Hermeus expects to complete several engine tests for its Quarterhorse Mach 5 scaled testing demonstrator by October in preparation for first flight next year, reported Jefferies. The market analyst hosted Hermeus founder and CEO AJ Piplica during its recent Global Industrials Conference. He said development has been on track, with milestones expected in the next four to five weeks of ground testing.
Quarterhorse will be used to test the reliability of Hermeus’s turbine-based combined cycle engines, based on the GE J85 engine. The U.S. Air Force has a $60 million 50/50 public-private investment in the demonstrator with an interest in capturing flight testing data as it evaluates future procurement decisions.
Following Quarterhorse will be Darkhorse, an aircraft to be the size of an F-15 or F-18 that will be used for long-duration high-speed flight tests and de-risking full-scale propulsion systems and environmental/thermal controls. This is intended to lead up to the development of a 20-seat Halcyon Mach 5 passenger aircraft.
Hermeus executives have reiterated that hypersonic makes sense versus supersonic because the company can leverage defense applications as a potential funding source. The company further has estimated that the costs of operation would be comparable to a supersonic and that each aircraft would be priced in excess of $200 million.
Helicopter operator Bristow is continuing to expand into the advanced air mobility (AAM) market with plans to acquire as many as 55 Alia 250 eVTOL aircraft from Beta Technologies. The company announced on Tuesday that it has placed a firm order for five of Beta’s electrically powered aircraft, with options for 50 more.
“This order firmly positions Bristow as an early adopter and leader in pragmatically developing AAM operations and ushering in a new era in vertical-lift solutions,” said Bristow executive v-p and chief transformation officer Dave Stepanek.
Vermont-based Beta Technologies is developing the all-electric Alia 250 eVTOL for civilian and military uses. It can carry six people, including a pilot, or up to 1,400 pounds of cargo across distances of up to 250 miles, flying at a top speed of about 170 mph. The aircraft features four vertical lift propellers mounted on beams that run perpendicular to a 50-foot fixed wing, with an aft single pusher propeller.
Beta plans to have the Alia 250 certified and ready to start commercial operations in 2025.
Leonardo announced orders for three VIP-configured helicopters yesterday at LABACE 2022. Two AW169s and one AW109 Trekker will be delivered to two different private operators next year. The first AW169 and the Trekker will be delivered to an unnamed operator in fourth-quarter 2023, while the other AW169 is expected to be handed over to a different user in the third quarter. The helicopters will feature highly customized configurations and interiors and will be delivered by Leonardo’s new service and logistics center in Itapevi, Brazil.
These latest orders will bring the number of VIP-outfitted AW169s in Brazil to 14. Of the more than 900 Leonardo VIP helicopters in service worldwide today, nearly 25 percent of them are based in Latin America. Leonardo claims a 45 percent share of the world’s twin-engine VIP/corporate helicopter market over the past 10 years.
The AW169 entered service in 2015 and features Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210A engines that can be operated on the ground with one engine in auxiliary power mode, allowing key systems like air conditioning, heating, and avionics to be operated. The AW109 Trekker light twin mates the AW109 Grand airframe to skid gear and is equipped with the Genesys Aerosystems glass cockpit that can be configured for either VFR or IFR operations.
Embraer has partnered with Voar Aviation to offer unscheduled maintenance services to Embraer business jet customers at Brazil's São Paulo Congonhas Airport. “This agreement with Voar is the ideal complement to the expansion of Embraer’s service operations in Brazil,” said Frank Stevens, v-p of Embraer global MRO centers. “We will be even closer to our customers, establishing our presence in the most important airport in the country for business aviation.”
The partnership, announced this week at LABACE, builds on a doubling of Embraer’s company-owned Sorocaba service center. “The main goal is to offer dedicated support at Congonhas Airport, further improving our customer’s satisfaction,” added Everton Vicente, Embraer MRO and FBO managing director. “We aim to bring benefits such as greater agility in service, with local teams supporting the operation, and greater network integration, both owned and authorized.”
Also at LABACE, Brazilian fractional aircraft provider Avantto signed on to the Embraer Executive Care program for its fleet of four Phenom 100s and three Phenom 300s. More than 700 aircraft are enrolled in the program, according to Embraer.
Avantto CEO Rogério Andrade said that by enrolling in the program, “We can plan maintenance costs way in advance and without surprises, which ultimately ends up also benefiting our customer as we can offer extremely competitive prices for our aircraft-sharing business model.”
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During its LABACE debut this week, Pro Aero announced it is adapting its Axis operations/financial and Vector aircraft maintenance management software for the North American market. This includes the addition of foreign currencies to the financial module and creation of iOS and Android versions of Axis. “We are just waiting for applications to open to bring our Axis system, for operational and financial management and shared ownership, and the Vector system for maintenance management, to the 2023 NBAA-BACE,” said Marcelo Araújo, Pro Aero's executive director and co-founder.
Pro Aero was founded in 2018 in Jacareí, near São José dos Campos, Brazil, to provide consulting services and digital solutions for business aviation operators. Pro Aero’s software platforms facilitate not only aircraft operations but also financial management, fractional-ownership programs, and maintenance management. The company recently opened an office in Belo Horizonte to add more support for its products.
Araújo, who is an IS-BAO auditor, previously worked in customer support at Embraer and for Textron and other companies in training and flight simulation. Pro Aero led the certification process for Prime You to become the first company in Brazil to comply with the new ANAC regulations for operating in the aircraft sharing market. Among other Pro Aero clients are Avantto, Helisul Aviação, and Brazilian multinational mining company Vale.
Helijet International subsidiary Pacific Heliport Services has completed a CA$1.7 million ($1.32 million) upgrade to the floating public-use heliport in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. The British Columbia Airport Assistance Program (BCAAP) funded 75 percent of the project cost, while Pacific Heliport Services paid the remainder.
Part of an intermodal transport hub with easy connections to ferries, buses, trains, and Vancouver's cruise ship terminal, the facility plays an important role in the city’s governmental, private sector commerce, aeromedical transport, and tourism sectors.
The renovation centered around the design and construction of a pair of bridgeway connections linking the landing pad to the shore and also incorporated numerous facility and shoreline improvements within the heliport lease area. It was designed and completed by a locally based construction company. Since the project did not involve any in-water work, there were no environmental concerns to marine life or the natural habitat, according to the company.
“The provincial government is committed to helping airports and air facility operators across the province make the safety and capacity upgrades they need to better serve their customers and communities,” explained Rob Fleming, British Columbia’s minister of transportation and infrastructure. “We recognize the vital role this terminal and Pacific Heliport Services plays in the region, and through BCAAP, we’re pleased to have made this important upgrade possible while at the same time supporting British Coumbia’s construction sector.”
The number of airports managed by state-owned Empresa de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária (Infraero) has declined due to the government’s granting of airport concessions to the private sector. Accordingly, LABACE 2022 exhibitor Infraero decided a few years ago to use its extensive experience of almost 50 years of managing airports to transition to offering four product lines: airport management, specialized technical services, training, and digital solutions for smaller public airports throughout Brazil.
“We [offer services] from engineering projects, management and operation of the airport, supervision of works, maintenance of runways, ramps, and pavements, and commercial development, among others,” said Rodrigo Medeiros, business superintendent at Infraero.
Clients from various regions of Brazil include cities such as Caçador and Passo Fundo in Guarujá, Juiz de Fora in Minas Gerais, Ji-Paraná in Rondônia, and state governments. “But we are also already serving the concessionaire companies by providing training and digital solutions,” he added. “We have contracts with AENA, CCR, Fraport, and Vinci—companies that manage airports that were once part of the Infraero network.”
Today, Infraero’s services for airports, especially smaller ones, benefits both regional airlines and business aviation operators.
AEPM Brazil, a subsidiary of Canadian aerospace company AEPM International, has placed a bold bet on where eVTOLs will land, signing a 40-year lease for a plot straddling the land and air sides of Brazil's Guarulhos International Airport (GRU). The company's initial plans are to construct a $16 million, 5,100-sq-m (55,000-sq-ft) building occupying about half the plot to serve as a VIP airline terminal. However, Fethi Chebil, president and CEO of AEPM International, made it clear that long-range plans are for an eVTOL vertiport.
The concept of a VIP terminal, as explained by AEPM guest experience v-p Anita Newcourt, is to lay down a virtual red carpet from the curb to boarding gate and then the reverse on arrival. Ideally, the passenger will arrive at the VIP terminal and have all the formalities handled by terminal staff, including baggage handling and check-in. Limousines will carry passengers through the airport’s airside directly to the boarding gate, where they will ascend by staircase or elevator to the jet bridge.
Eventually, this would be extended to door-to-door service, with a car picking up the passenger, allowing the terminal to track the vehicle and adapt to such events as traffic jams. The eventual addition of eVTOLs would extend the red carpet concept into a flying carpet, according to AEPM.
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