On New Year’s Day 1914, when the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line launched the world’s first scheduled commercial airline service to connect the two Florida cities, few among even the most optimistic observers present would likely have envisioned a day when around 600 passengers could travel over 8,000 nm on a double-decked Airbus A380. The 23-mile hop across Tampa Bay—at barely five feet above the waves—was certainly a “one small step, one giant leap” moment, albeit the service in the Benoist Type XIV aircraft lasted less than five months, providing, for a $5 one-way fare, a 23-minute alternative to a two-hour boat voyage or a drive that could take as long as 20 hours.
In something of a “back to the future” ironic twist, the St Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line’s 109-year-old business model was fundamentally quite similar to the new air-taxi services now promised by the 21st-century transportation revolutionaries working to use eVTOL aircraft for so-called urban air mobility (UAM) services. Early applications of all-electric vehicles, typically carrying just two to four passengers, largely consist of short flights of between 20 and 100 miles intended to bypass congested roads within large cities, and in some cases support slightly longer sub-regional services.
Turbine engines. Complex gearboxes. Elaborately shaped rotor blades. Helicopter builder Frank Robinson hated them all. Not that he was a Luddite—far from it. Before founding his own helicopter company, Robinson worked on some of the most advanced military rotorcraft programs of the day, including the Boeing AH-64 Apache.
Robinson struck out on his own in 1972 from his kitchen table, spending seven and a half years designing, building, testing, and certifying the two-seat R22 piston helicopter. The Robinson line has since expanded to three basic models: the R22, four-seat R44 piston, and five-seat R66 turbine. A base R66 continues to be priced at just under $1 million, making it the least expensive light turbine single helicopter one can buy.
Textron Aviation has officially named its long-awaited new single-engine turboprop. The Cessna “Denali” was announced at EAA AirVenture 2016 and a mockup is on display. First flight is anticipated in 2018 and letters of intent for the $4.5 million (introductory price), single-pilot-capable, six-to-nine-passenger aircraft are being accepted here at Oshkosh.
The Denali is expected to have a range of 1,600 nm, a maximum cruise speed of 285 knots, and a full fuel payload of 1,100 pounds. The aircraft features a flat-floor cabin, a 53-inch-by-59-inch rear cargo door, a digital pressurization system that maintains a 6,130-foot cabin to 31,000 feet, and an optional externally serviceable belted lavatory with pocket door enclosure in the aft of the cabin. The cabin design also incorporates large passenger windows, interior LED lighting, a refreshment cabinet and an in-flight-accessible baggage compartment. The interior is designed to be easily and quickly converted between passenger and cargo configurations.
Comac C919 launch customer China Eastern Airlines has begun its second round of cabin crew training this week ahead of the narrowbody’s anticipated entry into service this spring.
Meanwhile, a 100-hour flight validation campaign on nine domestic routes from its base at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport will see the C919 fly to Beijing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Haikou, Qingdao, Wuhan, Nanchang, and Jinan. Expected to conclude in mid-February, the trials simulate normal flight and maintenance operations.
Destinus, the European startup developing a hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft, is preparing to start flight tests with a subscale propulsion system prototype on its Jungfrau technology demonstrator next month. The next phase of work will build on recently completed tests using an afterburner it has integrated with an off-the-shelf turbojet engine as part of a long-term goal to produce an aircraft that would operate on intercontinental flights at speeds exceeding Mach 5.
In a strategic shift, Destinus has now resolved to use its afterburner technology with a turbofan produced by an existing aircraft engine maker for early cargo-carrying examples of its planned aircraft. Senior development manager Martina Löfqvist explained that these early production aircraft will require four as-yet-unspecified turbofans and that “for bigger passenger-carrying vehicles, we may still have to consider developing an engine ourselves.”
Despite gathering pessimism over the global economic outlook, UAE-based Hadid International Services believes Middle East economies are well placed to power forward post-Covid. “The economy in the region is booming,” commercial director Issa Zuriqi told AIN. “I am doubtful there will be a recession in the UAE, and if there is it will bounce back as strongly as it always has in the past.”
Regional investments in the food industry, technology, and real estate were gathering pace. “The Gulfood Expo [in February] saw 120,000 visitors—that’s major,” he said. “The food industry, not just in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but in other emirates, is booming. These are the three sectors I see doing well besides aviation.”
Airbus UpNext is accelerating work on autonomous flight systems aimed at improving operational safety and efficiency. Using an A350-1000 widebody airliner, the Airbus research and development division will now conduct further flight testing mainly focused on automatic flight diversion and landing in the event of an emergency and assistance for pilots in navigating very complex taxiways at the busiest airports.
In a January 12 media briefing on the DragonFly project, which started initial flight testing in July 2022, Airbus UpNext explained that work continuing this year will deal with tasks such as maturing the computer vision algorithms needed to support the landing and taxi assistance processes. Project engineers fit the A350 with three external cameras just below the flight deck windscreen and are considering what sensors deployment on commercial airliners would need to achieve regulatory approval.
AINalerts News Tips/Feedback: News tips may be sent anonymously, but feedback must include name and contact info (we will withhold name on request). We reserve the right to edit correspondence for length, clarity and grammar. Send feedback or news tips to AINalerts editor Chad Trautvetter.
AINalerts is a publication of AIN Media Group, 214 Franklin Avenue, Midland Park, New Jersey. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
