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Airflow Exceeds $600M in Orders for eSTOL Aircraft

In January, Airflow announced that they would be moving from sub-scale model testing to a new testing phase using a remodeled Cessna 210. (Airflow)

The aerospace company Airflow has received 11 orders for its electric short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft totaling over $600 million in orders, the company announced on Aug. 17.

Airflow has two eSTOL aircraft variations, a Model 100 and Model 200. Airflow’s Model 100 is able to carry four passengers or 800 lbs of cargo, only needs 150 feet to take off, and has a 250-mile range. The company’s Model 200 has a nine-passenger or 2,000 lb cargo payload, needs 250 feet to take off, and has a 500-mile range. Both of these aircraft are 100 percent carbon neutral.

Airflow also named former Embraer CEO Paulo Cesar Silva to its advisory board, according to the release. Silva will advise Airflow on financing, manufacturing, and a commercial launch strategy.

“The future of aviation not only demands net-zero carbon emissions but also the ability to bring to market a much lower operating cost aircraft while meeting the needs of both passengers and operators,” Silva said in a statement. “The Airflow team has the right experience to effectively seize the opportunity of eSTOLs thereby changing the face of sub-regional transportation. I’m excited to work alongside Marc and the team and inform, through my own experience, a focus on customer needs and a compelling value proposition.”

Airflow’s eSTOL aircraft is predicted to enter service in 2025 and according to the company’s website, it will require no new infrastructure and fit within existing regulatory frameworks.

“The interest that we’re seeing from airlines worldwide for realistic eSTOL capabilities is incredible. This means we’re able to offer cargo and passengers operators value from day one by using today’s infrastructure, regulations, and use cases. In fact, customers will be able to expand their existing networks using our next-gen aircraft,” Marc Ausman, Co-founder and CEO of Airflow, said in a statement. “With Paulo advising Airflow he will aid us in continuing to focus on our North Star which is a commitment to solving real-world customer needs.”

The company’s eSTOL aircraft is able to land on short runways by using distributed electric propulsion providing control at slower airspeeds and a precision landing pilot assistance system, according to the company’s website. Airflow also uses an aerial operating system to manage aircraft in real-time.

In January, Airflow announced that they would be moving from sub-scale model testing to a new testing phase using a remodeled Cessna 210. The Cessna aircraft will be transformed into an eSTOL aircraft with distributed electric propulsion.

The post Airflow Exceeds $600M in Orders for eSTOL Aircraft appeared first on Aviation Today.

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CAAC Validates JetWave Connectivity System for Airbus A320s in China

Honeywell’s 757 demonstrator aircraft in 2019 completed ground and flight testing of the JetWave system in China that received STC validation from Chinese civil aviation regulators last week. (Honeywell)

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has approved a validation of Honeywell’s MCS-8420 JetWave satellite connectivity system for Airbus A320 aircraft.

A320s using the MCS-8420 system in the CAAC-controlled flight information region (FIR) will connect to China’s Ka-band satellite network, according to an Aug. 9 press release. The validation was one of the first issued by CAAC on a European European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) for commercial aviation connectivity.

Honeywell originally developed the STC with Lufthansa Technik for Airbus A320s flying in Europe, using Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band service – GX Aviation. The total JetWave package includes a Multi-Channel Satellite (MCS) terminal, antenna controller, modem and router hardware, and two different versions of a tail-mounted antenna — the MCS-8000 for the business aviation market and the MCS-8200 for commercial air transport aircraft.

“In today’s society, the ability to stay connected during flight is becoming a common expectation. This makes the in-flight Wi-Fi service enabled by Honeywell JetWave Satellite Communication System an important differentiated competitive advantage,” Steven Lien, president of Honeywell Aerospace China, said in a statement. “We noticed that digitalization was mentioned many times in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan. The exploration of new development opportunities through digital transformation has now become the focus of many airlines. This new VSTC for JetWave will greatly enhance Honeywell’s support for China’s in-flight high-speed satellite communications. This is also another exciting achievement Honeywell has made in digitalization.

CAAC’s validation of the STC comes nearly two years after Honeywell’s Boeing 757 demonstrator aircraft equipped with the MCS-8420 completed ground and flight tests in China. Honeywell claims a speed of up to 180 Mbps for the system.

Validation was completed as a result of the China-EU Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) between the government of the People’s Republic of China and the European Union. Technical Implementation Procedures (TIP) for Airworthiness and Environmental Certification, a specification of the BASA agreement, were employed by CAAC’s validation team in the process. TIP allows for “initial and subsequent validations in a defined process, and, therefore, predictable time frame,” according to Honeywell.

“This represents a milestone in the cooperation of CAAC and EASA in the field of commercial aviation connectivity, made possible by the China-EU Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA). Based on a very light design and more than 300 installations, we can support very fast installations in less than four days and high-maintenance inspection intervals; together offering very low and competitive operational costs to the airlines,” Lukas Bucher, Head of Connectivity Solutions at Lufthansa Technik, said in a statement.

The post CAAC Validates JetWave Connectivity System for Airbus A320s in China appeared first on Aviation Today.

Embraer Studying Next Generation Turboprop Concept for Regional Airline Market

Embraer President Arjan Meijer tweeted a photo of the company’s conceptual design for a next-generation turboprop targeting the regional airline market on the same day Embraer published its second-quarter earnings results, noting that the “rear-mounted engines reduce cabin noise for a jet-like experience.” (Embraer)

Embraer is studying the development of a next-generation turboprop aircraft with rear-mounted engines and a “jet-like” passenger experience, according to comments made by their top engineering executive during a live webcast hosted by the Brazilian airframe manufacturer results on Aug. 13.

The next-generation turboprop design was one of several concepts and new sustainability goals outlined by Embraer during the webcast, which includes a goal of making their aircraft 100 percent compatible with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030. Other goals include a 50 percent reduction in overall carbon emissions generated by their aircraft by 2040 and net zero emissions by 2050.

Luis Carlos Affonso, senior vice president of engineering, technology, and corporate strategy for Embraer, cautioned that the conceptual clean sheet regional turboprop aircraft has not been officially launched as a program yet. The company is still studying the concept and engaging potential partners and customers.

“Our proposal is to offer a high technology 70 to 90 seat turboprop with the same cross-section of the E-jets. Very comfortable, no middle seats and spacious overhead bins,” Affonso said. “The rear fuselage-mounted engines will provide a quiet cabin and allow jet bridge compatibility. With game-changing characteristics, this turboprop will replace the current 50-seat regional jets in very important markets.”

Affonso also discussed his belief that turboprops have effectively “disappeared” over the last two decades from new aircraft designs and development programs targeting regional airlines because passengers view them as too small, noisy, and uncomfortable.

“Our proposal will be a jet-like turboprop, with the only difference that it will use from 20 to 40 percent less fuel and emit up to 40 percent less carbon, so it will be an important airplane if we come to launch it,” Affonso said.

The rear engine-mounted turboprop was one of several next-generation designs discussed by Affonso, including an electric military transport aircraft concept called STOUT and an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that Embraer is targeting for its first flight of around 2025.

Embraer’s single-engine electric demonstrator aircraft performed its first flight a few days prior to their second-quarter earnings call and webcast. (Embraer)

Embraer is also researching the technical, economical, and supply chain aspects of designing a hydrogen-powered aircraft, with Affonso noting that their roadmap “considers a hydrogen-powered test vehicle first flight by 2025.”

Affonso also provided updates on the completion of the first flight of Embraer’s electric demonstrator aircraft several days prior to the webcast. Based on the Embraer single-engine EMB-203 Ipanema crop duster, the demonstrator aircraft uses an electric motor and controller supplied by WEG, a Brazilian supplier of electric motors, generators, and transformers.

“This testbed will help develop knowledge about batteries, electric motors, thermal management, electric control systems, high voltage handling, safety of flight that will then be applied to our future aircraft,” Affonso said.

Embraer reported a second-quarter net income of $40.5 million, its first profitable quarter since the first quarter of 2018. The company also provided its first delivery guidance since the start of the pandemic and expects to deliver 40 to 45 commercial aircraft and 90 to 95 executive jets for the year.

The post Embraer Studying Next Generation Turboprop Concept for Regional Airline Market appeared first on Aviation Today.

Iris Automation and UAV Navigation Partner for Drone DAA and Autopilot System

The Casia Long Range Detect-and-Avoid system can be used on the UAS BVLOS flight. (Iris Automation)

Iris Automation and UAV Navigation are integrating their autopilot and detect and avoid (DAA) system to allow unmanned aircraft to find uncooperative aircraft in their airspace and autonomously take action to avoid them, according to an Aug. 16 press release.

UAV Navigation will use Iris Automation’s Casia DAA software in its VECTOR autopilot systems to enable these operations, according to the release.

“The pace of innovation around autonomous aerial vehicles is rapid as the industry recognizes the potential for creating value,” Carlos Lázaro, Head of the Commercial Department at UAV Navigation, said in a statement. “Integrating Iris Automation’s Casia detect and avoid technology into our VECTOR autopilot is another important step in the safety of autonomous flights for commercial operations. Our customers can now automatically command the drone to perform appropriate avoidance maneuvers, resuming their original flightpath once completed.”

Iris Automation recently updated its Casia software to improve performance, track fusion, and flight data uploads. Casia uses computer vision and artificial intelligence to enable beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flight. It has previously been used by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Transport Canada.

“Partnering with UAV Navigation brings together two significant breakthroughs in safe, autonomous flight. Integrating autopilot systems with true detect and avoid, inclusive of uncooperative aircraft, is critical to enabling commercial operations at scale,” James Howard, co-founder and VP of Technology and Innovation at Iris Automation, said in a statement. “Given the wide deployment of UAV Navigation’s autopilot solution this is major progress in opening up the skies.”

VECTOR autopilots from UAV navigation allow aircraft to fly autonomously even in the case of lost remote-control datalinks. They can be used in rotary-wing and fixed-wing drones and VTOL aircraft.

The post Iris Automation and UAV Navigation Partner for Drone DAA and Autopilot System appeared first on Aviation Today.

What’s Trending in Aerospace – August 15, 2021

Check out the Aug. 15 edition of What’s Trending in Aerospace, where editors and contributors for Avionics International bring you some of the latest headlines and updates happening across the global aerospace industry.

Commercial

JetBlue Launches Transatlantic Operations to London

JetBlue launched its first Transatlantic New York to London service on Tuesday, Aug. 12, using an Airbus A321LR.

“For the first time in JetBlue’s 21-year history we are crossing the North Atlantic and competing in one of the busiest travel markets in the world, well-positioned to introduce our award-winning service and low fares to a new global audience that is ready for a fresh choice in transatlantic flying,” Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue said in an Aug. 12 press release. “With JetBlue now connecting New York and London, travelers finally have the ability to enjoy low fares while also experiencing superior service. As the U.K. opens to travelers coming from America, our flights are well timed to meet the pent up demand for travel between our two countries. We look forward to welcoming U.K. travelers to the U.S. soon and launching service between Boston and London next year.”

The configuration for JetBlue’s new Airbus A321 Long Range (LR) aircraft includes 24 re-designed Mint suites and 114 core seats.

Amazon Air Launches Air Cargo Hub in Northern Kentucky

Amazon has launched its U.S.-based air cargo operations. (Amazon)

Amazon announced the beginning of Amazon Air Hub operations at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

After more than four years of planning and construction, the Amazon Air Hub will serve as the central hub for Amazon Air’s U.S. cargo network, according to an Aug. 11 press release.

“Wonderful communities and diverse teams like this are the heart and soul of our operations,” Vice President of Amazon Global Air Sarah Rhoads said in the release. “We’re excited to get rolling in Northern Kentucky, and we’re thrilled to employ thousands of fantastic people from the area in this next-generation, highly sophisticated facility that will connect our air cargo network for years to come.”

The 800,000-square-foot sortation building sits on an over 600-acre campus that features seven buildings, a new ramp for aircraft parking, and a multi-story vehicle parking structure. The sortation facility is equipped with the innovative use of robotics technology that helps move and sort packages—including robotic arms and mobile drive units that transport packages across the building—miles of interlinked conveyors, and ergonomic workstations.

Boeing 737 MAX in China for Test Flights

A FlightRadar screen shows the movement of the test 737 MAX aircraft on its return flight from China.

A Boeing 737 MAX aircraft performed a series of flights in China before departing the country this weekend, according to several aviation industry news sites and social media postings featuring screenshots from flight tracking applications such as FlightRadar 24.

“After only 1 day of demonstrating the @BoeingAirplanes MAX 7 to the Chinese regulators, the aircraft is heading home again today. The first stop is Guam,” the commercial aviation news and insights website said in a tweet published to their Twitter account on Aug. 15.

FAA To Hold Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Airspace Meeting

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will hold a virtual public information meeting on its proposal to modify the airspace over Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania, according to an Aug. 12 press release. Under the proposed changes, existing flight paths would not change but the area where pilots are required to interact with FAA air traffic controllers would expand.

The airspace change is to better manage the complexity and volume of aviation activities in the area.

The meeting, which the FAA will conduct via Zoom and livestream on social media, will take place on Wednesday, August 18, from 6-8 p.m. Eastern Time.

SkyWest Announces Flying Agreement with Delta for 16 Embraer E175s

SkyWest announced an agreement with Delta Air Lines to purchase and operate 16 new E175 aircraft under a multi-year capacity purchase agreement, according to an Aug. 9 press release. These aircraft are scheduled to be placed into service beginning in the first half of 2022, and will be placed into service ratably through year-end 2022.

The aircraft will be purchased by SkyWest from Embraer and delivered new from the factory. SkyWest continues to be the largest owner/operator of the Embraer E175 aircraft in the world.

SkyWest expects the 16 new E175 aircraft will replace 16 SkyWest-owned or financed CRJ900s currently under its Delta contract, with expirations ranging from the second half of 2022 to early 2023.

US Airlines Split on Vaccine Mandates for Employees

United Airlines made headlines recently by announcing it would require all employees to become vaccinated, a policy also adopted by Hawaiian Airlines and Frontier, while Alaska, American and Southwest are not, according to a Aug. 13 article published by The Los Angeles Times.

“The vaccination policy split comes as air travel demand begins to climb almost to pre-pandemic levels. Domestic air bookings reached about half of pre-pandemic levels in March and has since climbed to 17% below those levels in early August, according to Airlines for America, a trade group for the nation’s air carriers,” according to the article.

Military

To Lower Emissions, the US Military Focuses on Increasing Aircraft Efficiency

As the commercial aviation industry increasingly shifts toward new technology to reach sustainability targets, the military is more focused on improving aircraft efficiency to increase sustainability rather than concentrating on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“The mission of the Air Force is to fly, fight and win in the air, in space, and in cyberspace,” Troy Warshel, principal director and chief of staff at the Air Force Operational Energy (SAF/IEN), said during a panel at AIAA’s Propulsion Energy Forum on Aug. 9. “Nowhere in that mission description do you hear anything about energy efficiency or greenhouse gas production because, quite truthfully, our mission is to kill bad guys and break their toys and that’s what our focus has to be.”

While the Air Force’s mission is not focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Warshel said that the Air Force is “uniquely positioned” to make smart decisions about how it uses energy as the largest consumer of fuel in the federal government and the Department of Defense. He also acknowledges that just because the Air Force’s mission isn’t to be energy efficient does not mean it isn’t interested in it.

Lockheed Martin Completes Construction of New Advanced Manufacturing Facility in California

Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Manufacturing Facility at the Skunk Works in Palmdale, California, will accommodate 450 employees. (Lockheed Martin)

Lockheed Martin has has completed construction of an advanced manufacturing facility at its Palmdale, California, campus and headquarters to its Skunk Works division, according to an Aug. 10 press release.

The 215,000 square foot intelligent, flexible factory has digital foundations to incorporate smart manufacturing components, embrace the Internet of Things and deliver cutting edge solutions rapidly and affordably to support the United States and its allies. This is one of four transformational manufacturing facilities Lockheed Martin is opening in the U.S. this year, the company said.

Norway’s First P-8A Poseidon Performs Maiden Flight

Norwegian Navy P8 YP151 Takeoff Renton WA

The first of five Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft for Norway performed its maiden flight on Aug. 9. The aircraft took off at 10:03 a.m. Pacific time and flew for 2 hours, 24 minutes, reaching a maximum altitude of 41,000 feet during the flight from Renton Municipal Airport to Boeing Field in Seattle, according to an Aug. 10 press release.

The first flight marks the next phase of the production cycle of this aircraft as it is moved to the Installation and Checkout facility, where mission systems will be installed and additional testing will take place before final delivery to the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) later this year.

“This inaugural flight is an important milestone for Norway, and the Boeing team remains committed to delivering the P-8 fleet to the NDMA on schedule,” Christian Thomsen, P-8 Europe program manager said in the release. “The P-8 is a capability that will help Norway improve anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and search-and-rescue missions, in addition to fostering valuable regional collaboration and interoperability with NATO nations.”

Business & GA

Embraer Returns to Profit in Second Quarter

Embraer posted its first quarterly profit earnings during the second quarter of 2021, according to earnings published by the Brazilian aircraft maker on Friday, Aug. 13.

The company attributed its second quarter success partially to a rebound in air travel, with a second quarter net income of $40.5 million, while completing deliveries of 14 commercial jets and 20 executive jets.

“Given results over the first six months of 2021 that have been better than initial expectations, and improved visibility across business segments, Embraer is issuing financial and deliveries guidance for 2021 as follows: Commercial Aviation deliveries of 45-50 aircraft, Executive Aviation deliveries of 90-95 aircraft, Consolidated revenues in the range of $4.0 to $4.5 billion, Adjusted EBIT margin of 3.0% to 4.0%, and Adjusted EBITDA margin of 8.5% to 9.5%,” Embraer said in an Aug. 13 press release.

Vista Global Sees Demand for Private Flying Surge Above Pre-Pandemic Levels in First Half of 2021

Vista Global – the parent company of VistaJet and XO – experienced record growth during the first six months of 2021, selling over 8,000 new annual subscription hours, an increase of 67 percent over 2020 and a 41 percent increase over the same period in 2019, according to an Aug. 9 press release.

The Group’s on-demand services also performed strongly during the period, with a year-on-year growth of 67 percent across all regions, and 55 percent compared to 2019. Demand for XO Deposit Members was also up 82 percent compared to the same period in 2020.

Regionally, the Middle East saw an increase of 153 percent in-flight hours operated by Vista, with North America and Europe registering 76 percent and 41 percent respectively.

“It has been an exceptional start to 2021 for Vista and we are making groundbreaking progress in all corners of the world in enhancing our position as the global pioneer within the business aviation industry,” Thomas Flohr, Vista’s Founder and Chairman said in the release. “Vista has seen a record first half of the year across all metrics and is seeing huge demand for our subscription and On-Demand based offerings. The surge in demand demonstrates how private aviation is the critical mobility solution, as sudden local restrictions continue to cause uncertainty for commercial fliers.”

Ampaire Completes Hybrid Electric Flight Demonstration in Scotland

Ampaire’s EEL aircraft completes its first hybrid electric flight in Scotland. (Ampaire)

Electric aircraft technology supplier Ampaire, a division of Surf Air Mobility, completed its first hybrid electric flights in Scotland on Aug. 12, crossing the Pentland Firth from Kirkwall Airport (KOI) on the Orkney Isles to regional airport Wick John O’Groats Airport (WIC) in the north of mainland Scotland.

The trials, the first to operate on a viable regional airline route, are part of the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) project, which is being led by Highlands and Islands Airports (HIAL). Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, SATE is based at Kirkwall Airport in Orkney, which is also home to the UK’s first operationally based low-carbon aviation test center.

Ampaire’s Electric EEL technology aircraft, a modified six-seat Cessna 337, runs on battery power and a conventional combustion engine.

“Today’s flight to Wick went without a hitch, flying at 3500 feet and 120 miles per hour. The Electric EEL is easy to fly, flying a total of 5 hours here. This EEL model, Ampaire’s second aircraft, has been flying for over a year, demonstrating the reliability and economy, as well as the potential to transform regional aviation,” Ampaire test pilot Justin Gillen said in a statement.

Kaman Aerospace Selected by Transcend Air to Build the Vy 400 VTOL Aircraft

Vy 400 VTOL.

Kaman Corporation announced that its subsidiary, Kaman Aerospace Group, Inc., has been selected by Transcend Air Corporation to build the Vy 400 High Speed Vertical Takeoff and Landing (HSVTOL) aircraft.

The turbine-powered Vy 400 travels is being developed to fly at cruising speeds of over 400 miles per hour, with an expected range of 450 miles. Kaman will build the aircraft at its facility in Jacksonville, Florida. Transcend has plans to certify the Vy 400 by 2025 with a propulsion system based on a 2,500-shp GE Aviation CT7-8 turboprop engine.

“Because of the Vy’s high speed, we can complete many more passenger trips per aircraft. The combination of that with VTOL is key to our revolutionary economics, and Kaman will be key to us scaling up production to meet the huge demand that our mass market fares will drive.”

eVTOLs

Joby Aviation Goes Public

The electric air taxi company Joby Aviation completed a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners (RTP) on Aug. 10 making it the first publicly traded electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company on the market. The company had $1.6 billion cash on its balance sheet as of March 31 and this transaction values Joby at $4.5 billion enterprise value.

Joby will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 11 under JOBY for common stock and JOBY WS for warrants, according to an Aug. 10 release from the company. The company also showcased its aircraft to the public for the first time in New York.

“Aviation connects the world in critically important ways but today it does that at the expense of our planet,” JoeBen Bevirt, founder and CEO at Joby, said in a statement. “By taking Joby public we have the opportunity to drive a renaissance in aviation, making emissions-free flight a part of everyday life. This is our generation’s moonshot moment, and at Joby we’re proud to be leaning in.”

Space

SpaceX Buys Out Satellite IoT Startup Swarm Technologies

Swarm co-founders Ben Longmier and Sara Spangelo holding the Swarm Tile, and a Swarm satellite. (Swarm)

SpaceX is in the process of making its first acquisition of a satellite company. According to FCC filings from August 6, SpaceX has reached an agreement to buy satellite Internet of Things (IoT) startup Swarm Technologies.

The two companies have requested the FCC transfer Swarm’s Earth and space station licenses to SpaceX as Swarm will become a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of SpaceX. The companies entered into an agreement on July 16. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The post What’s Trending in Aerospace – August 15, 2021 appeared first on Aviation Today.

Overair Releases New Details About its eVTOL Aircraft

Overair hopes to launch its eVTOL aircraft Butterfly in the U.S. and South Korea. (Overair)

The electric air taxi company Overair is breaking its silence on its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and debuting the design of Butterfly.

Butterfly will be an all-electric aircraft with a range of over 100 miles and 200 mph top speed. It will have zero carbon emissions and has a robust design made to withstand challenging weather conditions. Its payload will be able to accommodate five passengers, a pilot, and cargo topping out at 1,100 pounds.

Ben Tigner, CEO at Overair, told reporters during a call on Aug. 11 that Butterfly’s advantage lies in its propulsion system which features four large propulsors. The large disk area will allow for the aircraft to use less power in the hover phase making the aircraft highly efficient. This is why Overair has decided to go with the battery-only option versus a hybrid option like some others in the field with a similar range and payload capacity. Butterfly will also use a vectored thrust configuration to increase efficiency in hover and cruise flight.

“Our fundamental technology advantage, the propulsion, that we bring to the party here is inherently more efficient,” Tigner said. “We get more thrust for less power, that’s why we’re able to go battery only, not needing the hybrid solution. So we have larger rotors, larger propulsors than most other people in the industry so we can generate the thrust unit for flight, using less kilowatts and less kilowatt-hours.”

Butterfly will initially be piloted and then transition to autonomous flight in the future. (Overair)

The design of Butterfly was also intentional for noise emissions benefits, Tigner said. The large blade area minimizes pressure disturbances coming from the system generating less noise as the aircraft flies.

“It’s also going to be very very quiet,” Tigner said. “We anticipated that will be the quietest eVTOL vehicle in the field, and that is based on the fact that it has the largest rotors in the field and we’re able to spin the rotors very slowly. Not only is the amount of sound, the intensity of the sounds generated by the propulsion system very low, but also the character of the sound is such that the frequency projected is at a place where the human ear is very insensitive. So it really should be an extraordinarily quiet aircraft, quieter than anything else that’s out there in the industry right now.”

Overair’s eVTOL aircraft will also feature shaped blade tips that provide aerodynamic efficiency and low noise.

Butterfly will initially deploy as a piloted aircraft but will transition to autonomous operations in the future, Tigner said. The aircraft is designed with a fly-by-wire system which will provide layers of autonomy that can be added to.

“It’s full authority fly by wire system, the computer is flying the aircraft and the pilot is telling the computer what his or her desires are in terms of the trajectory of the aircraft,” Tigner said. “You can layer on autonomy system. On top of that, there will be sensors and communication that needs to be added to complete the system.”

The flight controls were developed around simplified vehicle operations. Tigner said the goal is to have a smooth transition between the hover controls and the forward flight controls.

The prototype of Butterfly is expected to take its first flight in 2022. (Overair)

“We’ve adopted an approach that really bites down on the notion of simplified vehicle operation where we’ve sort of adopted the view that you should have an interface…is a smooth transition between hover control and or flight control in a mode, similar to what you see on the F-35, you know, the unified command approach that defines how the sticks translate from hover controlling to into forward flight control,” Tigner said. “The fly by wire system, by virtue of the fact that it is full authority, has the ability to implement important envelope protections that prevent the vast majority of human error type accidents.”

Safety was another key that Overair’s team focused on when designing Butterfly. Jim Orbon, program manager at Overair, said that their eVTOL can land with only two propellers operating. This is possible with the aircraft’s high level of redundancy.

“We’ve actually designed this vehicle to sustain a safe flight and vertical landing with only two of the propellers operative,” Orbon said. “So in normal conditions, we have, you know, roughly 200 percent capacity to sustain the lift of the vehicle and it allows us unmatched levels of performance in a normal operating regime, but that choice to have that redundancy at the propulsion level gives us the confidence that we can implement a solution that has an extremely remote probability of loss of thrust.”

The expectation from Overair is that their prototype will take its first flight next year and they hope to receive certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in 2025. Overair is planning to launch commercial operations in the U.S. and South Korea.

The post Overair Releases New Details About its eVTOL Aircraft appeared first on Aviation Today.

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To Lower Emissions, the Military Focuses on Increasing Aircraft Efficiency

A KC-46 offloading fuel to a C-17 during a flight test. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)

As the commercial aviation industry increasingly shifts towards new technology to reach sustainability targets, the military is more focused on improving aircraft efficiency to increase sustainability rather than concentrating on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“If one were to say that the Air Force is not interested in fuel efficiency, you probably have your head in the sand,” Warshel said. “I think for us, the other side of the fuel efficiency coin is combat capability, you know, if we can go longer, farther, faster, and accomplish the mission done through efficiency, that increasing combat capability is really what we’re looking for. The shiny edge of that coin is that there’s a greenhouse gas reduction capability.”

Increasing the efficiency of these aircraft would not have a small impact. Warshel said if the Air Force increased the fuel efficiency of the C-17 fleet by just one percent, it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than if the DoD’s entire fleet of non-tactical vehicles were made electric.

When increasing energy efficiency, the Air Force is not looking to decrease combat capability by decreasing training.

“We’re looking at energy efficiency, you know, in the realm of increasing combat capability, part of that is, is a training and education piece,” Warshel said. “We’ve seen some bad behavior in other countries where they were given greenhouse gas emission caps…and they basically parked airplanes or stop training or stop flying. And for us as an Air Force, we don’t think that’s an option, we still have to train, we still have to practice like we’re gonna fight.”

Warshel said the Air Force is looking into software solutions to help deploy assets in a way that optimizes energy use. For example, where they previously planned a tanker schedule on a whiteboard, they are now enlisting help from Google.

“Working with those guys, we were able to come up with the program, Jigsaw, that has a significant increase in tanker utilization,” Warshel said. “It decreased the number of tankers required in theater, it decreased planning time from 12 hours to about four hours to come up with a tanker plan, and it saved over $200 million just in reducing airborne assets.”

There are also small changes that can be made to aircraft today to increase their efficiency. Warshel said a small piece of plastic on a C-17 could end up saving $10 million a year in reduced fuel consumption.

“If we put a one percent drag reduction on a C-17 by basically gluing a little piece of plastic on the aft end of the aircraft, which we could do for about $3 million for the entire C-17 fleet, we would eventually end up saving $10 million a year in reduced fuel consumption,” Warshel said. “Just by that simple thing alone.”

Most of the fuel the Air Forces uses goes toward transport aircraft.

“The [global] commercial fleet was awarded 100 billion gallons in 2019, pre-COVID, the United States, 26 billion gallons, and of that the Air Force, the same year, 2 billion gallons, the Navy 600 million gallons,” Michael Winter, senior fellow for advanced technology at Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon Technologies Corporation, said during the panel. “Jet fuel comprised a little more than 80 percent of the Air Force’s energy budget and…60 percent of the fuel was consumed in transport aircraft.”

It is important to analyze which aircraft are using the most fuel because the transport aircraft and tanker fleet use commercial engines and the commercial aviation industry is already committing to making its engines more sustainable to reach zero emissions goals.

“What’s not often realized is that those fleets, the commercial side of the transport tanker fleet, they operate on commercial off-the-shelf engines, they’re not uniquely developed for the military,” Keith Numbers, technical advisor for propulsion of the engineering directorate at the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, said during the panel. “So with that, I believe we in the Air Force are going to be followers of industry in terms of their commercial developments to reduce fuel burn emissions.”

However, the military does not update its aircraft as often as the commercial industry does because they keep them in service for long periods of time. This gives them fewer chances to adopt the new technologies that might be coming out of the commercial industry.

“The force does not operate our fleet to nearly the same extent in terms of flying hours as the commercial industry,” Numbers said. “As such, we tend to operate our engines for a much longer period of time in terms of years and service than the commercial industry typically does. So historically, what that means is our opportunity to refresh technology or those engines is much less often than commercial. So we’re going to be challenged to keep up with industry.”

This also means that military aircraft that use future commercial engines will have to contend with sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) which many commercial engine developers have already committed to designing their engines around. Current commercial engines are already permitted to operate with a 50 percent blend of SAF and Jet A.

“We are subject to what commercial industry does with the sustainable fuels in the blending within the Jet A specification,” Numbers said. “That does pose new risks for us.”

These risks include the special materials within various military aircraft that differ from commercial aircraft. There is also concern about how these fuels will react in very high altitude operations or under cold temperatures. Numbers said the augmenters and afterburners are also a risk with the use of SAF.

In response to these concerns, the Air Force is drafting an airworthiness advisory for the 50 percent blend.

“The Air Force is currently drafting an airworthiness advisory to address, specifically, the alcohol-to-jet form of alternative fuels with blends up to 50 percent,” Numbers aid. “We’ve already done that assessment for blends up to 30 percent, but we’re not sure what the risks are going to be as we preset blending up to 50 percent. That advisory is in a draft right now and should be forthcoming.”

The Air Force is not the only branch looking to increase energy efficiency. The Navy and Marine Corps are also interested in increasing their efficiencies, Richard Kamin, senior scientific technical manager of energy and fuels at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, said during the panel.

“Efficiency is the most important thing in our lives because our runway is so small and there’s no divert,” Kamin said. “So really, when you talk to sustainability in Navy and Marine Corps, we’ve been looking at that for a long time. We’ve been working on that issue, we just call our terms of success, a lot different.”

While the Navy and Marine Corps do not consume as much fuel as the Air Force, their fuel is mostly used by tactical fighters. Kamin said that about 60 percent of their fuel is burned by F-18s and F-35s.

“We do not have a big heavy transport consumption,” Kamin said. “So our challenge is a little greater, how do we stretch efficiency into those small packages.”

The Navy and Marine Corps have been working with OEMs to develop new components for tactical aircraft engines to make them more efficient, Kamin said. They also have supported multiple science and technologies programs that are working on this issue.

“We have demonstrated in a lot of our tactical systems, the capability for technologies that can increase our efficiency from 5 to 8 percent,” Kamin said. “Five to 8 percent of a fighter is huge.”

They are also working to incorporate more simulator usage.

“We’ve expanded our virtual training and simulator usage, the most efficient fuel saved is the gallon we never burn,” Kamin said. “That’s 100 percent greenhouse gas emissions savings…Yes, fighters, trainers, everyone has to fly, but what can we move to the simulated world?”

While the military has its own motivations when it comes to sustainability, the industry that supports it is having to contend with new regulations. Winter said that U.S. allies are requiring emissions information on aircraft platforms that they receive from foreign military sales.

“As far as the importance of sustainability to military, I would submit to you that it’s important right now,” Winter said. “In terms of some of the foreign military campaigns that we are engaged in with our allies and our partners on some of these aircraft platforms, we are being asked for lifecycle analysis specifically focused on scope three, which is the emissions in the use phase, and these are being used as selection criteria for foreign military sales.”

Winter cites Switzerland’s purchase of the F-35 where their citizens voted on the procurement in a referendum. During this vote, there were many articles in the press that focused on the sustainability of the aircraft.

The UK Ministry of Defence also recently published a rule that suppliers must have net 2050 zero-emissions goals in place to be able to compete in procurements. The company must also provide metrics and milestones to achieve these goals. The U.S. has also joined in this trend when President Biden released an executive order in May that would require companies to publicly disclose greenhouse gas emissions, the financial risk from climate, and science-based reduction targets with metrics and progress determination.

“This is not a problem that’s going to go away…and so this is a real opportunity for us to partner on with government, public-private partnerships, to make the necessary investments in technology so that we can make progress and we can move forward towards a sustainable future for aviation,” Winter said.

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Cathay Pacific Adds 4K IFE Screens to Latest Digital Cabin Upgrades

Cathay Pacific is rolling out 4K wireless IFE on its new A321neos entering service this month. (Panasonic Avionics)

Cathay Pacific Airways has introduced new full cabin 4K ultra-high definition in-flight entertainment (IFE) screens across its new fleet of Airbus A321neo aircraft, the latest in a series of wireless digital and connectivity upgrades that the Hong Kong-based airline has invested in recently.

The new screens, supplied by Panasonic Avionics, feature Bluetooth audio streaming and have been installed with 11.6-inch personal screens for the A321neo’s economy cabins, while business class features 15.6-inch personal screens, according to an Aug. 5 press release.

“We’ve always aimed to provide our passengers a comparable entertainment experience as what they would find at home. With the large screens and 4K ultra-high-definition viewing experience, passengers may enjoy our curated premium 4K content with their personal Bluetooth wireless headphones. We are determined to continuously elevate our passengers’ travel experience, and today, we are marking a milestone with our new A321neo fleet,” Vivian Lo, Cathay Pacific’s general manager of customer experience and design said in the release.

4K delivers four times the resolution of a 1080p (HD) TV, according to a September 2019 Avionics International article analyzing early adoption of the technology, and Cathay has become the latest in a number of Asia Pacific-based airlines to introduce the higher resolution screens that have expanded in popularity on premium consumer products. Although others in the region, such as All Nippon Airways’ fleet of Boeing 777-300ER, have limited its deployment to business class cabins or a select number of aircraft within their fleet.

(Panasonic Avionics)

Introduction of 4K IFE screens on their A321neo fleet is the latest digital cabin experience technology investment by Cathay Pacific, which is also transitioning to the Panasonic Avionics next-generation extreme high throughput satellite (XTS) in-flight connectivity (IFC) service that is being deployed in the Asia Pacific region. The first XTS satellite went live in February.

Cathay is also started rolling out a new in-flight Wi-Fi portal supplied by Deutsche Telekom designed to streamline in-flight Wi-Fi login, payment system, and sign-on process for passengers under a deal announced in October 2020. The portal is enabled by a software development kit being added to their A350, 777, and A330 fleet.

“Cathay Pacific has been a strategic and highly valued airline customer of Panasonic Avionics for many years. We are thrilled to help them take their passenger experience to the next level with the introduction of 4K content using our NEXT IFE system,” Ken Sain, Chief Executive Officer of Panasonic Avionics said in a statement.

Cathay’s first 4K-equipped A321neo entered commercial passenger-carrying service on Aug. 4. The airline will have a total of 16 A321neos in its fleet by the end of 2023.

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Vista Global Sees Demand for Private Flying Surge Above Pre-Pandemic Levels in First Half of 2021

Regionally, the Middle East saw an increase of 153 percent in-flight hours operated by Vista, with North America and Europe registering 76 percent and 41 percent respectively.

Fleet expansion and interior modifications continued for the VistaJet and XO brands during the first half of 2021 as well. VistaJet added four new Global 7500s, while XO added 15 new aircraft. The total Vista fleet now includes 180 aircraft and access to a network of 2,100 “alliance jets,” according to the Dubai-based company.

Progress also occurred on Vista’s integration of Red Wing Aviation, Apollo Jets, and Talon Air into its portfolio to expand its North American footprint.

The private jet operator’s in-flight connectivity (IFC) upgrades to LuxStream across its global fleet of jets also continued during the first half of the year. Vista Global expects to add LuxStream to 45 total aircraft this year.

“Our momentum is strong and we are extremely confident about the future as we continue our global expansion in the second half of 2021 and beyond,” Flohr said.

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Volansi Demonstrates Fully Autonomous Drone Delivery with Navy and Coast Guard

Volansi’s VOLY 10 drone completing an autonomous delivery during a demonstration with the Navy. (Volansi)

The Silicon Valley-based drone delivery company Volansi completed the first-ever completely autonomous maritime drone delivery demonstration with the Navy and Coast Guard on July 18 near Key West, Florida, Will Roper, Volansi CEO, told Avionics International.

The demonstrations, which were publicly disclosed on Aug. 2, consisted of three flights of the company’s VOLY 10 and 20 Series unmanned aircraft and were completed 20 nautical miles offshore. Two of the flights used the VOLY 10 aircraft which is 7 feet long with a 9-foot wingspan and a 10-pound maximum payload weight.

During the exercise, the VOLY 10 had a 5-pound payload and completed a 15 nautical mile trip from a Navy ship to the Coast Guard Cutter William Trump and back to the naval ship. The drone did not land on the cutter to simulate a situation where a landing was impossible.

“The Coast Guard didn’t want us to actually land on the ship because it’s a very small ship and they wanted to see if we were able to come very low, hover over the ship, and drop the package,” Roper said. “So control our descent, hit a close distance but like just above the height of a human, so you know you wouldn’t hit the person, but you weren’t dropping the payload from too high and they cared about that thinking of like maybe a shift in distress like a yacht or something that there wouldn’t be clearance to land on.”

The VOLY 10 was able to take off from the helicopter pad of the naval ship and used a mission computer to plan its trip. In the mission computer, the operator can tell the drone where to take off and land from, to hover, or to find a target area autonomously. Roper said they can train someone to operate the mission computer in about 20 minutes. Once the mission is planned on the computer, “it’s as easy as hitting go.”

“We’re literally one click drone delivery or one-click drone intelligence, and the drone does all the rest,” Roper said. “It takes itself off, it senses the wind conditions, it moves away from the ship, it transitions from vertical flight–our drones take off vertically and then they fly linearly like a traditional airplane–it transitions and flies the route that you asked it to fly, it finds the target ship, it brings itself in, hones in on it using its own internal sensors, and in our case, does the kiss and go drop off of the payload and then returns to the original ship. There’s not a single drone operator involved, in fact, you can cut comms to our mission tablet and the mission will still complete.”

Volansi’s drones can land by using GPS or sensors on the aircraft.

“It would not be wise of us to require GPS to land on things and so we are also able to find targets to land on, or platforms to land on, and land on them using sensors that are integrated into the aircraft,” Roper said. “Thus far, we’ve done cameras and [Light Detection and Ranging] (LIDAR) and we’re investing in other sensor technology as well.”

The VOLY 20, which is Volansi’s larger drone with a 15-foot wingspan and 30-pound maximum payload weight, began its flight at the same naval ship and delivered its package to the Gotcha, a Coast Guard Panga, that was one nautical mile away. The VOLY 20 then landed back on the naval ship.

Roper emphasized that autonomy is really the important part of this demonstration, not the drone itself.

“The autonomy is the puppeteer the drone is the puppet, but it’s our puppeteers that are amazing and in our case, the puppeteer is software, its algorithms and sensing,” Roper said. “We don’t have anyone that’s making the decisions, but we have very reliable algorithms that do it.”

This autonomy is especially important in the context of the Navy because of the lack of space on ships. These drones do not require a team to operate like other solutions.

“For a ship that only has a finite number of bunk spaces…to ask there to be eight bunks available for a drone operation team, or in some cases, 25 for some of the Navy’s systems, that’s prohibitive,” Roper said. “So that tells you that certain ships cannot run logistics or ISR because you can’t support the drone team. Well, we just enabled that ship to have drone power. It’s one-click drone power enabled by autonomy. It’s the autonomy that’s the hero.”

While autonomy is not a new concept to the military, nothing they do is fully autonomous, Roper said.

“There’s a degree of autonomy in almost everything the military has but nothing that is truly autonomous,” Roper said. “There are people operating everything…So the demonstration we did is more autonomy than I’ve seen in 10 years of supporting military development.”

Roper said autonomy has to be demystified from some of the worries previously expressed by the Defense Department.

“I lived through all the AI stuff in the Department,” Roper said. “I’ve lived through the worries about autonomy, equating to this general artificial intelligence and not knowing what systems will do. I think the self-driving car industry has helped quite a bit to demystify that autonomous means that there’s not a person involved, it doesn’t mean something’s behaving in an erratic way or way that can’t be understood.”

Volansi was able to get the Navy and Coast Guard to participate in this demonstration by just explaining how its system works, Roper said.

“We’ve been able to get the Navy and the Coast Guard to let us land on their ships and it’s because we can explain how our system works in a way that you don’t have to be a…computer scientists to understand and that’s helping us with commercial customers as well,” Roper said. “If the military accepts something, it goes a long way to convincing commercial customers it’s safe to operate, which is another reason why I believe working with the military is a smart business strategy for this company.”

Because Volansi intends for its drones to be used in harsh environments, such as the ones the military operates in, they need to be ruggedized. During the demonstration, Volansi’s drones had to contend with 20 miles per hour wind gusts and rain squalls, Roper said.

“We’ve picked customers are going to want reliability repeatability and us not to take a knee because the conditions are bad,” Roper said. “The military operates in tough conditions, we have to do it too. If we’re going to be the work truck of drones, then we’ve got to be ready to operate in the wind, rain, mud, and not say I’d rather sit inside and have a cup of tea and deliver your Uber Eats on another day, that’s just not the market that we’re going after.”

Roper said Volansi is also working to increase its payload capacity and range.

While drone logistics are not as flashy as other uses for drones, they will save lives, Roper said.

“I would love to make the world’s best boring drones, you know, meaning logistics and surveillance,” Roper said. “The drone flight characteristics are never supposed to be the stars of the show, it’s the things you carry that save lives, that save missions. It’s the pictures you take, the data you collect that save lives, those are the heroes.”

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