The first flights of a pair of hydrogen-powered technology demonstrators are now set to happen early in 2023. As 2022 drew to a close rivals ZeroAvia and Universal Hydrogen were making final preparations to begin their respective flight tests with Dornier 228 and Dash 8-300 twin turboprop regional airliners.
On December 23, the UK Civil Aviation Authority issued a permit to fly for ZeroAvia’s 19-seat Dornier 228, which has been involved in ground tests at Kemble Airport in England for several months. One of the aircraft’s Honeywell TPE331 turboprop engines has been replaced with the U.S.-based start-up’s hydrogen-electric powertrain.
ZeroAvia is aiming to finalize the production configuration for the ZA600 propulsion system by the end of 2023 and to have the first aircraft converted under supplemental type certificates and in commercial service during 2025.
Like ZeroAvia, Universal Hydrogen also aimed to start flying its technology demonstrator by the end of 2022. In mid-December, the U.S. company confirmed that the first flight with a converted Dash 8 had been rescheduled for January, following taxi tests just before the holiday season.
"The integration of the hydrogen fuel cell powertrain into the flight test aircraft took somewhat longer than anticipated,” said a spokesperson for Universal Hydrogen. “Integration is now complete and the aircraft is undergoing ground testing. We aim for...first flight in January."
Want more? You can find a longer version of this article at FutureFlight.aero, a news and information resource developed by AIN to provide objective coverage and analysis of cutting-edge aviation technology.
The past year has marked a flurry of activity in advances across the sustainable front from the Eviation Alice electric commuter first flight to the successful test of 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on the GE Honda Aero Engines HF120. However, industry advocates agree that perhaps the most significant advance in the past year has been a shift in the outlook of the business aviation community itself on sustainability.
“We’ve created the demand,” said Tim Obitts, the former president of the National Air Transportation Association who is now chief legal officer of sustainable fuel pioneer Alder Fuels. “Now we need the supply.”
Getting to that has been more than a decade-long education process and a marked turnaround from a year ago when a JetNet iQ survey revealed that when asked whether they would seriously consider flying with SAF in the next 24 months, just 10.4 percent of the respondents in North America said they would “strongly agree” while another 20.4 percent said they “somewhat agree."
The tide appears to have turned as numerous events have coalesced over the past year that raised awareness and visibility of the need for advancements in sustainability. To begin with, there has been a growing recognition that sustainability is imperative. “If we don’t decarbonize our industry, we’re not going to have a future," said Kyle Martin, v-p of European affairs for GAMA.
The one-dose Johnson & Johnson Janssen Covid-19 vaccine is safe for pilots and other safety-sensitive professionals who may now receive it “under the conditions of their FAA-issued airman medical certification,” the FAA announced late last week.
Distribution of the vaccine had been temporarily suspended to the general public in 2021 following reports of a variety of adverse but extremely rare side effects, including blood clots in women. It was approved for pilots, air traffic controllers, and others subject to FAA medical clearance after the U.S. Food & Drug Administration granted it emergency use authorization.
As with the two-shot Moderna and Pfizer covid vaccines, and those for tuberculosis and typhoid, the FAA requires a 48-hour waiting period between vaccine administration and return to duty. The agency said it will “continuously monitor the initial distribution of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine and will adjust the recommendations as needed” and it will also “evaluate additional vaccines as they receive FDA emergency use authorization and will advise pilots and air traffic controllers of any required waiting periods.”
UK-based aircraft brokerage and consultancy Moon Jet Group (MJG) said 2022 was a record year for aircraft transactions and hopes to more than double it in 2023. This year, MJG completed 21 aircraft sales transactions.
“If we can beat 2022’s achievement, we will be very happy,” company founder and managing director James Moon told AIN. Moon, a pilot who founded the company in 2015, has established relationships with more than 600 private aircraft owners worldwide, working on aircraft transactions from light jets to Boeing Business Jets. His company also provides aircraft type and fleet advisory solutions to aircraft operators and regional airlines.
Moon said the 2023 outlook is good but expects “aircraft values to soften and the current inflated asking prices to reduce slightly to a more normal level of pricing.” He added, "The biggest trend that I am seeing right now is the seasoned aircraft owners that have sat on the sidelines while the aircraft market was white hot. If aircraft values and asking prices drop next year as expected, that is when they will make their moves and I am working with a lot of clients like that right now.”
Although still very much a nascent industry, 2022 has proven to be a pivotal year for advanced air mobility (AAM), as manufacturers and regulators alike have taken some monumental steps toward making that dream a reality. All of the progress this year set the stage for a busy 2023 in terms of infrastructure, certification, and technological advancements.
“As you all know, 2022 has been a remarkable year for this industry. And in a lot of ways, it's a milestone in the evolution of advanced air mobility,” NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen said during Honeywell's recent Air Mobility Summit held in Washington, D.C. Bolen pointed to a “tremendous number of announcements over the course of the summer, and a lot of excitement as we’re beginning to look forward to a new year."
One of the most notable milestones was the first-ever flight of a fully electric commuter airplane, Eviation’s nine-seat Alice, which made its inaugural test flight in late September. In June, Tier 1 Engineering conducted the first flight of an all-electric Robinson R44 helicopter. Then in October, the fully electric R44 completed its first airport-to-airport flight. Canadian seaplane operator Harbour Air also achieved the first point-to-point flight of an electrically powered de Havilland Beaver in August. These were just a few of the advancements this year.
Transport Canada has issued airworthiness directive CF-2022-68 mandating torque checks and visual inspections on Bell 407 tail booms following the issuance of a similar alert service bulletin (ASB 407-22-128) on December 8 from Bell.
The actions follow calls by the NTSB for such inspections as it continues its investigation of an in-flight tail boom separation on a 407 in Hawaii earlier this year. The 407 is manufactured in Canada and Transport Canada is the original grantor of its type certificate. The checks and inspections must be performed within 25 hours of time-in-service or 30 days, whichever comes first. The effective date is December 29.
Specifically, the AD calls for both tail boom attachment hardware torque checks and visual inspections of sealants on the aft fuselage, and replacement of any hardware that does not meet the torque check along with a repetitive torque check. It also requires the replacement of sealant that does not meet the Bell ASB, and visual inspection of tail boom attachment fittings, aft frames, aft fuselage bulkhead, the aft section of the canted web, tail boom canted bulkhead, and upper and lower tail boom longerons for cracks, dents, loose fasteners, deformation, corrosion, and general condition. Any problems found must be rectified per Bell product support engineering before further flight.
Review: What We’re Reading: 'Fly the Friggin’ Airplane!'
For those who know Patrick Gordon either personally or through his writing (some of which has appeared in the pages of AIN), it won’t be a surprise that he has written a book chronicling his adventures. Sadly, “Fly the Friggin’ Airplane!” is just the first in a series, so we’ll have to wait patiently for the rest of the story. But meanwhile, his first book, with a foreword by Jay Mesinger, is a delightful recap of his youth and how he became a pilot, as well as some of the valuable lessons he learned along the way.
Gordon has the unique ability to be candid about his past while entertaining the reader. During a lie detector test while pursuing a slot in the Army Security Agency, his admitting to “borrowing” a car and a locomotive scored points with the examiner and he was accepted into the program.
The adventures continue, and Gordon keeps the reader entertained to the end and wanting more. But that will have to wait until the next book comes out—hopefully soon.
“Fly the Friggin’ Airplane!” is available as a digital Kindle book from Amazon. For a signed hard copy, send an email with name, address, and country to Luann.storyandsongbookstore@gmail.com.
Nations and their militaries are the customers for fighter aircraft, but the end users are their pilots. So who looks out for their interests and ensures that the technology lives up to the manufacturer’s promises? That responsibility falls to test pilots like Tony Wilson, or Brick as he was known in the U.S. forces.
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