Daher recently celebrated a milestone with the delivery of its 100th TBM 960 aircraft. This high-speed, turboprop-powered member of the TBM family was delivered to Kevin Kaseff, president of Titan Real Estate Investment Group. The handover took place through Avex, Daher’s authorized distributor in Camarillo, California.

Kaseff, whose operations are based near Santa Maria on California's central coast, commented on his choice of aircraft, saying, “The TBM 960 offers the efficiency I was looking for in terms of speed, range, and airport access. And its turboprop engine generates less carbon emissions than a jet.”

The TBM 960 debuted commercially in April 2022. It represents the latest evolution of Daher’s pressurized single-engine turboprop aircraft line. Key components include the PT6E-66XT engine from Pratt & Whitney Canada and a five-blade composite propeller from Hartzell Propeller, integrated with a dual-channel digital engine and propeller electronic control system (EPECS). This system optimizes powerplant performance, reduces pilot workload, and enhances fuel economy, with a reported 10 percent improvement in fuel efficiency at Daher’s recommended cruise setting.

Interior advancements in the TBM 960 include an environmental control system from Enviro Systems, LED ambient lighting, electronically dimmable windows, and enhanced passenger comfort features. It maintains the TBM’s e-copilot functions, such as the icing protection system and the HomeSafe emergency autoland system.

For many, the number of preowned business aircraft transactions may have been down a bit from previous years, but dissecting that statement may seem contrary to the facts of 2023. After all, inventory was up, so there were more choices for buyers. Prices began to soften a bit from pandemic highs, so there was more incentive not to sit on the fence. So the supply side of our industry had a positive spin to it.

Of course, we all continued to feel and suffer from the supply side of deliverables. Longer lead times for goods and inspection slots were real and may still plague us into this next year. We began to learn how not to feel as impacted by the difficulty of finding inspection slots as we had in 2022 and some of 2023.

From our perspective, although aircraft transactions never seem to get easier, they do bring about better outcomes when the frenzy of the transaction tempers down a bit. I had the privilege to speak at several industry events and took the time at each one to talk with more participants than usual. Everyone I spoke with said “hooray” as they recounted the year just past.

2024 is our year. It is ours to grab and hold on to. It is our best line of defense for a headwind.

The Corporate Angel Network (CAN) completed more than 2,000 flights in 2023, reported the nonprofit dedicated to transporting cancer patients to and from treatment via business jets. These are among the 67,000-plus cancer patient flights that the organization has facilitated since its inception 42 years ago.

Founded in 1981, the organization was launched to provide an opportunity for business aircraft operators to volunteer empty seats on their business aircraft to cancer patients seeking treatment. Leonard Greene, founder and former president of Safe Flight Instrument Corp.; Priscilla "Pat" Blum, a licensed commercial pilot; and Jay Weinberg, then owner of a Mt. Vernon, New York Avis Car Rental franchise, brought this vision to life. Now, more than 500 corporations, including half of the Fortune 100 companies, participate in CAN.

CAN brought in nearly $500,000 from its primary fundraiser, the Fund an Angel reception and silent auction, held on October 18 during NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas. Donations came from sponsors, winning auction bidders (and donated auction items), and attendees. The next such event will be held on October 24 during NBAA-BACE 2024.

The NTSB’s final report on a hard-landing accident involving a CASA 212 skydiving airplane on July 29, 2022, noted a “postaccident toxicological finding of mitragynine in the SIC’s liver tissue and urine indicated that he had used a kratom product." The pilot, flying as second-in-command (SIC), died after he fell out of the airplane on the way to Raleigh-Durham International Airport (KRDU) in North Carolina.

According to the NSTB, “Although it is possible that effects of kratom may have contributed to nausea or to some dizziness or perceptual impairment that may have increased his risk of falling, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether effects of the SIC’s kratom use contributed to the accident.”

The pilots diverted to KRDU after the SIC caused damage to the right landing gear during a hard landing near Raeford, North Carolina, after dropping a load of skydivers. After going around and doing a flyby of the airstrip, the pilots were told that the broken right main landing gear was found on the surface.

Kratom is not illegal and it is widely available as an unregulated supplement in the U.S. However, it is “considered disqualifying for pilots under internal FAA policy,” the NTSB noted.

Hermeus completed testing of its first fully integrated vehicle, Quarterhorse Mk 0, a non-flying prototype used as a “dynamic iron bird” for testing subsystems of what would become a hypersonic aircraft.

Mk 0 is one of four test vehicles in the Quarterhorse program, involving the development of a subscale hypersonic aircraft that will test the company’s Chimera engine, reach speeds of Mach 4, and refine concepts for future civil and military hypersonic aircraft.

The iron bird was designed and built in six months and completed test objectives in 37 days, Hermeus reported. These included demonstrating remote command and control taxiing, evaluating radio frequency latency and ground handling qualities of the integrated systems, demonstrating the proper state of the vehicle and flight deck during lost link, and demonstrating human factor evaluations and pilot-in-the-loop steering and controls.

Tests were conducted at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex in Tullahoma, Tennessee, enabling Hermeus to work directly with U.S. Air Force personnel on the project.

Other Quarterhorse vehicles in the works are Mk 1, the first flight-test aircraft slated to take to the skies this year; Mk 2, which will test autonomous supersonic flight; and Mk 3, which will demonstrate turbojet to ramjet mode transition and surpass speeds of the SR-71.

The Quarterhorse testbed will help pave the way for Hermeus' larger Darkhorse hypersonic military vehicle, as well as its 20-passenger Halcyon hypersonic business jet/airliner.

East African operators Safarilink and Yellow Wings Air Services have agreed to convert their Cessna Caravan turboprop singles to the electric propulsion system being developed by Surf Air Mobility and partners. In a memorandums of understanding announced today, the companies did not commit to buying a specific amount of the conversions, but each operates between four and 15 Caravans.

U.S.-based Surf Air intends to be the launch customer for the conversion package, for which it is working to gain an FAA supplemental type certificate (STC). It plans to offer both hybrid-electric and all-electric powertrains, with the latter expected to deliver operating cost savings of between 40 and 50 percent compared with the original aircraft, as well as eliminating carbon dioxide emissions.

To date, Surf Air has been working with electric motor developer MagniX, as well as systems integrator AeroTec. However, it has yet to confirm the supplier for the motor and expects to name two prospective partners in the coming months.

According to Surf Air Mobility CEO Stan Little, electric propulsion will lay the economic foundations for what he expects to be a resurgence in short-haul air travel. The company anticipates that the all-electric version of the Caravan will operate on routes up to roughly 100 miles, which it says is comparable to around 30 percent of current commercial flights with the type.