Month: March 2021

Volocopter published a white paper last week titled “The Roadmap to Scalable Urban Air Mobility” which characterized the requirements for future aerial mobility operations and growth. The release of the white paper is joined by the company’s continuing pledge for readiness of commercial scale (starting small) operations of eVTOLs within 2-3 years. Release of V2.0 follows Volocopter’s release of their first White Paper, which occurred in 2019.

Rendering of the Volocopter Volocity in flight

“Volocopter is leading the pack for implementing urban air mobility internationally. With our VoloCity and chosen go-to-market approach, we can fit into the existing ecosystem well enough to get started in the next 2-3 years,” said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter. “However, in order to subsequently scale our operations in a safe and efficient manner and offer a fantastic experience to our customers, we need to establish a comprehensive and integrated UAM ecosystem. This is what we are doing together with our partners.”

While the focus of the 2019 white paper was largely engineering and systems-based, the second version of the white paper adapts a more holistic view to the ecosystem and supportive infrastructure for successful eVTOL operations and maintenance, real estate development, and customer user interface and experience traits. Additionally, it makes predictions for the relative market share between logistical vs passenger carrying operations in order to determine which should be given more development effort first. In a first for many white papers in the disruptive mobility space, Volocopter places special emphasis on the importance of customer service as the primary determination of recurring revenue from pleased customers.

Volocopter also shared in their white paper how they plan to implement UAM services in cities like Singapore and Paris with a scalable business approach. Some of the special considerations outlined in the paper include:

• The UAM industry is expected to have an €11.3 trillion addressable market by 2035 with a €241 billion market potential. Over half of the market potential lies in passenger mobility (e.g., VoloCity air taxi services), and the rest is covered by logistic-type, cargo services (e.g., VoloDrone services).
• Strong partnerships and an ecosystem strategy will play a pivotal role for entry into the electric air taxi market and will set a precedent for future UAM services – for example partnerships between real estate development companies, airspace integration services, and maintenance and repair operators’ manpower and expertise.
• The most successful approach will put the customer first in all critical areas including safety, infrastructure, aircraft design, air operations, city integration, and acceptance.
• Volocopter supports the high safety standards for air taxis defined by the EASA’s SC-VTOL and the progress with concurrent type certificate validation from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).
• Digitalization and autonomous flight will help decrease prices for air taxi services in the long-term. Volocopter is already underway to ensure that the aircraft produced can fly autonomously and that all various components of the UAM ecosystem can be connected using a digital backbone and platform, VoloIQ.

Why it’s important: Volocopter’s white paper 2.0 reflects the progress made over the past two years towards aerial mobility’s commercial implementation. The discussion has shifted from engineering and design of eVTOL aircraft to infrastructure, maintenance, operation, and customer integration – logical next steps in the design lifecycle which are equally as important if not more so than initial design. Further, the white paper provides stratification for the predicted relative demands between logistical and passenger carrying operations, and outlines considerations for how the progression from piloted operations in 2023 will evolve to completely autonomous operations in 2032.

Read the full white paper here.

Source // Volocopter Press Release

UTM systems, short for ‘Unmanned Traffic Management’ systems, are artificially intelligent softwares that will assist in directing and organizing denser air traffic that will be brought on new aerial mobility vehicles.

Currently, urban air traffic management is completed mainly by humans, but this will be become more difficult in the near future when the number of aerial vehicles vastly increases. To avoid collisions and properly direct traffic according to flight plans, softwaters must be invented that will help to manage this air traffic. Companies like EHang, Boeing’s SkyGrid, and AirMap are already working on these softwares, and governments throughout the world are collaborating with them synchronize airspace regulations and policies.

An example of the kinds of aircraft Altitude Angels hopes to one day manage in Europe

Altitude Angels, a UTM software developer that is already working with drones, is now set to assist with Europe’s new Uspace4UAM program. The program is a large-scale demonstration project for aerial mobility that will tackle issues of operational concepts, regulation and standards, and will “build confidence in a safe and orderly integration of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in every day air traffic”.

According to a recent press release from Altitude Angels, the Uspace4UAM project will study safety cases and their impact on system requirements, and look at how regulation and standardization can be set up to build sustainable aerial transportation businesses cases. A series of multi-national demonstrations, both with drones and urban aerial mobility vehicles will be conducted. They will cover different use cases, including mixed operations, to allow the project runners to understand critical enablers for a wide set of UAM service applications that can be applied across Europe. The project is set to deliver results that are of interest to early movers in eVTOL, enabling them to bring a real market impact in the next few years. It also will produce a number of commercial contracts for the provision of fully automated drone services, and present solutions to identified gaps towards fully autonomous urban air taxi services.

A visualization by NASA of the air traffic that UTM systems of the future will manage

Said Cengiz Ari, one of the leaders of the project, “Urban Air Mobility is going to be a critical part of our long-term roadmap to reduce the rising pressure on our transport infrastructure and to build transport capacity in the third dimension – the sky. We are optimistic that this consortium will contribute to a positive development of the Urban Air Mobility industry in Europe.”

Why it’s important: As aerial mobility begins to grow, governments and cities throughout the world will need to be prepared to manage the increased air traffic that will soon come. Programs like Uspace4UAM project in Europe are an excellent strategic move, as they will allow for many countries throughout the continent to begin preparing early, preventing any potential bottlenecks in the rollout of these services.

Reliable Robotics and Daedalean, a leader in machine learning for safety critical avionics, today revealed their partnership to build advanced navigation and situational awareness (SA) systems for commercial aircraft operations. The proprietary solution enables onboard pilots and remote pilots to make faster, better informed decisions based on the advanced sensors provided by the system. 

“Reliable Robotics has the most credible system for remote piloted operations with immediate applications for cargo operators,” said Dr. Luuk van Dijk, Founder and CEO of Daedalean. “Our team has developed advanced machine learning that can adapt to the inherent uncertainties in airspace and increasing levels of onboard autonomy. Bringing our core competencies together was a logical next step to jointly develop a solution set that makes aircraft safer.”

During their most recent flight tests last month, Reliable Robotics demonstrated pioneering capabilities of their systems by remotely piloting a Cessna 208 Caravan from a control center in their headquarters over 50 miles away. In 2019, the company made aviation history operating a remotely piloted Cessna 172 Skyhawk over a populated region with no one on board, and subsequently demonstrated fully automated landing of the larger Cessna 208 in 2020 on the third day of flight testing. 

Daedalean has developed unrivaled machine learning applications based on comprehensive situational awareness that meet and surpass aviation safety level standards defined by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Their work with EASA examining high performance machine learning algorithms for safety-critical applications resulted in the joint publishing of Concepts of Design Assurance for Neural Networks.

“Both companies have been built on the principle that certification is paramount from day one,” said Robert Rose, Co-founder and CEO of Reliable Robotics. “Daedalean is the recognized leader when it comes to developing machine learning systems within the required regulatory framework. This is not a domain where you build something first and then figure out how to certify it later.”

Advanced navigation and SA systems will reduce pilot workload, are an enabling technology for many types of remote piloting, and provide a clear enhancement beyond existing safety margins. Reliable Robotics and Daedalean are committed to deploying this technology in an incremental manner to enable safer flight operations globally.

Why it matters: Reliable Robotics and Daedalean join a crowded space of businesses focused on making existing airplane platforms remote piloted or fully autonomous. Especially noteworthy is the level of systems maturity in Daedalean’s app and the demonstrated flights in C172 and C208 by Reliable Robotics. If successful, the companies could be well positioned for capturing a share of the UAS market space and help develop technologies of the future for aerial mobility.

Source: Reliable Robotics press release

Textron has formalized their entry into the electric aircraft market with the creation of their newest division: eAviation. Textron’s eAviation has been announced to be headed by Rob Scholl, a long-time senior executive who was previously the senior VP of Sales and Marketing, who will now serve in a senior VP role that will report directly to the chairman and CEO of Textron, Scott Donnelly.

Already well known for producing Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft, eAviation’s role will be a bit of an exploratory one; Scholl’s main role with eAviation was described to be as leveraging the “work across our aerospace and defense businesses to develop new opportunities and take advantage of our fixed-wing and rotorcraft expertise in emerging technologies.” In addition, eAviation under Scholl will also include assembling enterprise talent from throughout Textron, networking to create external partnerships, and ultimately to create a path for further development and application of electric aircraft and related mobility technologies in the global market.

The Bell Nexus, an electric air taxi set to be manufactured by Bell, a subsidiary of Textron. Photograph: Bell Flight

As for eAviation’s stance on aerial mobility, Donelly for now intends to take a cautious approach to the industry, citing concerns with the state of domestic regulations in regards to aerial mobility. “I do think we have to be cautious here in terms of not getting too far out front of a regulatory environment that’s very uncertain to allow that business model to be successful.”

However, Bell Aircraft, a subsidiary of Textron, has been doing work with both manned and unmanned electric aircraft for some time now, most recently with their Nexus air taxi and Autonomous Pod Transport (APT) designs. Bell also established an office on Textron Aviation’s Wichita campus, showing that Textron does hold some interest in establishing a presence in this sector of the market.

Photograph: Bell Flight

Why it’s important: Textron’s move to the electric aviation market will mean several possibilities, from the electrification of some of their most popular Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft to a potential move into the aerial mobility market. In regards to aerial mobility, while they remain cautious for now, a favorable change in the regulatory state for aerial mobility could see Textron making their move into the quickly growing sector.

Source // AIN

JoeBen Bevirt, Founder and CEO of Joby Aviation, and Roei Ganzarski, CEO of magniX and Executive Chairman of Eviation, will serve as co-chairs of the Electric Propulsion and Innovation Committee (EPIC). The committee works to create an environment conducive to efficient design, production, operation and maintenance of hybrid and electric propulsion aircraft, including eVTOLs. This will be Bevirt and Ganzarski’s first time serving on the Executive Committee. Bevirt has been a member of the GAMA Board of Directors since 2018 and Ganzarski has been a member since 2019.

Joby Aviation’s latest eVTOL. Credit // Joby

The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) exists to “foster and advance the general welfare, safety, interests, and activities of the global business and general aviation industry.” This includes promoting a better understanding of general aviation manufacturing, maintenance, repair, and overhaul and the important role these industry segments play in economic growth and opportunity, and in serving the critical transportation needs of communities, companies, and individuals worldwide. The Executive Committee is comprised of members of GAMA’s Board of Directors, who provide strategic leadership for the association and lead its policy committees. The additions to the GAMA Executive Committee were elected by the Board of Directors during its Winter Board Meeting.

Santa Cruz-based company Joby Aviation has raised $910 million and aims to have an electric vertical take-off and landing air taxi service operating by 2024. In late February, Joby announced it will list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in a business combination deal with Reinvent Technology Partners, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Joby is backed by Toyota and Uber Technologies.

Related: Joby Aviation Releases First Footage of Air Taxi Prototype in FlightMeanwhile, Ganzarksi is also executive chairman of electric airplane maker Eviation, whose new regional all-electric airplanes will be powered by MagniX motors. Eviation is setting up a new assembly facility in Arlington, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. Both MagniX and Eviation are part of Clermont Group, owned by Singapore-based billionaire Richard Chandler.

Why it’s important: GAMA has a widespread, global reach with members throughout the world, including in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, and the Middle East. Its members also are world-renowned for their ability to efficiently operate repair stations, fixed based operations, pilot and maintenance training facilities and manage fleets of aircraft. By initiating a relationship with firmly-established companies across the globe, Joby Aviation and magniX are well-situated to expand their products and services once they have been certified and are manufactured at scale for implementation in revenue-generating commercial services. Further, the addition of electric aviation-focused leaders to GAMA’s Executive Committee gives the aerial mobility industry a larger voice in its advancement and integration in to general aviation.

Sources // GAMA; Puget Sound Business Journal

VerdeGo Aero announced the specifications and design for its new hybrid-electric genset for electric aircraft last week, dubbed the VH-3-185.

The VH-3-185 is VerdeGo’s third generation hybrid-electric hardware, and is the first generation of hardware slated for use in air taxis and commercial grade electric aircraft. The VH-3 enables airframers to design electric aircraft that can very efficiently convert jet fuel to electrons, which allows for an increased number of use cases when entire mission energy requirements profiles are considered.

The VH-3-185 core hybrid unit is a tightly integrated powerplant that includes the engine, generator/motor, power electronics, and cooling systems. With 185kW of output and the ability to be installed alone, in pairs, and with a battery pack, this system can be configured to deliver peak burst power up to 1MW and
continuous power up to 370kW.

The VerdeGo team with their “iron bird” test rig. Image // VerdeGo Aero

The diesel engine inside the VH-3 is an exclusive variant of the certified SMA SR-305 that is
developed for VerdeGo’s hybrid systems. The VH-3’s diesel-hybrid architecture is compatible with
globally-available jet fuel or biofuel substitutes. This configuration provides compatibility with
existing fuel infrastructure and eliminates landing pad delays inherent with electric charging. In many cases, hybrid aircraft using the VH-3 can be designed to carry sufficient fuel to operate multiple back-to-back missions, both increasing utilization of the aircraft and eliminating the need for new energy infrastructure altogether at some landing sites. Energy for sequential missions is important since modular batteries may only be available at hubs, whereas outstations would have more minimal infrastructure to support flight operations for air taxis.

VerdeGo asserts that their powerplant significantly lowers operating costs and emissions when compared to typical powerplants for aircraft that the VH-3-185 would power. These would equate to 40% better fuel economy and lower overhaul costs, all while remaining quieter than existing powerplanes. VerdeGo claims that the VH-3-185 typically delivers a 4X to 7X increase in endurance when compared to current batteries while also having lower operating costs “due to the amortized per-flight cost of large, life-limited
battery packs that may need frequent replacement”.

Chief Executive Officer of VerdeGo Eric Bartsch characterized how the powerplant would fit into the timeline of the electrification of aviation: “The VH-3 hybrid system is designed to be compatible with the rationale for electrification, allowing airframers to develop hybrid-electric aircraft with mission capabilities that may not be available for 20 years in the battery-electric market, while enabling compliance with Part 91 or Part 135 energy reserve requirements for safe flight planning.”

VerdeGo shared that the VH-3-185 may be installed in three different configurations, including:

• 185kW of electrical power to arrays of electric propulsion motors and/or onboard battery packs in a series-hybrid architecture
• Directly driving a prop/rotor with up to 185kW of shaft power from the diesel engine in a parallel-hybrid architecture*
• Operating the generator as a motor powered by an onboard battery pack to provide up to
  185kW from the generator in a parallel-hybrid architecture
• Directly driving a prop/rotor with less than 185kW while sending the balance of the power
  from the diesel engine to power distributed electric power arrays, active aerodynamics,
  onboard systems, and/or battery pack
• Operating in “burst power” mode delivering the combined output of the diesel engine and
  the generator (operating as a motor powered by an onboard battery pack) for up to 370kW
  of shaft power

Why it’s important: VerdeGo’s value proposition focuses on ready-made hybrid electric propulsion that will bridge the gap between today’s internal combustion engine technology and tomorrow’s pure electric aviation propulsion. While electrification will likely be the end state of aviation propulsion within the next 50 years, the next step toward becoming fully electric is hybrid propulsion devices. These devices will both leverage the benefits of energy-dense of liquid fuels (such as diesel) and provide the advantages of electric motors in situations that require lower levels of sustained power such as lower noise and better operational efficiency.

After being acquired by regional mobility company Surf Air, and completing several tests of its aircraft in Hawaii and California, Hybrid-Electric aircraft developer Ampaire will now begin flight demonstrations in the U.K.

The upcoming flights in the U.K are part of the new Towards Zero Emissions in Regional Aircraft Operations (2ZERO) program in the country, which has received a £2.4 million ($3.3 million) grant as part of the £30 million funding from the British government for its Future Flight Challenge. Initially, Ampaire will demonstrate its six-seat Electric EEL aircraft (a converted Cessna 337 SkyMaster), and later it will add the 19-seat Eco Otter SX, which is based on the Twin Otter.

Ampaire’s electric aircraft in flight over Hawaii

The 2ZERO consortium also includes several UK-based organizations, including Rolls-Royce Electrical, the University of Nottingham, regional airline Loganair, Exeter and Devon Airports, Cornwall Airport, the Southwest Local Enterprise Partnership, and UK Power Network Services. The goal of the collaboration is to evaluate how new hybrid-electric aircraft can be integrated with existing airport and airline operations, with flight testing at Exeter and Newquay airports in the southwest of England. Some of the partners will also be contributing financially to the program.

Ampaire has already tested the Electric EEL aircraft in Hawaii with local regional carrier Mokulele Airlines. In February, Surf Air Mobility acquired the start-up in a deal worth over $100 million.

Why it’s important: With its latest electric EEL aircraft, Ampaire is breaking records and leading the industry for sustained electric regional flight. Although Ampaire is not currently developing VTOL aircraft, its battery technology both proves out and pushes forward battery technology for electric flight, which will enable this technology for aerial mobility of all kinds, including eVTOL.

Airspeeder has added to its leadership expertise with four key hires in its technical and engineering teams. Airspeeder is the first purpose built eVTOL for racing with its developmental prototype, the Airspeeder Mk3. Races are expected to begin later this year.

Judith Griggs joins as the Global Rights Acquisition and Management Lead and brings 27 years of experience in Formula 1 and experience as the CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation. She hopes to apply her experiences in F1 to realise the potential of electric flying car racing. “The opportunity to help Airspeeder and Alauda shape the world’s first racing series for flying electric cars is irresistible. Airspeeder has the potential to be the most progressive and exciting new entity in sport. It is racing with global vision and authentic technical purpose and I am excited to work with Matt and the team to deliver on this potential through building exceptional relationships with commercial entities and racing bodies.”

Brett Hill will lead the engineering teams developing the Airspeeder Mk3 and Mk4 as the Technical Project Manager. Hill brings key technical leadership expereience from Boeing where he led engineering teams on the 747-8 and 787 programs.

Matt Rodgers joins as the Head of Composites and has experience from Vertical Aerospace as well as racing experience from Williams, Renault F1 and Formula E.

The final hire adds David Wareing as a Lead Systems Engineer. Wareing brings a wealth of knowledge in racing technology and hyper car vehicle systems at McLaren. His systems-based approach to powertrain development and multi-layer redundant architecture maximizes performance of the Airspeeder prototypes.

Commenting on the new appointments, Airspeeder CEO, Matt Pearson said: “Our vision is to accelerate a mobility revolution through intense and safe sporting competition. We know that true innovation requires the world’s best talent to deliver. Attracting exceptional minds drawn from the very highest levels of motoracing, automotive engineering, aerospace and the rapidly emerging eVTOL space will add to an extraordinarily capable team of senior engineers and technical experts that have just delivered the world’s first fully-functional remotely piloted electric flying racing car.”

Why it matters: Airspeeder’s key appointments in various engineering and developmental roles will position itself to identify the market for the future of flying car racing platforms and bring a racing vehicle to market. Airspeeder is one of the few purpose-built racing vehicles in the aerial mobility space and Airspeeder has an opportunity to create a whole new genre in the racing world.

Metro Hop, a company developing a unique concept for an all-electric short take-off and landing aircraft, has received a Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer contract from Agility Prime, the division of the United States Air Force dedicated to developing new aerial mobility and transport technologies.

Metro Hop’s particular concept is unique in that it features a patent-pending ‘Active Landing Gear’ system that can extend and retract automatically to allow for extremely short takeoffs and landings. On takeoff, the landing gear’s wheels are powered by electric motors, which allow the aircraft to taxi and accelerate with speeds similar to an electric car. Combined with acceleration from the propellors, these wheels allow the aircraft to take off within 60 meters. On landing, the aircraft uses li-dar and mechanically driven extendable landing legs to hit the first landing marks perfectly, even if the plane is a little higher or lower than it would need to be without them. This allows the plane to begin braking immediately, and slow down to a stop within 60 meters.

Metro Hop’s ‘Active Landing Gear’ in action, making 60 meter takeoffs and landings.

The ability of this aircraft to take off and land within such a short distance opens up opportunities for entirely new kinds of infrastructure that would allow for efficient fixed wing travel between urban destinations.

With Agility Prime’s Phase I Small Business Technology Transfer contract, Metro Hop is teaming up with Auburn University’s Vehicle Systems, Dynamics, and Design Lab (VSDDL) to model and validate the design of the Active Landing Gear. VSDDL will use its flight simulation facilities and software to model the gear under various conditions during the takeoff and landing phases of flight. After this initial phase of testing is completed, Metro Hop will move forward with construction of a fully operational landing gear set and begin dynamic landing-drop and taxi testing.

Auburn University’s Vehicle Systems, Dynamics, and Design Lab

Dr. Imon Chakraborty, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Auburn University said, “The VSDDL recently developed a reconfigurable flight simulator aimed at novel aircraft configurations and we’re currently developing two more. We look forward to using our capabilities to give us precise measurements of Metro Hop’s flight capabilities and allow us to aggregate essential data on the plane.”

Why it’s important: Support from Agility Prime lends major legitimacy to the Metro Hop project, and backing from the USAF can mean connections, contracts, funding, and more. By awarding Metro Hop this contract, Agility Prime has marked the company as growing leader in the eSTOL field, and has asserted its belief in the potential of this technology.

Jetoptera recently announced that it has received two Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contracts from the US Air Force to facilitate collaboration with the Universities of Notre Dame and Washington. Additionally, the company published the results of a study conducted under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) with the US Army.  This involved comparing noise signatures between the Fluidic Propulsive System (FPS™) and a propeller, and concluded that the FPS™ has a significant and lasting advantage over anything involving propellers and or rotors. With abatement, Jetoptera expects noise levels of 40 dBA at 300m, which would make an FPS™ equipped aircraft almost inaudible, and well out of the reach of propeller approaches.

Jetoptera Personal Drone

For the first USAF contract, Jetoptera has partnered with the University of Notre Dame (Professor Scott Morris) to employ the anechoic wind tunnel in their Turbomachinery Labs and characterize the aero performance and acoustics signature of the FPS™ and compare it to similar thrust propulsors currently employed in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concepts. According to Dr. Andrei Evulet, CEO of Jetoptera, Inc., “we will compare the FPS™ and three other propulsion technologies that are the legacy propulsors for Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) UAVs and UAM vehicles using a similar power supply for each. Having already established our FPS™ lower noise emissions potential versus a propeller under another program, this time we will be using an anechoic chamber and a different measurement system, with the goal of confirming the advantages of the propulsion technology we have invented.”

Jetoptera has also partnered with the University of Washington (Professor Alberto Aliseda) to employ the Kirsten Wind Tunnel to demonstrate feasibility of lift and thrust augmentation by a wing-integrated Fluidic Propulsion System via the Boundary Layer Ingestion and Upper Blown Surface Jet Mechanisms. Our goal is to find the maximum vertical lift produced with this combination and demonstrate that by distributing the FPS™ along a wing we can produce a specific lift force (lbf/hp) similar to a low disk load rotor employed by rotary wing aircraft. “We will investigate and find the optimal architecture for the use of the wing for VTOL in conjunction with the FPS™ and how it could match the performance of a rotor, by using the same power, but without the large, noisy, moving parts,” said Dr. Evulet.

Why it’s important: Jetoptera has demonstrated significant headway in proving that FPS™ is quieter, faster, simpler, more compact and less expensive than a rotor or propeller driven aircraft. Combined with FPS™’ agnosticism to energy sources, it has potential to provide a propulsion solution that addresses noise, safety and performance, which continue to be major challenges in unmanned and manned aviation. The company also sees its technology to be readily applicable for a range of use cases – medical and humanitarian relief, logistics, general aviation, military, and more.

Source // Jetoptera

Vertical lift Health Usage and Monitoring System (HUMS) creator GPMS announced the closure of their Series A funding round last week with DiamondStream Partners, the lead investor in the round. The closure of Series A funding aims to continue the development and application of GPMS’ Foresight MX tool, which is a predictive maintenance management dashboard and hardware suite intended for application in vertical lift and aerial mobility sectors.

GPMS was founded by Dr. Eric Bechhoefer, an expert in machine condition monitoring. The Foresight MX tool’s predictive analytics help ensure safety, asset reliability and availability. President of GPMS, Jed Kalkstein, characterized how the funds from Series A would be applied to further market development: “We are excited to announce our Series A funding. GPMS has a market-leading solution for complex aircraft, vehicles and rotating equipment where there is a high cost or consequence of unplanned downtime. This funding will help us accelerate our progress in the rotorcraft market and expand to adjacent industries.”

GPMS Foresight MX’s User Interface. Image // GPMS

GPMS’ main value proposition is providing the first true integrated maintenance and aircraft system health monitoring capabilities for helicopters that can easily be installed, has a very light weight, and can actually predict when maintenance may be required, allowing operators to be proactive in their fleet management. Developed and field tested in collaboration with Duke Energy’s aviation department, GPMS holds FAA certifications that enable it to support new aircraft as well as the aftermarket where an estimated 80% of traditional light and medium rotorcraft remain unconnected. 

In a recent press release, GPMS stated that they offer Foresight both directly to operators and through OEM agreements with Bell Flight and others that are currently in stealth mode. 

Since GPMS’ Foresight MX system is a reported 90% lighter (some light monitoring hardware packages weigh less than 10 pounds) and 7X more accurate than traditional monitoring systems, Foresight MX is well-suited for aerial mobility use, where weight and operating efficiency are two key deterministic constraints for the ultimate viability and productivity of the industry. GPMS recently signed an agreement with eVTOL leader BETA Technologies and is in discussion with other market leaders for eVTOLs and drones as well. Company spokesman Andrew Swayze stated that GPMS is actively involved in the aerial mobility industry, and recognizes the future potential for increasing application of HUMS technology in the UAM space in the future.

Brian Flynn, Managing Director at DiamondStream Partners will join GPMS’ Board of Directors. Flynn specified his vision for the future of the partnership: “GPMS’s next generation hardware and software can provide tremendous benefits to safety, reliability, and operations in the current rotorcraft market. Beyond that, the technology underpinning Foresight MX has tremendous potential in other markets.”

Several other industry investors and figures joined the Series A round alongside DiamondStream Partners.

Why it’s important: GPMS’s Foresight MX dashboard and hardware are opportunities for existing vertical lift aircraft and new aerial mobility aircraft alike to capitalize on predictive fleet health monitoring. Since a large component of Foresight MX’s focus is predictive, vertical lift operators and aerial mobility operators would be well suited to employ the tool to realize the benefits of greater dispatch reliability and insights into lagging performance that could be corrected. If GPMS is able to integrate with airframes currently in design “from the ground up”, the ultimate performance of the OEM’s system would be even higher due to the tailor-made integration of aircraft and monitoring.

German eVTOL manufacturer Lilium is reportedly in talks with Qell Special Acquisition Corporation, according to persons involved closely to the matter. Closure of a potential deal that values Lilium at over $2 billion would be another instantiation in a series of announcements including BLADE UAM’s deal with EXPC, Archer (ACIC), and Joby (RTP), all assuming SPAC mergers in order to maximize available capital while massively cutting the risk involved.

While discussions are underway, there is no firm indication of deal proceedings advancing at this time, and if terms do not finalize the discussion could terminate with Lilium being approached by any other number of SPACs poised to make entry into the aerial mobility market.

TransportUP previously reported in February of 2021 on Lilium’s proposed Floridian operations network, an aerial mobility network that would be the result of a joint collaboration between Lilium and Ferrovial SA (construction counterpart) that includes design and build of 10 vertiports.

Qell is led by Barry Engle, a former GM executive. According to SEC filings, the SPAC raised $350 million in a September IPO. The fund stated that investment targets would include next-generation mobility, sustainable industrial technology, and enabling technologies that support development.

Another firm that is unspoken for within the eVTOL space currently is that of New Vista Acquisition Corp (NVSAU), which IPO’ed on February 17th with a $240 million raise slated for investment in the same fields as Qell, with the addition of artificial intelligence and other enabling technologies. Any proposed eVTOL acquisition target of New Vista would be pure speculation at this point, but companies like Lilium would fit the defined scope of the SPAC’s investment strategy. NVSAU Board Member Kirsten Bartouk Touw reported to evtol.com that the focus of the SPAC spans a wider scope than strictly eVTOL manufacturers, and includes companies that are ready to go public.

Why it’s important: 2021 has been a banner year for investment in aerial mobility. Billions of dollars of investment have poured into the industry over the past three months, and additional funds, SPACs, and private investors alike are poised to take advantage of the potential long-term growth and value propositions of aerial mobility as they stake financial commitments toward the industry which still carries a respectable quantity of risk. As further deals close, expect leaders among aerial mobility to more firmly cement their standing among the ranks of other eVTOL companies as they benefit from the increased amount of resources and financing.