The Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has granted production organization approval (POA) to Kopter, a milestone that the helicopter manufacturer says will enable it to ramp up production on its light single-engine SH09.
FOCA authorities handed over the production certificate today to Kopter executives at the manufacturer’s facilities in Mollis, Switzerland. FOCA POA team leader for Kopter Urs Frei and national FOC POA coordinator Andreas Boss said the certification demonstrates that Kopter meets the highest aviation standards and possesses the capability, facilities, manpower, resources, and quality assurance to produce and support the SH09.
“We are extremely satisfied to receive this certificate, which acknowledges all the work we’ve done in building a well-performing team and organization,” Kopter COO Jan Nowacki said, calling the POA a key step in its efforts to bring the SHO9 to market.
The POA nod comes as Kopter recently nailed down the design of the helicopter and is working toward certification either later this year or early next year. PS4, its fourth pre-series flight-test helicopter, is anticipated to join the test campaign in the next few months.
POA approval also comes as the Swiss manufacturer is in the throes of being acquired by Leonardo, a transaction that is to close shortly.
AINsight: State of the Bizav Industry
On Wednesday, GAMA held its much anticipated year-end industry shipments press conference in Washington, D.C. New business jet deliveries reached 809 units in 2019, up an impressive 15 percent year-over-year and the industry’s highest collective output since 2009, the first full year after the financial crisis.
Pacing the pack was the Cirrus Vision Jet, with 81 deliveries last year. Other high achievers in the GAMA 2019 business jet shipments report include the Bombardier Challenger 350, Embraer Phenom 300E, Cessna Citation Latitude, and Gulfstream 650/650ER, each with more than 50 shipments to customers in 2019. Based on feedback on next purchase intentions in the 2019 JetNet iQ Surveys, demand for these models is expected to remain robust over the next year.
One of the unspoken topics of interest at the GAMA gathering was the dramatic portfolio shaping underway at Bombardier. With more than 4,800 business jets in the worldwide fleet, Bombardier’s Learjet, Challenger, and Global brands account for more than one in five of all in-service business jets worldwide.
Efforts to reduce Bombardier’s heavy debt loads are succeeding like a surgeon’s scalpel in removing limb after limb from a once-formidable aerospace and rail transportation equipment manufacturer. It remains to be seen how the new, more-focused Bombardier Aviation will fare in the inevitable up-and-down business cycles, although the company is an aggressive competitor.
Spirit Partners with ASX To Develop Mobi-One eVTOL
Airspace Experience Technologies (ASX) is partnering with Spirit AeroSystems to jointly develop its Mobi-One electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. Aerostructures group Spirit will provide support for the startup in design, manufacturing, and type certification work.
Announcing the planned partnership on February 17, ASX also indicated that it intends to launch a Series A funding round in March 2020. The privately-owned company had previously said that it would start the process of finding fresh investment before the end of 2019. At the time, it indicated that it hoped to raise $6 million.
The announcement of the partnership with Spirit gave no indication as to the projected timeline for getting the Mobi-One ready to enter service. Previously, ASX has said that it will have the aircraft certified to start cargo flights in 2023 and passenger-carrying operations in 2024.
Wichita-based Spirit AeroSystems designs and builds aerostructures for various civil and military aircraft manufacturers. The company, which specializes in advanced composite and aluminum manufacturing, has facilities in the U.S., France, the UK, and Malaysia.
Detroit-based ASX was formed in April 2017.
This story comes from the new FutureFlight.aero resource developed by AIN.
Textron Adds G5000 Upgrade for Citation Excel/XLS
Textron Aviation is giving its Cessna Citation Excel and XLS light twins a cockpit refresh with a recent STC for Garmin G5000 avionics retrofit. So far, the Wichita airframer has completed six G5000 retrofits at its service centers.
Approved in July, the STC covers more than 700 Excel and XLS models originally equipped with Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics. “The Citation Excel and XLS family continues to be one of the world’s most popular business jets,” said Textron Aviation senior v-p of customer support Brian Rohloff. “Our customers love the capability of the airplane and when they’re ready for an avionics upgrade, they come to us for peace of mind and the security of an expert OEM installation.”
Incorporating the latest technology and mandates, Textron Aviation said its G5000 upgrade package is competitively priced. Included in the upgrade are the latest in satellite-based navigation, digital flight management, current and future NextGen operational support, and graphical display technologies for enhanced situational awareness.
G5000 is also standard equipment on the Citation Longitude, Latitude, and Sovereign+ business jets.
Presidential Helicopter Maintains Momentum
Sikorsky Aircraft received a contract from the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command’s PMA-274 program office for six more VH-92A helicopters as part of the Presidential Helicopter Replacement Program. The VH-92As are replacing the VH-3Ds and VH-60Ns serving with Marine squadron HMX-1, which provides presidential and associated transport duties using the callsign “Marine One” when the President is aboard.
Valued at $470,813,279, the firm-fixed-price contract modification covers the procurement of Lot II low-rate initial production helicopters, along with six cabin-modification kits and interim contractor support. Sikorsky builds the VH-92As at its Stratford, Connecticut factory, and parent company Lockheed Martin installs the specialist interior and Mission Communications System (MCS) in Owego, New York.
The U.S. Marine Corps program of record covers the procurement of 23 VH-92As, of which 17 are to be mission aircraft. Of the remainder, four are earmarked for training and two for ongoing tests. An initial LRIP Lot I batch of six VH-92As was ordered in June 2019, on course for delivery in 2021. The latest Lot II LRIP batch is to be delivered in 2022, with the remaining five to be procured for 2022/23 delivery.
Bombardier, Gulfstream Bizjets Vie For Collier Trophy
Business jet makers Bombardier and Gulfstream are going head to head on the shortlist for the 2019 Robert J. Collier Trophy for aviation and space achievements. Bombardier’s latest Global 7500 ultra-long-range model is among the nominees announced by the National Aeronautic Association this week, as are Gulfstream’s new G500 and G600.
The shortlist also recognizes two companies pioneering the development of electrically-powered aircraft. Startup eVTOL aircraft developer Kitty Hawk is nominated for its two-seat Heaviside personal air vehicle, which the company says will be 100 times quieter than existing helicopters. Electric motor specialist Magnix is in contention for its Magni500 propulsion system, which is in service on a de Havilland Beaver seaplane operated by Vancouver-based Harbour Air.
The other 2019 nominees for the Collier Trophy are the airborne collision avoidance system team, the Hubble Space Telescope Team, the Stratolaunch carrier aircraft, the U.S. Air Force-Boeing X-37B orbital test vehicle team, and the unmanned aircraft systems traffic management team.
The award winner will be announced on April 3, followed by a presentation on June 11.
Collins Aerospace Expanding Across Landing Systems
Collins Aerospace Systems held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday for a 110,000-sq-ft landing systems facility outside Haltom City, Texas, near Fort Worth. The facility, which will generate 40 new jobs, will manufacture landing gear for military aircraft, as well as provide wheel and brake maintenance for airliners.
The facility is part of a $255 million investment that Collins Aerospace is pouring into expansion at several of its Landing Systems facilities. This also includes its carbon brake manufacturing sites in Spokane, Washington, and Pueblo, Colorado. Collectively, they produce brake or landing gear components across the gamut of military, business, and commercial operations.
In Fort Worth, Collins Aerospace has provided military landing gear MRO for the past eight years. The latest facility, however, will enable the company to increase its operations by 30 percent. In Spokane, the company is planning a $145 million expansion to increase its carbon brake manufacturing facility by 50 percent. That will encompass an additional 75,000 sq ft across three new buildings. Work is set to begin in 2021 and spur the addition of 50 new jobs. Collins Aerospace also has been in the midst of a multi-year $80 million expansion in Pueblo, Colorado, that is slated for completion in 2021. Some 40,000 sq ft has been added to that carbon brake manufacturing site.
Volocopter’s eVTOL Plans Boosted by $113M Investment
Logistics group DB Schenker is investing €87 million ($113 million) in eVTOL aircraft developer Volocopter as part of its Series C funding round. The move, announced on February 21, takes the total raised by the German company to €122 million ($159 million).
Volocopter is developing the two-seat, autonomously operated VoloCity aircraft, which it says will complete type certification by the end of 2022 or early in 2023. The company intends to operate aircraft itself on urban routes of up around 22 miles and at speeds of up to 69 mph. It is also developing a cargo-carrying version called the VoloDrone.
Other new investors include Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group, MS&AD Ventures, and Translink Capital (including Japan Airlines and Sompo Japan Insurance). Existing investor Lukasz Gadowski and European venture capital group Btov also supported the current funding round.
With the closing of the Series C funding round, Volocopter announced the appointment of several new members to its advisory board. These include DB Schenker CEO Jochen Thewes; Yifan Li, vice president of Geely Holding Group Company; former Daimler group CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche; and, CAS Software founder Martin Hubschneider. Chinese automotive group Geely and its German subsidiary Daimler invested in the Series A funding round.
It is always so difficult to lose one of your own, and all of us here at AIN are heartbroken by the untimely death of Carmela Pedicini, 21, who passed away on Monday as a result of injuries sustained in a serious automobile accident in southern Brazil.
Carmela had been a regular part of the AIN team since 2014 when, as a high school student, she translated our LABACE Convention News issues into Portuguese. The following year, 2015, Carmela became our lead production liaison in South America, handling all production-related functions of AIN’s LABACE Convention News, an impressive accomplishment. Later, she was entrusted with similar responsibility for AIN’s EBACE Convention News, a role that brought her to Geneva and allowed her to enjoy her passion for travel.
Carmela was—pure and simple—a total joy to be around. With her infectious positive attitude, she brightened up any situation she entered. Her focus, dedication, determination—and result-oriented successes—were remarkable for a person of her young age.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to AIN South America correspondent Richard Pedicini and his wife, Graca de Andrade, and the many, many friends and associates who will miss Carmela greatly. Carmela brought joy and inspiration to anyone she interacted with, which included so many of the AIN staff. She is already terribly missed.
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