Hypersonics research in Spain & much more (The Allplane Newsletter #120)
There’s a new episode of the Allplane podcast!
Omer Bar-Yohay is one of the pioneers of electric aviation, he co-founded Eviation, a company he left last year, and is now president at AutoFlight, a truly interesting eVTOL developer with research and operations spread over three continents.
With Omer we talk about AutoFlight, the points that make it stand out in the very competitive eVTOL space and also, more generally, about what makes the eVTOL market tick. Check it out!
Electric Aviation
Avions Mauboussin has successfully flown a scale model of its Alérion light aircraft. READ.
To learn more about this French electric aviation startup, which takes its name from a 1930s aircraft maker, listen to this podcast we did with its founder, David Gallezot.
Some advances in battery technology from Amprius Technologies, although with some limitations. READ.
Advanced Air Mobility
New eVTOL project presented in the UK, LYTE Aviation. This one aims to fly 40 passengers in an hybrid-electric tilt-rotor propulsion set up. Quite ambitious, to say the least…READ.
French eVTOL startup Ascendance has raised €21M from several French investors to continue developing the ATEA concept. The company is based near Toulouse, the country’s main aerospace hub. READ.
Lockheed Martin’s VC arm invested in REGENT. This project seems to be gathering momentum! READ.
United Airlines and Archer confirmed Chicago as one of the first cities in the US where they intend to launch services (from O’Hare International Airport ot Vertiport Chicago, just west of The Loop). READ.
Here’s a futuristic video about how it could look like:
Hydrogen Aviation
ZeroAvia and Finnish energy company Fortum are going to explore opportunities to bring hydrogen aviation to the Nordics. This is, of course, a region that is at the forefront of clean energy, was we covered in this podcast with Maria Fiskerud, although most of the efforts had been so far directed to electric aviation and SAF.
Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Finnair is buying 750 tons of SAF from Neste. The Finnish SAF producer is a global leader in its field, so I guess this was kind of expected. READ.
And another carrier, Hawaiian Airlines, has also announced a SAF deal. Gevo will provide 50 million gallons of SAF over a period of 5 years to Hawaiian at Californian airports, starting in 2029. The SAF is going to be made in the Midwest out of inedible corn and starch. READ.
Other sustainable aviation news
The World Economic Forum (WEF) and Airports Council Internacional (ACI) will collaborate to position airports energy hubs of the future, for example as centers for distribution of hydrogen and sustainable fuels. READ.
Singapore is launching a S$50M (€35/US$37M) to support projects that help decarbonize aviation. READ.
Wideroe Zero received a grant from the Norwegian Research Council to explore concepts for future air mobility (we had Wideroe Zero’s head, Andreas Aks, here on the podcast!). READ.
What else in aviation?
The new Russian light aircraft, the “Baikal”, which is intended to replace the venerable An-2, looks like is off to a bumpy debut. READ.
Hawkish article by Richard Aboulafia demanding strong measures against China’s aviation industry in case the Asian country joins Russia in its war in Ukraine. READ.
Hypersonic flight startup Destinus is getting support from the Spanish government, through its center for technological development (CDTI). Although based in Switzerland, Destinus cooperates with Spain-based company ITP Aero (until recently linked to Rolls-Royce. READ.
And to learn more about Destinus and hypersonic flight, read this feature on AeroTime too! (this is actually quite an interesting area and may be publishing more stuff about it soon)
Colombian airline Ultra Air has raised some additional funds that allow it to live another day. READ.
Looks like, the ambitious growth plans of airlines in India are going to be backed by the Indian government freezing the number of frequencies assigned to UAE-based carriers. Emirates and other UAE airlines have made a big business out of connecting India to the World, but the Indian government would prefer to see its own country’s airlines take on more a more prominent role in this market. READ.