Archer, Air Chathams, Turkish Airlines' great ad & more (The Allplane Newsletter #97)
Electric Aviation
Airbus’ Zephyr solar drone getting close to breaking the flight endurance record. LINK.
Advanced Air Mobility
A fascinating view of the Wisk vs. Archer legal fight and their different approaches to eVTOL development. LINK.
And talking, precisely, about Archer…the eVTOL startup confirmed that United Airlines has made a $10M pre-delivery deposit. Although several airlines have signed MoU with eVTOL producers involving hundreds of aircraft, this is apparently the first time that hard cash changes hands in connection to one such order. LINK.
Bristow ordered 5 eVTOLs + 50 options from Beta Technologies. A bit of diversification of eVTOL investments here at play, since the helicopter operator had previously announced a separate order for 50 VX4s from Vertical Aerospace. LINK.
A peek inside the (projected) Lilium passenger cabin. LINK.
Other interesting stuff in Sustainable Flight
My recap piece on REGENT’s seagliders and how it has found in the airlines of Hawaii some enthusiastic backers of the project. LINK.
What else in aviation?
This is a great Turkish Airlines commercial (and you don’t need to know Turkish to understand it!):
Boeing has resumed B787 deliveries. LINK.
Emirates is investing $2B to upgrade its (already quite impressive) passenger experience. LINK.
Air Chathams of New Zealand retired the last Convairs that were in regular service. Here my look into this topic. LINK.
The 2022 list of new and bankrupt airlines has been updated.