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flight

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

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

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

Qualcomm launches ‘world’s first’ 5G and AI-enabled drone platform

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Qualcomm says it has unleashed “a new era of autonomous drone capabilities” with what it says is the world’s first 5G and AI-enabled drone platform.

The company says its Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform accelerates and scales development for drone manufacturers to deliver powerful, purpose-built enterprise and industrial 5G drones.

Following the success of the Ingenuity Helicopter on Mars as a key breakthrough for unmanned flight powered by the Qualcomm Flight Platform, Qualcomm Technologies continues its drone endeavours by unveiling the world’s first drone platform and reference design to offer both 5G and AI-capabilities, the Qualcomm Flight RB5 5G Platform. [Read more…] about Qualcomm launches ‘world’s first’ 5G and AI-enabled drone platform

Honeywell Aerospace equips newly designed Dassault plane

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Honeywell Aerospace was one of the main technology suppliers for Dassault Aviation on its new, long-range Falcon 10X business jet.

Stevan Slijepcevic, president, electronic solutions, Honeywell Aerospace, says: “Honeywell is proud to equip the new Dassault 10X aircraft with its next-generation Primus Epic technology that brings the safety and situational awareness of the aircraft to an unprecedented level.

“Honeywell and Dassault collaborated since the inception of the 10X development program to create unique Human Factors and Pilot Interface experiences. [Read more…] about Honeywell Aerospace equips newly designed Dassault plane

AeroVironment celebrates historic first powered flight on another world by Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

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AeroVironment, a developer of unmanned aircraft systems, celebrated with its colleagues at NASA/JPL when data confirming the Ingenuity Helicopter’s successful first flight on Mars arrived at approximately 3.50 am PT on April 19.

Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and CEO, says: “AeroVironment is proud to have played a key role in developing the Mars Ingenuity Helicopter and achieving today’s historic first powered flight on another planet.

“We congratulate JPL and NASA on today’s achievement and salute their leadership and vision for deploying unmanned technology to further our understanding of other worlds.” [Read more…] about AeroVironment celebrates historic first powered flight on another world by Mars Ingenuity Helicopter

Giving airplanes new life with new cockpits

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Technology moves at a blistering pace, and what was modern and cool yesterday is outdated today.

That’s where UPS Airlines was with its Airbus A300 freighter aircraft fleet several years ago. The 52 wide-body “browntails,” with an average age of 18 years, have plenty of life left in them.

But the avionics in the cockpit needed a serious upgrade. The current flight management computers (FMC) used for navigation have just 200 kilobytes of storage. That was fine in 1983, when the A300-600 first flew, but nowhere near enough storage now. [Read more…] about Giving airplanes new life with new cockpits

Quaternium and Löweheiser claim ‘new flight record’ with Hybrix drone

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Quaternium has partnered with Löweheiser to achieve what it claims is “a new flight record” of 10 hours 14 minutes with HYBRiX drone. (See video below.)

The inventor of hybrid drones is making history again with an impressive hovering flight of 10 hours and 14 minutes with their world leading fuel-electric multirotor HYBRiX.

For this quest, Quaternium has partnered with the pioneer EFI manufacturer Löweheiser, a company that has designed the smallest fuel injection in the market, specifically optimized for unmanned aircrafts. [Read more…] about Quaternium and Löweheiser claim ‘new flight record’ with Hybrix drone

Honeywell to provide flight control technology for unmanned cargo plane

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Pipistrel has selected Honeywell’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system for the Nuuva V300 cargo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), choosing a modern, lightweight, highly capable system with a proven architecture ideally suited for their autonomous cargo UAV.

Fly-by-wire computers act as the “brains” of an aircraft’s flight controls by operating them electronically and can be found inside nearly all large fixed-wing aircraft today.

The compact version from Honeywell has features derived from decades of expertise in fly-by-wire systems for airliners, but it’s much smaller – roughly the size of a paperback book. [Read more…] about Honeywell to provide flight control technology for unmanned cargo plane

Xwing debuts ‘world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight’ using classic plane

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A startup company called Xwing has completed what it says is the “world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight” using a classic Cessna plane. (See video below.)

Aerospace experts at the company are working with the FAA to unveil pilotless plane technology for short-distance regional air transportation.

Xwing says it has successfully executed numerous passenger-carrying autonomous take-off to landing flights in a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. [Read more…] about Xwing debuts ‘world’s first fully autonomous air cargo flight’ using classic plane