Aerospace startup Hermeus, which landed a U.S. Air Force contract for the initial development of a hypersonic business jet for presidential travel, signed a $60 million follow-up partnership agreement with the service to flight test its Quarterhorse unmanned small-sized vehicle as early as next year as it progresses toward completion of a full-scale passenger aircraft by the end of the decade.
Anticipated to fly by the end of 2022, Quarterhorse will be used to validate Hermeus’s turbine-based combined cycle (TBBC) engine that is based on the GE J85. The aircraft will test speeds between Mach 3 and Mach 5. Hermeus has retained a half-dozen more GE J85s as it proceeds with its development work and “we now have all the turbojet engines we need to complete our first aircraft development program with an iterative, hardware rich approach.”
Hermeus, which will build Quarterhorse at its recently established factory in Atlanta, has already cut metal for the vehicle. Company executives said by using an autonomous vehicle, Hermeus is derisking this stage of the flight testing.
Plans call to follow with a midsize vehicle that will be used for flight testing for cargo purposes around 2025 that will have longer range and more capable environmental control. That vehicle will be used to help provide a basis for MRO needs before the company proceeds to a business jet version.
Last year at this time, there was not a low supply of preowned aircraft that developed by the end of 2020. In fact, today we are at a very low point of inventory to choose from. If there is anything that might impact the final preowned sales numbers of 2021 it will not be demand, but the ability to fulfill this demand.
Let’s take a look at the factors that are creating this phenomenon. First, our world is still basically shut down, making it difficult to import preowned aircraft to the U.S., and therefore our inventory universe is reliant on U.S. aircraft.
Meanwhile, the corporate side of our industry has not really done transactions that typically provide additional aircraft inventory. Next, and one of the most impactful reasons, is that we had a record number of first-time buyers starting in fourth-quarter 2020 that still continues today.
These contributing factors will ebb and flow. They always do. The real question is should you get into our industry now or wait? My sense is if an aircraft fits your needs now, don’t wait to buy. That, of course, means you should not overpay, nor should you lower your expectations for quality. It just may mean that the keyword is patience.
Global Bizav Operations Jump 47% in July, Argus Reports
Global business aircraft activity jumped 47.1 percent in July, propelled by 44.7 percent and 44.3 percent year-over-year improvements in North America and Europe, respectively, according to the latest TraqPak report from Argus International. Now combining its monthly reviews into a single Global Aircraft Activity Report, Argus said the returns for July were “en route to breaking another record.”
North American business aircraft operations set a record in the TraqPak database at 305,136. This was 43,100 more than in July 2019 and 94,329 more than in July 2020. Fractional activity showed the greatest year-over-year jump, up 50.2 percent, with large jets in 91K operations surging 79.4 percent. Large-jet operations increased across the board by 66.3 percent, also including a 79.7 percent jump in Part 135 flights and 54.1 percent in Part 91. Overall, charter flights climbed 47.5 percent, including all aircraft types, and Part 91 by 40.8 percent.
In Europe, large jets also drove the increases, with operations up 87.7 percent in July. Turboprop activity improved by 33.2 percent, midsize jets by 32.1 percent and light jets at 32 percent. In addition, flight activity was up by 12.7 percent in Europe from July 2019.
In other combined world regions, turboprop activity surged by 102.8 percent, followed by light jets at 92.2 percent, midsize jets at 70.6 percent, and large jets at 56.6 percent.
This week marks a milestone in general aviation history, the centennial anniversary of agricultural aviation. On Aug. 3, 1921, U.S. Army test pilot Lt. John Macready flew a WWI-surplus Curtiss JN-6 Jenny to apply insecticide dust over a Catalpa (a tree species used for telephone poles and fencing) grove threatened by Sphinx moth caterpillars. The experimental flight over Troy, Ohio, was conceived by the Ohio Department of Agriculture and proved successful, dispatching the infestation and giving rise to the cropduster as a vital agricultural tool.
Since then, the agricultural aviation industry has grown to treat more than 127 million acres of cropland aerially each year in the U.S. using rugged aircraft that are designed to handle as many as 100 takeoffs and landings every day from rough landing strips. In addition, aerial applicators seed 3.8 million acres of cover crops annually and are responsible for helping to sequester 1.9 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually.
“Along with its essential place in agriculture, aerial application has become an important tool in wildfire fighting, as well as in public health for mosquito control,” said Andrew Moore, CEO of the National Agricultural Aviation Association. “It’s a safe bet that what began as an experiment in 1921 will continue to offer solutions to other challenges in the coming decades, like climate change and the increasing demand for food.”
Infrastructure Bill To Support GA Airports, Jobs
The massive $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is generally drawing praise from the industry for its support of aviation, including $25 billion that would be dedicated to airports and air traffic control equipment.
The bill, which appears headed to a vote on Saturday, has been under debate this week as the Senate sorted through hundreds of potential amendments. One potential amendment that NATA had been watching was an effort by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) to attach his legislation that would facilitate flight sharing. NATA president Tim Obitts said a coalition of aviation groups voiced their objections this week and the “issue seems unlikely to progress further.”
Aviation groups were pleased, however, that the package includes a number of other measures such as a provision to dedicate up to $500 million per year to general aviation and non-primary airports over a five-year period. Obitts said NATA was also pleased by a similar measure calling for $20 million for contract towers.
NBAA further was encouraged by the inclusion of the Promoting Service in Transportation Act to enable the Department of Transportation to promote transportation jobs. NBAA also supported a Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation Grant Program authorizing $100 million in funding over the next five years for cities to conduct demonstration projects for “smart city technologies” to improve transportation efficiency and safety.
Piper is the first aircraft manufacturer to certify Garmin’s digital GWX 8000 StormOptix weather radar in a piston-engine or turboprop airplane, the company announced last week at EAA AirVenture.
Unveiled in April, the lightweight GWX 8000 features a 16-color palette with “greater color contouring” that helps pilots interpret weather storm cell severity. The radar’s 3D volumetric scanning with automatic tilt adjustment scans and depicts hazardous weather and provides hail and lightning prediction, turbulence detection, advanced ground clutter suppression, and predictive wind-shear detection (an optional add-on). To help pilots avoid large storms, Garmin’s Weather Attenuated Color Highlight (Watch) technology can mitigate attenuation effects.
M-series Pipers are selling at a fast clip, according to company president and CEO John Calcagno, with sales up 20 percent year-to-date. M500 turboprops are sold out through the second quarter of 2022, he added, and only a few M350 piston single and M600 turboprop slots are open. At AirVenture, the M600 on display sold before the show even opened.
On the trainer front, the Archer piston-single and Seminole piston twin are sold out through 2022, and the Pilot 100/100i trainer is sold out through the second quarter of next year.
“We continue to focus on product development,” Calcagno said. “We’re optimistic about the overall market.”
C&L Inks Deal To Convert, Sell Six Saab Turboprops
C&L Aerospace has signed a deal with Part 135 operator Legends Airways to convert and sell six Saab 340 aircraft for freight operations, the C&L Aviation Group company announced this week. The Bangor, Maine-based company has already converted two of the turboprop twins and expects to deliver the remaining four by year-end.
The deal also calls for C&L Aerospace to provide Legends with parts and technical expertise. “We came to C&L not only because they had the aircraft inventory we needed, but also because they have the in-depth knowledge and experience needed to support the Saab 340,” said Legends Airways CEO Jon Hierl.
For more than 20 years, C&L Aerospace has been involved in the aftermarket sale and support of the 340. That includes maintaining parts inventory for the aircraft in its warehouses in Austin, Texas; Bangor; London; and Brisbane, Australia. Additionally, the company provides a range of Saab 340 support services that include heavy maintenance, aircraft paint, avionics upgrades, structural modifications, engineering support, and interior refurbishment.
FlightAware Offers Aviator Personal Flight Tracking
Owners/operators and pilots of piston aircraft can now tap into flight tracking information for their aircraft and aircraft that they fly and share that information using FlightAware’s new Aviator service.
A pilot can register multiple aircraft on Aviator, for example, when renting or flying more than one aircraft. Once registered, the user can view detailed tracking information for that aircraft and also set a VFR “flight intent,” which is a plan for the flight including the route, destination, time en route, and even the intended FBO.
Aviator is designed to give light aircraft pilots access to the same tools as operators of larger aircraft, including seamless communication with stakeholders, a complete history of the flight, and a unified dashboard to display all this information.
The Aviator service is available in two levels: a base version and plus version. Plus adds premium weather layers (icing, turbulence, and lightning), the ability to register 10 piston aircraft (versus five for the base version), 25 versus five people who can receive alerts for all flight phases and flight plan filing alerts, and an automatic monthly history report. Subscription plans cost $20/month or $200/year for Aviator+ and half these amounts for Aviator.
Cub's Den. By far the airplane that got the most attention at this year's EAA AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, was social media maven and Best Tugs inventor Mike Patey's Scrappy, a highly modified CubCrafters Carbon Cub EX-3. With a race-ready, eight-cylinder, 780-cu-in, 600-hp Lycoming engine, double leading-edge wing slats, drooped ailerons, and variable-geometry dual-shock-absorber landing gear, there is probably nowhere this amazing airplane can't take off or land. Thanks to AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber for sharing this photo!
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