Results for: ampaire

Ampaire, a company developing a fleet of hybrid-electric propulsion aircraft, has received an order from Azul’s Conecta regional airline in South Brazil. Conecta currently serves over 84 destinations in the country.

Ampaire’s current line of aircraft includes converted Cessna Grand Caravans, which it retrofits with hybrid-electric propulsion powertrains to create it’s ‘Eco-Caravan‘ Aircraft.

The regional Brazilian Airline Conecta already operates a fleet of 27 Grand Caravans. Through the partnership, Ampaire will upgrade six of these aircraft to ‘Eco-Caravans’ with hybrid-electric propulsion.

This work will include converting Conecta’s Caravans to hybrid-electric propulsion by installing Ampaire’s  AMP-H570 hybrid-electric powertrain and battery pack. With this purchase, Conecta hopes to lower operating costs on its fleet by 25% or more, as well as meet its newest sustainability goals.

Notably, Conecta is a regional subsidiary of Brazil’s largest airline, Azul. Azul’s passengers may use Conecta aircraft for shorter-distance regional flights.

“We are thrilled to work with the visionary team at Azul Conecta,” said Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker. “They are among a group of established air carriers ready to embrace a hybrid-electric solution, providing leadership for an entire industry.”

Said Flavio Costa, Azul Conecta´s CEO, “After evaluating a range of technologies, including fully-electric and hydrogen fuel cells, we concluded that Ampaire moves us toward our ESG goals much sooner. Azul Conecta has innovation as a mission and sees the upgrade to the Eco Caravan as a major innovation that accelerates our path to sustainability, maintaining a safety standard in our operations, which is our first and non-negotiable value.”

In addition, Azul will also work in consultation with Ampaire to develop electric aircraft charging infrastructure  across Conecta bases and at other airports.

The Azul Conecta order follows the first flight of the Eco Caravan in November 2022 and the announcement days later of a $9 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy to help Ampaire advance systems so that they are ready for FAA certification and series production.

Why it’s Important: This announcement marks one of the first purchases by a major airline for hybrid-electric aircraft. By upgrading its aircraft to hybrid-electric propulsions through Ampaire, Conecta has the potential to significantly reduce operating costs, and initiate a major change in the regional airline industry. As the developments of these aircraft and partnerships begin to grow, we may soon see hybrid-propulsion entering service on larger fixed-wing aircraft as well.

Ampaire has won a $150,000 Phase 1 award from NASA under its Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. The award is for the High Efficiency Powertrain for Hybrid Aircraft (HEPHA) project. The new AMP Drive AMP-H270 Configuration for smaller aircraft features distributive propulsion technology and can serve multiple markets.

The Phase 1 award will fund sizing, architecture and other analytical studies over six months as a prelude to a potential Phase 2 award that would fund the system’s installation and testing on Ampaire’s Cessna Skymaster testbed aircraft, the ARPA-E Bird. This aircraft has also been used for previous research by the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E advanced programs unit. It will play a role in a $9 million ARPA-E SCALEUP award announced November 22, 2022 to mature individual systems that will eventually be certified on Ampaire’s nine-passenger, hybrid-electric Eco Caravan.

“These wins from NASA and the DOE recognize Ampaire’s leadership in electrified aviation. They also recognize the near-term potential to field hybrid-electric aircraft that will revolutionize aviation by lowering emissions and the cost of travel,” said Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker.

Under the new NASA SBIR program, the ARPA-E Bird would be equipped with a hybrid propulsion drivetrain in the nose and an electric drive system in the rear for a multi-mode hybrid system.  Ultimately, the system could be certified for light aircraft or used as part of larger power systems on regional aircraft and even transport category single-aisle jets.

The new AMP Drive AMP-H270 powertrain is a 270 kW system that has about half the power output of the AMP-H570 system that powers the Eco Caravan. The new drive system combines an ultra-efficient DHK180A4 compression ignition engine from DeltaHawk Engines of Racine, WI with an integrated electrical drive designed by Ampaire. The DeltaHawk engine runs on Jet-A and compatible sustainable aviation fuels. The Ampaire solution for the testbed aircraft provides a 45 percent cruise efficiency gain over the conventional combustion engines it replaces and double the efficiency of comparable gas turbines.

Why it’s important: Ampaire’s award from NASA underscores that importance of their hybrid-electric propulsion research and also the growing sentiment of the advantages of hybrid-electric powertrains as a bridge between current existing technologies and fully electric aircraft. The research being done at Ampaire will directly apply to their aircraft in the near-term, and help to accelerate learnings of electric powertrains in operation in various aviation arenas.

Ampaire, a leader in hybrid-electric aviation, has received a firm order for 25 Eco Caravans from MONTE, a financier of sustainable regional aviation technologies. The agreement also includes an option for an additional 25 Eco Caravan order and codifies the parties’ Preferred Partner relationship.

“MONTE is looking to build a fleet of low emission and zero emission aircraft to lease or finance for regional aircraft operators worldwide. Ampaire has emerged as the leading hybrid-electric technology provider. Its Eco Caravan will be very attractive for a segment of our operators, thanks to its wide performance envelope and ability to operate without ground charging infrastructure where necessary,” according to MONTE’s Investment Director, Timothy Eyre.

The Eco Caravan is a hybrid-electric upgrade of the Cessna Grand Caravan. The Eco Caravan can reduce fuel and emissions as much as 70 percent on shorter trips and 50 percent on longer ones, while preserving payload capability and extending range. When flown on sustainable aviation fuel, it is effectively carbon neutral. The Eco Caravan’s operating cost is 25 to 40 percent lower than the Cessna Grand Caravan depending on the type of missions flown. The aircraft can recharge its batteries in flight, meaning it can use any airport that Caravans fly from today, regardless of ground charging capability.

In July of this year, Ampaire’s EEL hybrid-electric aircraft demonstrator completed a 1,125 mile flight from Los Angeles to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which was the longest nonstop flight ever made by a hybrid-electric aircraft. Upon arrival, it was positioned on display at EAA AirVenture’s most prominent location—Boeing Plaza.

Related:

• Air France Industries Partners with Ampaire to Advance Electric Aviation Infrastructure – Oct 2022
• WingTips Orders Five of Ampaire’s Hybrid-Electric Grand Caravan Aircraft, Options for 20 More – Aug 2022

“The Eco Caravan is our starting point for a revolution in air travel,” said Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker. “It brings cost per available seat mile down to the range of driving, benefiting operators and their passengers. It dramatically shrinks the aircraft’s carbon footprint. The propulsion technology is scalable and we intend to quickly move toward larger regional aircraft and even the single-aisle jet market over time.”

The nine-passenger Eco Caravan is undergoing ground power tests and will fly later this year. It is the first hybrid-electric aircraft to enter the certification process with the FAA. A supplemental type certification for the upgraded aircraft is expected in 2024. It will therefore offer the earliest opportunity for regional carriers to fly in the most sustainable way possible.

Why it’s important: By upgrading existing passenger aircraft to hybrid-electric power, Ampaire is arguably employing the quickest, most efficient approach to making commercial electric air travel a reality with available technology. This order from MONTE supplements other recent orders for the hybrid-electric aircraft and confirms the strong interest that many commercial operators have in the new technology. MONTE has a goal of becoming the first carbon neutral aircraft leasing company in the world by 2027, and by choosing Ampaire, the company conveys that it believes the Eco Caravan will be the first available aircraft to achieve this goal.

Source // Ampaire press release

Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ampaire, a company developing a family of hybrid-electric aircraft, to develop global resources for electric aircraft support and advancement.

Above: Ampaire’s proof of concept aircraft, which already set the record for the longest ever flight by a hybrid-electric aircraft at 1,075 miles

Ampaire has been developing electric and hybrid-electric aircraft concepts since its formation in 2016, with the mission to become the world’s most-trusted developer of practical electric aircraft. Currently, the company is in the process of certifying its nine-seat, hybrid-electric Eco Caravan, with an introduction to service planned for 2024, and plans to next create a larger 19-passenger aircraft.

In Ampaire’s new partnership with Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, the two companies will work together to create global resources for electric aircraft support and development. These will include electric aircraft maintenance training programs, Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) upgrades, and potential component pooling and operational data analysis to ensure optimal support.

Said Kevin Noertker, founder Ampaire and CEO of Ampaire, “Ampaire and AFI KLM E&M will work together to explore maintenance support for game-changing low-emissions aircraft on a worldwide basis. AFI KLM E&M’s powerful global network and strong expertise will give operators everywhere high technical confidence in new propulsion systems. These systems will also provide optimized maintenance costs compared to conventional turbines.”

For Air France Industries KLM Engineering & Maintenance, the goal of the program is to make AFI KLM E&M a preferred global preferred partner for electric aircraft maintenance and training. Said Ton Dortmans, EVP KLM Engineering & Maintenance, “This MoU anticipates a future with expanded new ways of air transportation options hand-in-hand with lower emissions. We have chosen to collaborate with Ampaire because their approach is visionary and also extremely methodical and practical, which means these beneficial technologies can be already introduced in the very near future.”

The companies are also planning to collaborate on STC installations of Ampaire’s hybrid-electric upgrades through the airline’s global MRO network.

Why it’s important: With this announcement, Air France industries joins the growing number of major airlines investing in electric aviation. By forming this partnership early, AFI KLM E&M has signaled its belief that Ampaire will become a major electric aircraft provider, and has begun laying groundwork to make itself one of the world’s top providers in electric aircraft maintenance and support globally.

Source // Ampaire

Related:

• Delta and Joby to Partner for Seamless Home-to-Airport Transportation (October 2022)
• WingTips Orders Five of Ampaire’s Hybrid-Electric Grand Caravan Aircraft, Options for 20 More (August 2022)
• Ampaire to Collaborate with Black & Veatch on Electric Aircraft Infrastructure (June 2022)

WingTips, a California-based aerial mobility provider, has announced a firm order for 5 of Ampaire’s hybrid-electric propulsion Eco Caravan fixed-wing aircraft, with options for 20 more and expansion plans for around 175 total aircraft.

Above: Rendering of Ampaire’s Eco Caravan, able to carry up to 9 passengers and operate without electric charging infrastructure

Ampaire’s Eco Caravan is based on the Cessna Grand Caravan, retrofitting a hybrid-electric propulsion system onto the original Cessna 208B Grand Caravan body. With this adaptation, the aircraft is able to offer fuel savings of up to 70% on short-hop routes and over 50% on long-haul flights, while still carrying 9 passengers or 2500 lbs of cargo for up to 800 miles per flight.

The Eco-Caravan’s extreme fuel savings over traditional combustion aircraft has made it an excellent option for WingTips, a regional air charter company currently growing and operating in California, Arizona, and Nevada. According to a recent press release, WingTips plans to to use these new aircraft on regional routes of 100 to 400 statute miles, flying from general aviation airports.

WingTips, recently seeking to modernize its business with services, uses artificial intelligence to offer individual seats to on-demand charter passengers, as well as utilizing advanced floating fleet algorithms to optimize fleet usage according to customer demands. Essentially, this means that unlike airlines which have fixed schedules, WingTips offers flights that aggregate customer requests to find the best flight times and routes.

Above: A Cessna Eco Caravan being constructed and tested at Ampaire facilities.

WingTips hopes to utilize the Eco Caravan to both lower costs and expand its flight offerings. Said WingTips founder and CEO Mike Azzarello, “The Eco Caravan will redefine operating cost through its extreme efficiency. Our objective is to close the gap with the cost of driving while cutting travel time up to 75 percent. Working with Ampaire, we’ll be able to achieve this in a sustainable way. The Eco-Caravan operates within existing airport infrastructure, putting us years ahead of competitors that need major infrastructure investment in order to operate.”

Notably, Ampaire has already flight tested a smaller proof-of-concept aircraft, at one point using it to fly the longest route to date for an aircraft powered partially by electric propulsion. With many flight tests performed using this aircraft, named the ‘EEL‘, Ampaire has gained the expertise it needs to advance to larger aircraft. Currently, the company has plans to create aircraft that can carry up to 19 passengers or more.

Said Ampaire CEO Kevin Noertker, “Ampaire and WingTips share a vision of reducing the cost and increasing the convenience of regional air travel while addressing a major source of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The starting point for moving toward zero emissions is with low-emission hybrid-electric aircraft such as the Eco Caravan.”

Above: Tail-end photo of the Ampaire Eco Caravan

Why it’s important: By significantly lowering the fuel and operating costs of these regional fixed-wing aircraft, companies like WingTips and Ampaire can change the industry for short to medium distance transportation. As vehicles like the Eco Caravan continue to lower prices closer to those of traveling by car, demand for this regional transportation will grow immensely, creating excellent opportunities for both new companies to form and middle-tier companies to expand. Together, these innovations should make on-demand regional air travel a more common part of many people’s lives.

Source // Ampaire

Related:

• Ampaire to Collaborate with Black & Veatch on Electric Aircraft Infrastructure (June 2022)
• Ampaire Will Complete Hybrid-Electric Flight Testing in the UK (March 2021)
• Ampaire Flies Longest Route to Date for an Electric Aircraft (November 2022)

Black & Veatch – a leader in sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and transportation electrification – and Ampaire announced on Monday that they’ll collaborate on developing airport electrification that supports the electric aircraft requirements of the future.

The partnership between Black & Veatch and Ampaire was disclosed via press release Monday, and is quoted to “work to identify and evaluate opportunities to plan, engineer and construct infrastructure for electric air mobility at airports, working with early adopters in the Americas, Europe and Asia”.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding that will focus globally on creating reliable, clean-energy-powered charging and sustainable aviation fueling supply at a growing number of airports. The MoU also includes provisions for leveraging solar, energy storage and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply chain development. The initiative seeks to include a broad range of air and ground side stakeholders who will benefit from shared infrastructure and Black & Veatch’s deep knowledge of power and communications infrastructure applied to this innovative industry sector. 

“Governments, companies and communities around the world are making lowering their carbon footprints a priority, and the transportation sector is helping accelerate positive change,” added Paul Stith, Black & Veatch’s associate vice president of global transportation initiatives. “Decarbonization of aviation is challenging and requires technology and collaboration. Tackling emissions with concurrent SAF and electrification strategies offers a shining example of what’s possible in doing things cleaner and greener, and we’re excited about working with Ampaire to reshape tomorrow’s air mobility through infrastructure and innovation.” 

Ampaire has helped to lead the charge of electrified regional aircraft, among other companies such as Eviation and VoltAero. Ampaire’s modified Cessna 337 Skymaster completed a 481 miles nonstop flight from Perth, Scotland, to Exeter in southwest England in August 2021 with its “Electric EEL” aircraft. The aircraft was modified with hybrid-electric propulsion, and is cited by Ampaire as longest flight by a commercial-sized, hybrid-electric aircraft to date.

The promise of electrified air mobility continues to grow, given the environmental benefits, their reduced fuel requirements and maintenance costs, and the sector’s lesser reliance on traditional fuels prone to price and supply fluctuations. While electrification carries vast potential in unleashing a new mobility market, expanding the industry rests significantly on deploying more charging and servicing infrastructure.

Why it’s important: The partnership between Ampaire and Black & Veatch will allow for quicker progress toward a network of charging and charging support installations that give operators of electric regional and short haul aircraft the access required to efficiently turn airplanes to support multiple flights per day. These sorts of infrastructure projects would then be able to support longer journeys as well, such as BETA Technology’s recent flight of their ALIA aircraft that spanned over 1,400 miles in 7 days. With more advanced charging infrastructure, or modular, replaceable batteries, these types of journeys could be significantly shortened in duration as down time on the ground is significantly reduced.

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.

Surf Air Mobility, a new developmental department of regional air mobility provider Surf Air, has now acquired aviation hybrid-electric power train developer Ampaire shortly after the company set a record for the longest route to date with an electric aircraft. With this acquisition, Surf Air Mobility, formed in 2020, looks to improve “affordability, accessibility, and environmental footprint of regional travel”.

Surf Air Mobility was recently formed after Surf Air, a short-haul flight service provider, acquired Blackbird, an aviation marketplace that provides passengers the option of chartering private flights. Soon after being formed, Surf Air Mobility acquired a $200 million USD investment from Global Emerging Markets Group in order to go public. Now, Surf Air Mobility looks to provide an (eventually electric) alternative to driving or flying on commercial airlines for trips of 50-500 miles.

According to Surf Air Mobility co-founder and CEO Sudhin Shahani, “We see the near-term opportunity to transform existing turboprop aircraft across the entire industry as the first step to ultimately extend to fully electric aviation across all trip lengths.”

The Ampaire Electric EEL prototype, capable of flying up over 300 statute miles

Before the acquisition, Ampaire was working on developing hybrid-electric power trains for 9-19 seat piston and turboprop aircraft, currently possessing two propulsion testbeds from a modified Cessna 337 Skymaster. Additionally, Ampaire is now developing a megawatt-class, hybrid-electric propulsion conversion for the 19-seat twin-turboprop de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.

According to Ampaire co-founder and CEO Kevin Noertker, “The same building blocks of the electrified power train from the Twin Otter can be applied to other turboprops in the Part 23 category, for example the Cessna Caravan. We’ll continue working on both.”
With the reduced direct operating costs of hybrid-electric aircraft, Surf Air Mobility will be “able to create a new kind of point-to-point network that opens up previously untenable markets with more direct connections,” says President Fred Reid. “With half of all U.S. flights 500 mi. or less, hybrid-electric technology will have an immediate and broad-reaching impact.”

Why it’s important: Surf Air Mobility’s acquisition of Ampaire will align Ampaire closer with aircraft operators to streamline development and deployment of their electric aircraft. According to the company, it will also enable Ampaire to address a wider range of aircraft for upgrade.
Source // Aviation Week Network

Ampaire is a Los Angeles-based company whose mission is to be the world’s most trusted developer of practical and compelling electric aircraft. To start, the company is retrofitting existing passenger aircraft to electric power – the quickest and most capital efficient approach to making commercial electric air travel a reality. Ampaire flew the largest hybrid electric aircraft at the time in May 2019, and they have recently accomplished the longest flight to date for any commercially relevant aircraft employing electric propulsion, in this case a hybrid-electric propulsion system.

Ampaire’s Electric EEL, a six-seat Cessna 337 twin-engine aircraft modified with an electric motor in the nose and traditional combustion engine in the rear, took off from Camarillo Airport just north of Los Angeles at 12:20 PM. Test pilot Justin Gillen and Flight Test Engineer Russell Newman, flew up California’s Central Valley at 8,500 feet, landing at Hayward Executive Airport at 02:52 PM. Straight line distance was 292 statute miles, and the route as flown 341 statute miles.

Speed during the cruise portion of the 2 hour, 32-minute flight averaged around 135 mph. “The mission was a quite normal cross-country flight that we could imagine electrified aircraft making every day just a few years from now,” Gillen said.

This milestone in electric aviation took place after four weeks of flight testing in the Camarillo area for this second Electric EEL test aircraft, which first flew on September 10th. In that period, the aircraft flew over 30 hours during 23 flights, in 28 days, with 100% dispatch reliability. “Our success in taking this aircraft in a short period from the test environment to the normal, everyday operating environment is a testament to our development and test organization, and to the systems maturity we have achieved with our second aircraft,” said Ampaire General Manager Doug Shane. A former president of Scaled Composites, Shane is one of the world’s foremost experts on the development and flight testing of new aviation concepts.

The EEL flown to Hayward is dubbed the Hawaiʻi Bird, as it will take part later this year in a series of demonstration flights with Hawaiʻi-based Mokulele Airlines on its short-haul routes. The flight trials with Mokulele will not only demonstrate the capabilities of the EEL but will help to define the infrastructure required for wide adoption of electric aviation by airlines and airports. These flight demonstrations will mark the first time an electrically-powered aircraft has flown under an FAA “Market Survey” experimental aircraft certificate in order to gain real-world flight experience.

In Hayward, the aircraft will be partially disassembled for shipment to Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiʻi flight trials are funded in part by Elemental Excelerator, a global climate-tech accelerator based in Honolulu.

The Electric EEL can generate fuel and emissions savings up to 50 percent on shorter regional routes where the aircraft’s electrical propulsion unit can be run at high power settings, and generate savings of about 30 percent on longer regional routes such as the Camarillo to Hayward flight.

“The Electric EEL is our first step in pioneering new electric aircraft designs,” said Ampaire CEO Noertker. “Our next step will likely be a 19-seat hybrid electric retrofit program that will lower emissions and operating costs, benefiting regional carriers, their passengers and their communities.” Ampaire, with funding from NASA and others, is in the midst of design studies for such an aircraft based on the popular de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft. Ampaire has named the hybrid-electric 19-seater aircraft the Eco Otter SX.

Why it’s important: Ampaire’s strategic approach to retrofitting existing aircraft has allowed the company to rapidly progress in the development of its propulsion technology and demonstrate the potential for making commercial electric air travel a reality. The Los Angeles-based startup has achieved so in the most capital-efficient manner, and is well-positioned to continue its progress given its current partnerships and funding. As said by Ampaire General Manager Doug Shane, “the ability to put innovative electric technologies into the air rapidly in order to assess and refine them is central to Ampaire’s strategy to introduce low-emissions aircraft for regional airlines and charter operators within just a few years.”

Related: Ampaire To Electrify Caravan, Twin Otter

Source // Ampaire press release

Ampaire is currently the developer of the highest capacity hybrid-electric aircraft ever flown. Last month, after the company’s successful flight of its hybridized Cessna 337 Skymaster, it announced a partnership with Personal Airline Exchange (PAX) which included an order for 50 Ampaire EEL Electric Aircraft. Mokulele Airlines on Maui has also taken interest in the EEL, and both airlines plan on offering passenger service late this year in Hawaii.

Just this week, Ampaire announced plans to bring hybrid-electric power to more models of existing aircraft, including the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan and Viking Twin Otter:

Cessna 208B Grand Caravan – Cessna’s largest single-engine airplane ever built, it has a range of 1232 miles and can carry up to 14 passengers. Photo // Swissphoto

Additionally, Ampaire has announced intentions to add a diesel-hybrid retrofit option for piston-powered aircraft. Company CEO Kevin Noertker said his company’s engine conversions cut fuel consumption by between 70 to 90 percent, reduce maintenance expense by 20 to 50 percent, and produce significantly quieter aircraft. According to Noertker, Ampaire currently holds contracts with the U.S. Air Force and NASA, and has received an investment from aircraft engine-maker Continental, in addition to the order for 50 EELs by PAX.

Noertker has said the market for bringing hybrid electric power to commuter aircraft could be worth more than $4 billion, noting that Norway has already set a goal of mandating all-electric aircraft on in-country flights of less than 90 minutes.

Viking Twin Otter – Originally a bush plane, the small commuter has a range of 887 miles and can carry up to 19 passengers. Photo // Aviation Tribune

Ampaire, while still waiting for certification, is well on its way to production in order to fulfill its backlog currently valued at $70 million. “Ampaire’s Electric EEL pre-production prototype is flying right now and performing beautifully,” said Noertker. “We look forward to operators being able to share the thrill of flying electric.”

See our previous article on Ampaire where you can find a clip of the Ampaire EEL in flight.

Why it’s important: Ampaire has chosen to specialize in engine conversions and leave airframe design and manufacturing other companies that have been perfecting these efforts for decades. This has allowed Ampaire to move both quickly and successfully in the electric aviation industry, which is evident by its flying prototype, fundraising success, and order backlog.

Sources // AINonline; Ampaire

Beta Technologies announced recently that they will enhance their focus on the development and certification of a conventional configuration electric aircraft. Beta is labeling the configuration as an eCTOL aircraft (electric conventional takeoff/landing).

The company has been flight testing a conventional fixed-wing version of its eVTOL prototype, which will now become the company’s certification candidate. The aircraft, called CX300, will generate lift from its wings rather than lifting propellers and has already generated orders from the cargo, medical, and defense sectors.

“We continue to progress our ALIA eVTOL design through certification, in harmony with the eCTOL program,” BETA Technologies Founder and CEO Kyle Clark said. “The two aircraft are common in their design, allowing us to economize validation of our high-performance solutions. With the eCTOL aircraft launch, we have further de-risked our path to commercialization and concurrently provide lower cost, more utility, and optionality to operators. This has given us the confidence to industrialize and invest heavily in production at scale over the last year.”

Beta intends to have the CX300 fully certified and ready for delivery by 2025. The company will continue development and certification efforts of its ALIA-250 eVTOL which will be closely based on the design of the CX300.

The company states that manufacturing will begin at the new South Burlington production facility this summer.

Why it matters: Amid regulatory churn and uncertainty over the future market demand and infrastructure required to support the eVTOL space, manufacturers like Beta are taking a middle ground on the innovation curve. By maintaining a conventional fixed wing configuration, operators can take fully advantage of the cost savings from the implantation of an electric aircraft for commercialization, while developers still pursue eVTOL models simultaneously. With planned certification only two years away, Beta has provided itself with a new road to market entry.

Source // Beta Technologies

Related:

ZeroAvia has announced that it achieved record-breaking performance in testing of its High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) systems.

Above: Zero Avia’s 19-seat hydrogen fuel cell aircraft

Early testing of the pressurized 20kW HTPEM stack power module in ZeroAvia’s UK R&D location has demonstrated a record 2.5 kW/kg specific power at the cell level, paving the way for 3+ kW/kg system level densities in the next 24 months.

ZeroAvia’s team has made unprecedented deep tech breakthroughs by delivering a pressurized HTPEM system, innovative conductive coatings enabling the use of aluminum bipolar plates in highly aggressive HTPEM environments, and a novel approach to advanced membrane electrode assembly (MEA).

Related: ZeroAvia Achieves First Flight of its Hydrogen-Electric Prototype

ZeroAvia’s proprietary technology has been developed over the last three years as part of a concentrated effort to build an in-house portfolio of critical technologies for fuel cell aviation. Further R&D will deliver over 3kW/kg fuel cell system specific power, which enables a step change in performance relative to the traditional fuel cell technologies, making fuel cell propulsion commercially viable for large aircraft. Specifically, the HTPEM systems will be prime candidates to support ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 powertrain for 40-80 seat aircraft, as well as a range of rotorcraft and eVTOL applications. This next generation of fuel cells could also be sufficient to enable electric propulsion systems for 100+ seat single-aisle turbofan aircraft such as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320.

The components used in the ZeroAvia system have already been validated through third-party independent testing at several independent labs, including a leading U.S. Department of Energy national lab. The testing confirms the potential for HTPEM systems to accelerate the development of large hydrogen-electric powertrains for large aircraft.

ZeroAvia’s recent breakthrough first flight of a 19-seat aircraft utilized Low Temperature PEM (LTPEM) fuel cell systems. Today’s LTPEM systems work well for the sub-megawatt scale of these smaller aircraft, but the lower stack core temperatures make it harder to remove heat from the larger systems. HTPEM technology eliminates a number of components from the fuel cell system and reduces cooling drag, thereby enabling commercially relevant payload and range for larger aircraft. ZeroAvia’s HTPEM can also offer greater durability, further reducing operating costs for airlines. 

Val Miftakhov, CEO and founder of ZeroAvia, said: “The companies and geographies that seize the lead in high fuel cell temperatures and pressures will lead the industry. This progression is similar to the story of turbine engines, where ever-increasing temperatures and pressures drove higher and higher performance. Hydrogen fuel cell propulsion is the most environmental and economical alternative to existing engines, and HTPEM is the most promising route to delivering these benefits into large aircraft categories. I am confident that what we are demonstrating now is the core building block to delivering zero-emission flight for all categories of aircraft in the long-term.”

Interest in hydrogen combustion power, which differs from the electrically-powered fuel cell solution in ZeroAvia aircraft, has grown considerably in recent months. Hydrogen combustion engines are being developed to remove carbon emissions from flight, but they face the steep environmental penalty of maintaining or increasing the non-CO2 emissions impacts of aviation on the climate. These non-CO2 impacts are thought to have twice the climate impact of carbon emissions alone, according to a report from EASA. A non-combustion, hydrogen-electric approach like ZeroAvia’s eliminates extreme material stresses inherent in modern combustion engines, which dramatically reduces maintenance costs, further improving the economics of the hydrogen-electric propulsion.

Why it’s important: Developing fuel cell technology for aviation is critical to enable true zero-emission commercial flight, and for energy intensive applications – like large fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft – it is necessary to increase the temperature and pressure within fuel cell stacks in order to have a commercially viable product. Increased temperature and pressure allows for air cooling, reduces cooling drag, simplifies the system, and ultimately enables much more demanding applications. Zeroavia’s demonstration of this increase capability is a major milestone in the technological development and points towards a future world of aviation that runs on hydrogen.

SkyDrive, a Japanese eVTOL developer, has announced a partnership with VPorts to establish the world’s first Advanced Aerial Mobility Integrator World Center in Dubai. Taking up 37,000 square meters, the Center will be an operations control hub for Advanced Air Mobility Aircraft in Dubai.

Above: Concept Vertiport by SkyDrive

VPorts Air Traffic Management Inc. (“VPorts”), is a global leader in the design, construction, and operation of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) infrastructure for upcoming vertical aircraft. The company was founded by experts in transportation infrastructure design and construction, city planning, and airport operations and design. The firm’s mission is to “shape the future development of safe advanced air mobility based on sustainable infrastructure.”

According to a recent press release by SkyDrive, the two companies have signed initial agreements to collaborate on the “technical and business” aspects of the upcoming Integrator Center, to leverage its use for the “business
development and market expansion” of both companies. This likely means that SkyDrive will have input into the Center’s design, so that it’s aerial mobility aircraft and flight services can be easily integrated.

Said Tomohiro Fukuzawa, CEO of SkyDrive, “We are pleased to be taking a part in the UAE government’s strategy for AAM, particularly in Dubai as it is one of the fastest growing and leading AAM markets in the world. we are committed to making AAM transportation affordable to all in a highly accessible way, helping commuters access city centers and mobility hubs. By collaborating with VPorts, we are able to secure an air traffic corridor for our vehicle testing with our eVTOL capabilities which would be essential to ensure its safety before deployment in the urban areas.”  

Featured above is SkyDrive’s latest concept aircraft, the SD-05. This all-electric VTOL will be capable of carrying two passengers semi-autonomously, with air taxi services scheduled to launch in Osaka, Japan in 2025.

Said Dr. Fethi Chebil, CEO and Founder of VPorts, “We welcome SkyDrive to join us in shaping the future of the AAM sector by leveraging the world’s first Integrator Center, including its facilities and airspace. Our presence in Dubai is in line with our strategy and ambition to build and operate 1,500 vertiports around the world by 2045.”

Why it’s important: With this announcement, SkyDrive is making moves to establish itself as an early global leader in Advanced Aerial Mobility. By working with experts like Vports to establish the World Center, SkyDrive has an opportunity to set a global example in aerial mobility infrastructure and supporting operations.

Source // SkyDrive, VPorts

Related:

• SkyDrive brings their eVTOL Aircraft to South Carolina to break into U.S Markets (February 2023)
• SkyDrive Receives Order for up to 100 eVTOLs from Pacific Group (November 2022)
• SkyDrive Ranks Second in World Startup Competition (September 2022)