Welcome to the first AIN Weekly Digest. These weekly newsletters will highlight feature-length stories from AIN and sister publications Business Jet Traveler and FutureFlight, as well as the most-read stories over the past week from AINonline that you might have missed.
As Boom continues its efforts to convince an engine manufacturer to back its supersonic ambitions by investing in a new powerplant, how exactly airlines expect to capitalize on the promised Mach 1.7 speed remains a central question. The company says it will leverage 50 years of advances in aerodynamics, materials, and propulsion since the development of the Concorde to address the cost challenges the famously loss-making supersonic transport (SST) could never overcome. Critics say the introduction of a fuel-thirsty SST at a time established aerospace companies have turned their research and development efforts squarely toward environmental sustainability amounts to a fundamental miscalculation.
If recent commercial activity serves as any guide, potential operators might have at least lent some credibility to Boom’s claims that the use of 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) can eventually render the operation of the Overture transport carbon neutral. In fact, the Overture now has drawn order commitments covering four identified airlines, including what it characterizes as firm orders from United Airlines for 15 and, most recently, American Airlines for 20.
Lousch is the director of Mid-Continent Aviation Services (MCAS) in Wichita and her “children” are the surviving fleet of 65 Hawker 4000 super-midsize business jet aircraft. MCAS is currently the leading independent support provider for the aircraft following Hawker Beechcraft’s bankruptcy and the subsequent fire sale acquisition of its assets by Textron Aviation for $1.4 billion in 2014.
For one of the smallest airports in the world, Gustav III Airport (TFFJ) on the Caribbean island of St. Barthélemy (AKA St. Barth, or St. Barts), punches way above its weight class in terms of activity. Long a playground for the jet and yacht set, the French overseas collectivity, which has less than 10,000 inhabitants, draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to its exclusive shores each year, most of which arrive by aircraft.
It is an irony that those who fly their private jets to the Caribbean cannot land them at St. Barth due to the airport’s single 2,100-foot long, 60-foot wide runway, which can only accommodate aircraft up to a 19-seat DHC-6 Twin Otter, with the notable exception of a Douglas DC-3 which once successfully landed there years ago.
United Airlines invested $15 million in Eve Air Mobility and placed a conditional purchase agreement for 200 four-seat electric aircraft plus 200 options calling for first deliveries as early as 2026, the Chicago-based carrier said Thursday. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies intend to work on future projects, including studies on the development, use, and application of Eve’s aircraft and the urban air mobility (UAM) ecosystem.
The latest commitment by United comes less than a month after it placed a $10 million deposit on 100 eVTOL aircraft with Archer Aviation. In February 2021 the airline signed a provisional agreement with Archer to buy up to 200 of its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft in a deal valued at $1 billion. At the time, Archer said the pre-delivery payment represented one of the first of its kind in the nascent eVTOL industry following announcements by several manufacturers of provisional sales that appear unsupported by any type of formal payment schedule or deposit.
Embraer has completed the required test campaign for certification of the C-390 Millennium multi-role tanker/transport aircraft in the fire-fighting role. The manufacturer is awaiting approval from the Industrial Fostering and Coordination Institute (IFI)—Brazil’s military certification authority. Once the certification has been issued, the capability will be available to C/KC-390 operators.
For the fire-fighting role, the C-390 employs the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System (MAFFS) II, which can drop up to 2,985 U.S. gallons (11,300 liters) of plain or retardant-treated water. Developed by Aero Union as an improvement on the original system, MAFFS II is a five-tank, roll-on/roll-off system that can be installed in the C-390’s cargo hold using its own trailer. The water is discharged through a door-mounted nozzle that is fitted in the port aft fuselage paratroop doorway. The system is self-contained and requires only a connection to the aircraft’s power supply for operation. MAFFS II is in widespread use, notably with the C-130s of the U.S. Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.
When Boeing delivered its first 777 widebody, twin-engine jumbo jet in 1995, airlines couldn’t get enough of them.
The 777 is Boeing’s bestselling jumbo, with good reason. The world’s largest twinjet, it offers the perfect marriage of comfort, convenience, technology, and economy. The former CEO of Air France called it his airline’s “cash machine.” One globetrotter, who was among United Airlines’ first paying passengers on the airplane, called it “definitely the better bus.”
Indeed, the 777 was the first airliner Boeing made that was completely designed with software and incorporated full fly-by-wire (FBW) computerized flight controls and mechanical backups.
Aircraft designed to operate in dense urban environments, and some cases autonomously (i.e. no pilot on board), are making new demands of those who develop the avionics responsible for key flight safety functions. New approaches to detect and avoid (DAA) capability are called for, along with autonomous navigation, command and control beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and new levels of data transmission from a fast-emerging sector of aviation that is in a hurry to succeed.
Overall, what’s happening in cockpit technology is every bit as important as what’s happening with advances in battery and motor technology that are driving the higher-profile race to achieve all-electric power. And so, this is where a big part of research and development for the urban air mobility (UAM) sector needs to go. It is by no means clear that some start-up pioneers grasp the sophistication that is required to let these aircraft fulfil their potential, and the level of redundancy to ensure that they do this safely.
Some of the answers to these challenges lie in software advances and, in this respect, it is no surprise that some of the best and brightest from Silicon Valley’s stellar IT sector believe they have what it takes to drive the key breakthroughs.
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 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited.
