyer had some input on the terms. Since Bristow reportedly have hedged with similar agreements with Lilium and Overair, they likely have protected their investment. Bristow has been around a while and I doubt if their VP of ESG signs off on purchases.
As regards the Quieter comment, I saw one of these contraptions (I don’t remember which hope and dreams company it was) fly at Oshkosh on the day before Osh started, we were there and saw it run a practice flight. I was stunned how quiet it was. As in stopped in my tracks stunned. What sound I could hear was a low pitch, low db, not displeasing or annoying sound at all. Very unlike a drones annoying whine. I went from a non-believer to a believer when I heard it. After the inevitable false starts, these things will be accepted in places like New York and LA. The sound is better to the ear than the sound of car tires on the highway. Our family just got into e-bikes. I’m hoping on greenways and riding to the next town over, 20 miles away. Grabbing lunch, and riding back. And I have 80% battery left. Things are changing.
I wonder what it would have been like if the internet existed around the early 1900s when the Wright Brothers first took flight. We tend to forget that aviation has over a century of evolution behind it to produce the jets and helicopters we use today. Electric flight has barely a decade of progress so far. Yes, the history of flight is littered with startups and failures. Electric, or specifically EVTOL, aircraft will be no different. But it will eventually succeed, likely taking much longer than people hope. If nothing else, the FAA will see to that. Being a chemical engineer, I understand the limitations of elements in the periodic table to produce batteries with the energy density of fossil fuels. Sadly, I feel that it will take a major breakthrough in energy storage before electric flight is truly practical. And that breakthrough will likely not involve chemical batteries as we know them today. Still, I enjoy reading about the various “vapor ware” ideas people are trying to build, since somewhere there might be a diamond among the chaff. Break out the popcorn and stay tuned…
Hey YARS, long time no hear! I was beginning to wonder if you had flown West! 
I always enjoy your succinct comments and engineering views of the aviation news.