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aircraft

Denso and Honeywell to develop electric engine for Lilium Jet

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Denso and Honeywell Aerospace are co-developing an electric motor for the Lilium Jet.

This is the first product developed by Honeywell and Denso since formalizing their alliance, and it marks Denso’s entry into the aerospace market. The two companies will work with Lilium, developer of the first all-electric vertical take-off and landing (“eVTOL”) jet, to integrate the e-motor into Lilium’s aircraft engines.

Electric aircraft are not only quiet and comfortable, but are also more sustainable as they do not emit CO2. As mobility becomes increasingly diversified, air mobility offers potential solutions to prominent transportation issues, such as traffic congestion in urban centers, CO2 emissions and transportation access in less populated areas. [Read more…] about Denso and Honeywell to develop electric engine for Lilium Jet

Autonomous aviation company Xwing expands its air cargo operations to 400 weekly flights

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Autonomous aviation company Xwing is marking what it describes as “significant milestones”, including the expansion of its commercial cargo operations under FAA CFR Part 135 Air Carrier certificate, the addition of FAA CFR Part 145 certificates and “rapid company growth”.

Over the last 12 months, Xwing has more than tripled its team to 180 employees.

Xwing has completed the acquisition of Martinaire Aviation, a Texas-based FAR Part 135 air cargo carrier with over 40 years of experience throughout the United States. [Read more…] about Autonomous aviation company Xwing expands its air cargo operations to 400 weekly flights

Hydroplane highlights its hydrogen fuel cell powerplant development

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Los Angeles-based Hydroplane is participating in the 2022 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE2022) May 23-25, 2022, where it will showcase its work toward a modular hydrogen fuel cell powerplant for aviation and mobile energy storage.

Hydroplane’s large 9m x 9m booth is located in EBACE’s Innovation Zone in the company of the most pioneering future aviation technologies.

Hydroplane CEO Dr Anita Sengupta will also participate in EBACE’s Newsmakers Luncheon on May 23 from 12 to 1.30 pm. She is serving on the “Sustainability – A Flight Plan for the Future” panel, which highlights visionaries making inroads in tomorrow’s sustainable aviation fuels and offsetting solutions. [Read more…] about Hydroplane highlights its hydrogen fuel cell powerplant development

Wisk and Skyports partner to develop infrastructure for autonomous aircraft

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Wisk Aero and Skyports are partnering to integrate autonomous, electric, vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft operations at vertiports and other ground-based infrastructure.

The partnership marks the first collaboration between a vertiport developer-operator and an autonomous eVTOL developer in the US.

Wisk Aero is an advanced air mobility company and developer of an all-electric, self-flying air taxi in the US, while Skyports is a developer and operator of vertiports (landing sites for eVTOL aircraft). [Read more…] about Wisk and Skyports partner to develop infrastructure for autonomous aircraft

Skyryse and Air Methods partner to install new software in medical aircraft

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Skyryse, a transportation technology company, and Air Methods, an American air medical transport company, have agreed a partnership to retrofit more than 400 single-engine helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in the Air Methods fleet with FlightOS, a shared mission to advance further safety measures to protect pilots and patients.

The new Skyryse FlightOS hardware and software stack replaces overly complex and manual flight control systems, allowing pilots to control helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft with a far simpler and safer control interface.

Air Methods has also invested $5 million into Skyryse Series B, bringing the total raised to $205 million, further backing the LA-based company’s automation hardware and software. [Read more…] about Skyryse and Air Methods partner to install new software in medical aircraft

Airbus boss backs hydrogen airplanes as the ‘ultimate solution’

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The CEO of Airbus, currently the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, says he believes hydrogen-powered airplanes are the “ultimate solution” to the unfair criticism of the aerospace industry as a planet-polluting monster.

The World Wildlife Fund says the aviation industry is “one of the fastest-growing sources of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change”, adding that air travel is “currently the most carbon intensive activity an individual can make”.

These things have been true for many decades, but with completely crazy extreme weather systems attacking different parts of the world on an almost weekly basis over the past couple of years, the search for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) has taken on a new urgency. [Read more…] about Airbus boss backs hydrogen airplanes as the ‘ultimate solution’

‘We wrote the playbook’: Michigan reinvents itself as the global capital of autonomous mobility

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The US state of Michigan is reinventing itself as the global capital of autonomous mobility. From opening an air corridor for drones to building a stretch of road on which electric vehicles can charge themselves wirelessly as they move along, the state is creating an ecosystem which could become something of a template for the rest of America.

Michigan is, as most readers will know, the state in which Detroit is located. Detroit, the most populous city in the state, is the historic centre of the modern global automotive industry, or “Motor Town” as it was famously called many decades ago, inspiring the name “Motown” for the even more famous record label.

And while it may have lost some of its industrial status in recent decades, Detroit still provides homes and office space to some of the largest automotive companies in the world: Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz USA, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and a whole range of automotive components, systems and parts manufacturers. [Read more…] about ‘We wrote the playbook’: Michigan reinvents itself as the global capital of autonomous mobility

Applied Automation Technologies wins software contract with leading aircraft manufacturer

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Applied Automation Technologies has secured what it describes as “a major software contract” with a leading North American aircraft manufacturer.

The agreement involves the integration of AAT’s CAPPSNC software to directly interface with controllers on large CNC machines to provide dimensional metrology data for CMM reports, adaptive work offsets, and adaptive tool offsets for 3-5 axis closed-loop manufacturing.

Ray Karadayi, president and CEO of Applied Automation Technologies, says: “This CAPPSNC software is truly Factory 4.0 smart manufacturing technology because it is using metrology information throughout the manufacturing process for adaptive control.” [Read more…] about Applied Automation Technologies wins software contract with leading aircraft manufacturer

Reliable Robotics launches new cargo airline

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Reliable Robotics, a developer of automated aircraft systems, has appointmented David DeRose as director of finance and Lee Tomlinson as director of operations to the company’s fully owned Part 135 airline subsidiary in preparation for commercial cargo flights.

DeRose and Tomlinson join Jeff Drees, director of cargo strategy, to begin cargo services this year.

Reliable Robotics will continue to grow its airline team and operational experience as part of a phased certification approach to bring its Remotely Operated Aircraft System and services to market. [Read more…] about Reliable Robotics launches new cargo airline

Xwing and Textron Aviation to develop autonomous flight

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Xwing, a startup developing autonomy for aviation, has signed a joint development agreement with Textron Aviation.

Under this non-exclusive agreement, Xwing and Textron Aviation, home to the iconic Cessna and Beechcraft brands, can begin to work together to accelerate the seamless integration of autoflight technologies into existing and future aircraft, beginning with the Cessna Grand Caravan.

On the heels of its recent $40 million funding round, $400 million valuation, and completion of the world’s first autonomous gate-to-gate flight of a commercial cargo aircraft, Xwing enters the agreement as a leader in autonomous flight technology. [Read more…] about Xwing and Textron Aviation to develop autonomous flight