FlightGlobal.

com June 2024

F-35 delivery
drought

Flying What next for troubled

Spirit AeroSystems? p22

start
How German industry
is battling back p38

High-speed Racer ups the pace p12

£5.99

New look High VoloCity

Bombardier Volocopter
settles in at sets sights
Pearson home on Paris
p16 p48

Midnight at the oasis?
Archer Aviation
Ready to launch?
Developers of urban air mobility vehicles are champing at
the bit to commence operations in the Middle East as early
as next year. While the ambition is laudable, it is not without
risk – both for themselves and the wider industry
T
here are two broad schools
of thought within the ur-
ban air mobility (UAM) in-
dustry regarding the start
of operations: one seeks service
entry as soon as practicable to
prove the concept, while the oth-
er is more measured, seeing that
society needs to be coaxed along
for the ride, as it were, if the sector
is to be successful.
Neither approach is necessarily
right or wrong, but one carries far
more risk for the wider industry
than the other.
But those sharp-elbowed start-
ups with hungry investors behind
them need a successful introduc-
tion sooner rather than later to start
generating revenues, that much is
clear; no company can continue to
burn development cash indefinitely.
For them, the Middle East ap-
pears a promising source of early
income while they wait for the rest
of the world to catch up.
A welcoming environment from
Abu Dhabi and Dubai in particular,
has seen the like of Archer Aviation
and Joby Aviation announce plans
for initial operations in the United
Arab Emirates, before they launch
services elsewhere.
As has been seen before in the
UAE, if the government wants some-
thing implemented, it usually hap-
pens; construction takes place at
breakneck speed and infrastructure
pops up overnight. Thus high-level
blessing for UAM operations should
guarantee an ideal launch pad.
With operations in the UAE
possibly starting next year – once
the potential banana skin of US
certification has been avoided, of
course – the rest of the UAM indus-
try will be watching on with interest.
But if this approach is to be
beneficial to all, then the intro-
duction of electric air taxi services
must be without teething troubles
of any kind: it should be accessible
to all, not just the ultra-rich; there
can be no major service disrup-
tions; and above all there can be no
accidents, period.
Sure, UAM developers have con-
stantly reassured the wider world
that as they are designing aircraft
with levels of safety more akin to
Comment
airliners than helicopters – 10 to the
minus nine, is the refrain repeated
ad nauseum – that the risk of any
accident is incredibly low.
However, that does not mean that
one can never crash. Several acci-
dents in flight testing have shown
the laws of physics are immutable.
Of course, flying prototypes are a
vital part of the development pro-
cess and the UAM industry is not
unique in losing pre-production
aircraft, but the various mishaps
experienced so far should serve as
a warning that no flying vehicle –
no matter what you call them, or
the number of flashy ads you pro-
duce – can ever be crash-free.
So when – not if – an electric
vertical take-off and landing air-
craft does come down and cause
fatalities, the merest hint of manu-
facturing complacency or regulato-
ry muddle as an underlying cause
will set the industry back years.
While there are advantages to
being the first mover, the down-
sides may not be borne by one
company alone. ◗
See p54
June 2024 Flight International 3
 In focus
Airbus lands Saudia, Flyadeal USAF selects ‘Doomsday’ Interim training standard to
order 6 successor 14 unblock F-35 shipments 26
Research aircraft trials quantum SOCOM’s Little Bird to fly on 18 H160’s weighting game 29
navigation technology 8 FTUAS bidders advance 20 Better connected 32
C919 backlog shifts focus to Heart breaks silence on P2006T rises to next level 34
Comac’s ramp-up plans 10 updated design for ES-30 24 Electron sparks into life 36

54

All hail eVTOL: China’s EHang leads the air taxi revolution

FlightGlobal.com June 2024

F-35 delivery
drought

Flying What next for troubled

Spirit AeroSystems? p22

start
38
How German industry
is battling back p38
Airbus Helicopters

High-speed Racer ups the pace p12

£5.99

New look High VoloCity

Bombardier Volocopter
settles in at sets sights
Pearson home on Paris
p16 p48

Regulars Comment 3 Straight & Level 60 Women in aviation 66

4 Flight International June 2024


In depth
Germany rising 38
Still facing labour and supply
chain challenges, German
manufacturers are hoping to
advance initiatives that will
propel them to the top of the
sustainable aviation sector
66
Boosting defence 43
After years of under-spending
on its armed forces, Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine has
driven Germany to increase
investment and re-equip its
military for an uncertain future
Contents
Ready for the world 48
Volocopter’s Dirk Hoke wants
advanced air mobility for all
Electric charge 54
eVTOL developers are working
overtime to go mainstream
32
18
June 2024 Flight International 5
 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com

Airbus lands Saudia, Flyadeal order

Airframer will deliver 105 narrowbodies to operators from
2026, supporting rapid growth of Saudi Arabian airline sector
Lewis Harper London on four continents, with plans for Riyadh on 20 May, as the “larg-
further expansion.” est aircraft deal in the history of
Saudia has around 150 aircraft Saudi aviation”.

R
iyadh’s grand ambition for
its airline sector has been
underscored by Saudia
Group’s new order for 105
Airbus narrowbodies.
The 93 A321neos and 12
A320neos are destined for Jed-
dah-based Saudia and its low-
cost unit Flyadeal, with deliveries
spanning 2026 to 2032.
Saudia will receive 54 of the
A321neos, while the remainder
and all the A320neos will go to
Flyadeal. No engine selection has
been disclosed.
The group’s director gen-
eral Ibrahim Al-Omar notes:
“Saudia has ambitious opera-
tional objectives to meet grow-
ing demand. We are increasing
flights and seat capacity across
our existing 100-plus destinations
Saudia
in its fleet today, including around
60 older A320-family aircraft.
Flyadeal operates around 35
Airbus narrowbodies, with then-
chief executive Con Korfiatis tell-
ing our sister title Airline Business
330m
Number of travellers Riyadh aims to
be able to transport by air in 2030, as
it significantly boosts tourism sector
last year that it was aiming to have
a fleet of 100-plus aircraft by 2030.
The Saudia Group describes the
new order, which was announced
at the Future Aviation Forum in
That may be true in terms of its
number of units, but Saudia and
start-up flag carrier Riyadh Air’s
combined commitment for up 121
Boeing 787s in 2023 was described
at the time as the fifth largest com-
mercial order by value in Boeing’s
history and would be ahead of the
Airbus deal in value terms.
There is more to come, with Ri-
yadh Air yet to reveal which air-
framer has secured its order for nar-
rowbody jets. However, the 737 Max
has been linked to that requirement.
The various orders – and the
founding of Riyadh Air, which is due
to launch operations next year – are
steps towards achieving the king-
dom’s Vision 2030 ambitions, under
which Saudi Arabia aims to “trans-
port 330 million travellers, [facil-
itate] 150 million visits and [fly]

Ryanair is currently coping with

delays to Max 8-200 deliveries

Shipments slow
as Boeing reforms
Monthly deliveries slumped to two-year low in April, as
company tackles production quality issues on 737 Max

Jon Hemmerdinger Sarasota by

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6 Flight International June 2024

 Commercial Airframers

Saudia will receive 54 of the 93

A321neos that have been ordered

30 million pilgrims” by that date

in a push to diversify the country’s
economy away from oil revenues.
That ambition is not just attracting
interest among local airlines. Kuwaiti
carrier Jazeera Airways is planning
to launch a Saudi unit, while Euro-
pean low-cost carrier Wizz Air has
significantly expanded its presence
in the country and discussed a pos-
sible local air operator’s certificate.
The country is also investing in its
aviation infrastructure. In Septem-
ber last year, for example, Saudia
carried out the maiden flight to the
new Red Sea international airport
which forms part of a resort com-
plex in the west of the kingdom.
Regional strength
The founding of Riyadh Air and
Saudi Arabia’s aggressive expan-
sion of its airline sector have inevita-
bly attracted the attention of other
players in the region, although they
“Saudia has ambitious operational
objectives. We are increasing
flights and seat capacity across
our existing 100-plus destinations”
Ibrahim Al-Omar Director general, Saudia Group
have tended to be sanguine about
any competitive threat.
“[Riyadh Air’s] first task will be to
serve Saudi Arabia,” Emirates Air-
line president Tim Clark said during
a briefing at last year’s IATA AGM.
“They need airlines, a lot of them, to
meet the demand to build the king-
dom as well as bring all the people
in that they want to.
“I don’t see that as a threat. I’m
not in the slightest bit worried
about it.”
Etihad Airways chief executive
Antonoaldo Neves said last Novem-
ber: “How many mega-airlines do
you have in the USA? I think there
is demand – enough for everyone.” ◗
Additional reporting by
David Kaminski-Morrow
● For more in-depth analysis of the
global airline sector, subscribe to
the new Airline Business website:
flightglobal.com/airline-business

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June 2024 Flight International 7

 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
RJ100 research aircraft trials
technology for quantum-based
inertial navigation
UK government-backed project flight tests advanced systems
that could offer alternative to jammable satellite signals
David Kaminski-Morrow London
Q
uantum physics could offer
aircraft an alternative to
satellite-based navigation,
by enhancing the accura-
cy of inertial systems while avoiding
disruption and jamming.
Commercial flight trials, using a
BAE Systems Avro RJ100 of UK en-
gineering research specialist Qine-
tiq, have demonstrated the poten-
tial of quantum-based technology
to achieve more resilient position,
navigation and timing services.
Satellite navigation systems,
which rely on constellations such
as GPS and Galileo, provide flight-
path accuracy and independence
from ground-based equipment,
allowing development of efficient
routes and flexible approaches.
But the relatively weak satellite
signals are vulnerable to interfer-
ence. ICAO analysis revealed over
520 reported instances of jamming
or suspected interference in the
Middle East and North Africa region
alone during 2022.
Truck and trace: Airbus tests automated taxi technology using ‘cockpit on wheels’
Airbus is testing technological
support tools aimed at enabling
automatic taxiing, by modifying
an electric vehicle to serve as an
A350 cockpit.
The project – known as
Optimate – is being undertaken
through the airframer’s
innovation arm, UpNext, and will
span three years.
Airbus intends the project
to include a demonstration of
automated taxiing using an A350-
AirTeamImages
1000 test aircraft in the fourth
quarter of this year.
8 Flight International June 2024
North Korea has previously been
accused of GPS jamming and,
more recently, disturbance to GPS
navigation in the Baltic region led
Estonian authorities to reinforce
ground-based navigation systems.
The European Union Aviation
Safety Agency (EASA) held a work-
shop with IATA early this year aimed
at developing measures to address
spoofing and jamming.
“We immediately need to ensure
that pilots and crews can identify
the risks and know how to react,”
says EASA.
Joint strategy
Its joint strategy with IATA centres
on sharing of interference event
data, procedural guidance from
airframers, and the retention of a
minimal network of conventional
navaids for back-up.
Vulnerability of GPS could, how-
ever, also be countered with more
accurate independent on-board
navigation systems.
Aircraft avionics have evolved
from using inertial navigation sys-
tems, based on accelerometers and
The project will culminate using
the virtual assistant on a fully
automated gate-to-gate mission
on an A350 flight-test aircraft.
However, the primary validation
work will use the electric truck to
reduce carbon emissions, as well
as keep the airframer’s test pilots
free to carry out other duties
including certification work and
aircraft deliveries.
The vehicle will act as a
“cockpit on wheels” and
“replicates the key functions of a
real aircraft”, says Airbus.
mechanical gyroscopes, to inertial
reference systems with laser-ring
gyros, information from which is
typically fused with GPS to update
flight-management computers.
But over the past two dec-
ades various aerospace research
organisations including the US
Defense Advanced Research Pro-
jects Agency and NASA, and the
European Space Agency, have
been exploring the potential to
base gyroscopes and accelerom-
eters on atomic quantum effects
– and develop a quantum posi-
tioning system, in order to achieve
highly-accurate navigation.
Trapping and supercooling atoms
with laser light – research which
won the Nobel Prize for Physics in
1997 – reduces their thermal motion
to a point where their quantum
properties can be exploited.
Cold-atom interferometry allows
analysis of modification – by grav-
ity, inertia or other effects – of the
atoms’ energy states. The creation
of quantum gyroscopes and sen-
sors are among the technological
avenues opened by the research.
Taxiing automation will be
supported by sourcing data
from lidar – laser-based ranging
technology – and cameras, as well
as GPS and inertial sensors, for
position determination.
Airbus says that part of the
project will involve examining
quantum-based sensors to
explore the potential to derive
more accurate position and
navigation information.
Airbus UpNext
Quantum sensors use analysis
of atomic states to detect the
effect of inertial changes.

The recent UK commercial flight
trials of a quantum-based naviga-
tion system – undertaken in a collab-
oration led by quantum technology
firm Infleqtion – were carried out at
the Ministry of Defence’s Boscombe
Down facility in southwest England,
with the final sortie on 9 May.
These tests demonstrated both
a quantum system based on ul-
tra-cold atoms, as well as a com-
pact optical atomic clock, called
Tiqker, on board the RJ100.
Infleqtion has worked on the
High-Bandwidth Inertial Atom
Source & Sensor project – known as
High-BIAS2 – aimed at validating
cold-atom quantum gyroscopes,
and demonstrating quantum sensor
“These trials are an important step
in developing quantum technology
that could ultimately offer a
significant military advantage”
Henry White Sensing technology lead, BAE Systems
Modified electric vehicle will ‘replicate
the key functions of a real aircraft’
ability to stabilise aircraft guidance
system orientation without satellite
positioning signals.
“The cornerstone of modern
[position, navigation and timing]
technology is precision clocks.
These ultra-accurate timekeep-
ers are crucial for various applica-
tions,” adds Infleqtion. “And porta-
ble production of ultra-cold atoms
is another key piece of the puzzle.”
It states that the technology will
form part of a quantum inertial
navigation system.
“Our recent trials mark a signifi-
cant step forward in the develop-
ment of quantum [position, navi-
gation and timing] solutions,” says
Infleqtion UK president Timothy
“Another objective is to
investigate the capabilities of
a collaborative map and virtual
flight assistant to support
pilots’ strategic decisions, and
interactions with air traffic
control and airline operations
centres,” says Airbus.
It adds that communications
will be carried over satellite-
based and 5G networks.
The rear of the truck has a
flight-test installation enabling
engineers to monitor the
systems’ performance.
“Our ambition is to use the
best technologies to make our
Safety Research
Qinetiq carried out tests in collaboration
with quantum technology firm Infleqtion
Ballance. “The successful flight tri-
als demonstrate the potential of
quantum technology in overcom-
ing navigation system challenges.”
Dr Jonathan Jones, atomic clock
lead, Infleqtion, says the tests “prove
this next-generation technology is
working and available today”.
National programme
Under its national quantum strate-
gy programme, the UK government
wants to “accelerate” quantum
technologies for civil and military
resilience. The strategy seeks to
deploy quantum systems on air-
craft by 2030.
“These trials are an important step
forward in developing quantum
technology that could ultimately
offer a significant military advan-
tage,” says Henry White, sensing
technology lead, BAE Systems.
“Knowing reliably and precisely
when and where any asset and sen-
sor system are, feeds into addition-
al options for platform design and
capability. This will play a big role
in the development of next-genera-
tion combat air systems.” ◗
aircraft even more aware of their
operating conditions, analysing
it in as much detail as possible
to become smart and reliable
assistants to pilots,” says UpNext
chief Michael Augello.
While the electric truck has
been carrying out trials at
Toulouse, Airbus hopes to also
use it at other airports.
Optimate will build on
functions tested through previous
autonomous-flight programmes
such as the Vertex project, for
helicopters, and the ATTOL
initiative, which focused on taxi,
take-off and landing.
June 2024 Flight International 9
 Production Strategy
Burgeoning C919 backlog shifts
AirTeamImages
focus to Comac’s ramp-up plans
Despite slow start Chinese airframer appears set on reaching
higher output to address narrowbody’s swelling orderbook
Alfred Chua Singapore
W
hile China’s Comac
may already be look-
ing to the long-term
future with its apparent
CR939 widebody programme, the
state-owned airframer appears to
be focused on the more pressing
need to ramp up output of its C919
single-aisle.
To date, just four examples of the
CFM International Leap-1C-powered
narrowbody have entered service
– all with China Eastern Airlines –
since the twinjet gained certifica-
tion in September 2022.
It has been a sluggish start for
the Chinese type, particularly com-
pared to the soaring production
rates of its Western rivals.
That the process has been some-
what measured is unsurprising,
says Richard Aboulafia, managing
director of AeroDynamic Advisory.
“It is probably due to the diffi-
culties associated with building
conforming aircraft – a very differ-
ent challenge than just flying a jet
and getting it certified.
“That’s a much longer road, along
with the enormous challenge of
establishing a product-support
apparatus,” says Aboulafia.
Equally, with economic and
geopolitical considerations always
part of Comac’s calculus, the slow
ramp-up may be by design, says
Shukor Yusof, founder of aviation
consultancy Endau Analytics.
He says Comac is “in no hurry, not
because it can’t”, but because it is
“not in its, or China’s, interest to do”.
A botched ramp-up would be
worse than a slow ramp-up, he
10 Flight International June 2024
says. Comac – and by extension,
Beijing – “will be watching” the
state of the global supply chain, as
well as geopolitical developments,
“very closely”, before moving to
increase output.
“Its next steps will depend on
what happens to Boeing near-term,
over the next six to 12 months,
as well as how [Chinese leader]
Xi Jinping’s recent state visit to
France could push Airbus into a
wider role vis-a-vis aircraft produc-
tion in China,” says Shukor.
However, Comac’s growing
backlog for the C919 still needs
to be addressed. That total was
bolstered in late April, with the
other members of the country’s
‘Big Three’ – Air China and China
Southern Airlines – each ordering
100 C919s. Although Aboulafia
doubts the carriers need those
aircraft, deliveries are set to run
from 2024 to 2031.
Domestic demand
In fact, Cirium fleets data records
Comac as holding almost 1,000 firm
orders for the C919, with another
700 aircraft covered by more tenta-
tive agreements – a quietly impres-
sive backlog for the programme.
To address that level of demand,
local media reports suggest Co-
mac is looking to achieve an an-
nual production rate of up to 150
aircraft within five years.
The figure is “a bit over-
ambitious”, says Shukor, pointing
to the ongoing supply chain con-
straints all manufacturers face, but
“not impossible beyond 2030”.
There are indications Comac is
working to enhance its production
system. In a now-deleted social
media post widely reported by
local media, China Aviation Plan-
ning and Design Institute Group, an
entity linked to state-owned enter-
prise AVIC, said it had clinched the
contract for the “second phase”
of the C919 “production capacity
construction project”.
Located in the Pudong area of
Shanghai, where Comac is also
based, the project would see the
facility expand to cover 330,000sq
m (3.55 million sq ft), with an
unspecified number of produc-
tion lines and parts warehouses,
reports suggest.
Comac did not publicly confirm
these reports and the airframer
declines to comment on production
rates, except to say it is working to
increase C919 output.
Against this backdrop, the news
that the airframer is contemplat-
ing the development of a second
widebody programme, the C939,
is sure to raise eyebrows.
Comac is already working on the
C929 – broadly speaking a rival to
the Airbus A330neo and Boeing
787 – but the next project looks set
to compete with the A350 and 777.
A report from Hong Kong’s South
China Morning Post on 13 May,
citing an unnamed source, says the
airframer has developed design
concepts for the new jet, but notes
that it will take several years before
any prototype is constructed.
The report gives no technical
specifications for the new pro-
gramme, such as the number of
engines or seating capacity.
Comac declines to comment
directly, saying obliquely that
media should wait for official
confirmation of its plans. ◗
 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
Racer picks up pace
Early flight testing shows Clean Sky 2-funded high-speed
rotorcraft demonstrator is already at a high level of maturity
Dominic Perry Marignane
A
irbus Helicopters is rapid-
ly opening the envelope
of its Racer demonstra-
tor, with the compound
rotorcraft already having reached
speeds slightly in excess of 165kt
(305km/h) and performed a series
of increasingly aggressive manoeu-
vres in the three test flights since its
maiden sortie in late April.
And, while only preliminary esti-
mates can be made from the data
collected so far, programme exec-
utives are already confident that
the Racer can comfortably beat its
20% fuel-burn reduction target.
Featuring V-shaped box-wings,
twin vertical tails, an asymmetric
tail boom, twin pusher propellers
and a five-bladed main rotor, plus
a low-drag configuration, Airbus is
targeting a cruise speed of 220kt
for the Racer. Launched in 2017,
development of the demonstrator
has been part-funded by the EU’s
Clean Sky 2 programme.
Tomasz Krysinski, head of re-
search and innovation at Airbus Hel-
icopters, says the demonstrator has
so far shown “excellent behaviour”.
On its 25 April first flight of
30min, the Racer reached 80kt, ris-
ing in subsequent weeks to 55min
and 160kt on the second flight, and
1h 40min and 165kt on the third.
Airbus Helicopters
12 Flight International June 2024
The fourth sortie – performed as
part of an event to showcase the
aircraft at the airframer’s Marignane
headquarters on 15 May – saw the
helicopter fly for 1h 20min and at
a speed that was “about 10 knots
more”, says Krysinski.
Test flights have also become in-
creasingly dynamic, already includ-
ing 2g turns and “very deep dives
and climbs”, he adds.
In fact, says Brice Makinadjian,
Racer chief engineer, the aircraft
has achieved bank angles of “more
220kt
Cruise speed targeted by demon-
strator; to date, the airframer has
achieved slightly in excess of 165kt
than 45° at 150 knots” and “autoro-
tations at 80 knots in descent”.
Readings from the 700 individual
sensors installed on the Racer have
not come “close to the limitations
and even lower than what would be
expected”, he adds.
Although stressing the envelope
is being opened in a “progressive”
and “humble” way, Krysinski also
concedes it is happening quickly.
“To achieve all that by the
fourth flight – I have never seen
Configuration features V-shaped box
wings and twin pusher propellers
in my career to date it happen so
quickly,” he says.
Makinadjian also points to the
reaction of the flight-test team:
“The crew are very happy with the
handling qualities of the aircraft.”
Chief test pilot Herve Jamayrac
– who has been at the Racer’s con-
trols for every flight so far – says
the helicopter “looks beautiful and
flies beautifully”.
Jamayrac was also a pilot on the
X3 programme on which the Racer
builds, and while there are obvious
similarities between the two “the
Airbus Helicopters
big difference is the maturity”, he
says, adding: “We are at a maturi-
ty level that we reached after 20
flights or even more on the X3.”
It took until the ninth flight of
the X3 before it hit 160kt, he notes,
with its maximum speed eventually
topping out at 255kt.
The goal for the Racer is to
achieve a cruise speed of 220kt –
a target it should reach later this
year. “From the power left it is clear
that it is going to fly way faster
[than 160 knots],” says Jamayrac.
Engine data
Data displayed by the airframer
during the fourth test flight showed
that both of the Racer’s Safran
Helicopter Engines Aneto-1X were
at 50% torque with the aircraft at
160kt true air speed.
Before it can push for 220kt,
however, the airframer must seek
a modification from the French
DGAC civil regulator for the Racer’s
permit to fly, which currently plac-
es a limit of 165kt on the aircraft.
But the Racer is not only about
speed – it must also demonstrate
a degree of frugality, delivering a
fuel-burn reduction of 20% against
current-generation helicopters of a
similar size.
In that regard, the early signs are
highly promising. “The first indi-
cations we have in terms of [fuel]
consumption and performance are
leading us to think that we will have
a good surprise in the next few
weeks,” says Makinadjian.
“During the development [low]
drag was the main parameter in

terms of decision making. It seems
that has paid off – the first indica-
tions are that we have low drag,
even a bit lower than predicted.”
Krysinski agrees, adding: “I think
we will do even better – the first
results show drag is really excel-
lent.” The initial data shows the
Racer using around 300kW less
power than a conventional helicop-
ter at 165kt, he says.
Further improvements are likely
to come with the installation of a
low-drag cowling for the main rotor
head and landing-gear doors.
In addition, the first flights have
been conducted without the flaps
installed on the lower wing due to a
last-minute alignment issue. These
will be fitted in the coming days,
says Makinadjian.
One aspect of the low-drag
design, however, is a very narrow
fuselage in comparison with tradi-
tional helicopters.
Krysinski says the airframer has
taken its design cues from the long,
thin fuselages of fixed-wing aircraft:
“If you increase the length, L over
D [lift over drag] improves. We can
make it longer, no problem.”
More fuel-burn savings are
anticipated from the so-called
“eco-mode” function on the en-
gines, which allows one to be shut
down in cruise, while the other runs
at an optimal power output.
“[This] project could not come to
fruition as a product of only one
country or company. It highlights
European innovation, industrialisation
and competitiveness”
Bruno Even Chief executive, Airbus Helicopters
Installation of this system will
take place later this year or in early
2025, to allow flight tests next year.
Crucially, 2025 will also see the
Racer perform a series of mission
demonstrations as the airframer
analyses the commercial potential
of the design.
Potential applications
These include VIP transport – for
example, a flight linking a city-pair
– emergency medical services,
search and rescue, including hoist-
ing operations, and even those for
the military.
“We are planning to propose
some flights to military officials to
demonstrate the capability of the
Racer and the high-speed formula.
“But also, and this is most
important, to gather their feedback
and check if an adaptation or a
Cover story
Maiden sortie was on 25 April, with chief
test pilot Herve Jamayrac at the controls
derivative of the Racer could be an
answer to their needs.”
Showcasing the compound archi-
tecture’s capability, alongside the
technology maturation effort, will
be vital to the launch of any future
programme, says Bruno Even, Air-
bus Helicopters chief executive.
“It gives us the opportunity to be
ready to launch a new programme”,
should customers conclude they
are willing to pay the price for
speed, he says.
Due to the nature of the Clean
Sky 2 funding, the Racer’s devel-
opment involved 40 companies
drawn from 13 different countries.
“A project of this scope could
not come to fruition as a product
of only one country or company,”
adds Even, adding that it highlights
European “innovation, industrialisa-
tion and competitiveness”. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 13
 Defence Acquisition
USAF selects ‘Doomsday’ successor
Sierra Nevada secures $13 billion contract to replace
Survivable Airborne Operations Center fleet, with company
to acquire five 747-8Is from Korean Air for modification
Ryan Finnerty Syracuse
Greg Waldron Singapore
T
he US Air Force (USAF) has
awarded Sierra Nevada a
contract to deliver its next
generation of so-called
“Doomsday” aircraft, with the com-
pany appearing to have sourced
Boeing 747-8Is from Korean Air.
Once adapted for the Surviva-
ble Airborne Operations Center
(SAOC) role, the aircraft will replace
the air force’s 1970s-era Boeing
E-4B Nightwatch jets, adapted from
the commercial 747-200.
“The development of this critical
national security weapon system
ensures the [USA’s] nuclear com-
mand, control and communications
capability is operationally relevant
and secure for decades to come,”
the USAF says.
The contract is worth $13 billion
to Sierra Nevada, with work ex-
pected to be complete by 2036.
Boeing had previously also been
bidding to provide the new SAOC
fleet, but withdrew its bid in 2023,
citing an impasse with the USAF
related to contract terms. The air-
framer has lost billions of dollars in
recent years on fixed-price deals to
develop new military aircraft.
Ewan Hoyle Photography
Four E-4Bs, adapted from Boeing 747-200s,
currently operate as flying command centres
14 Flight International June 2024
Boeing’s departure from the
competition left Sierra Nevada
as the sole bidder to replace the
USAF’s four E-4Bs, which Cirium
fleets data shows have an average
age of 50 years.
The service had required their
replacement to be a commer-
cial-derivative type, noting: “[It] will
be [nuclear] hardened and modi-
fied to meet military requirements”.
“The [SAOC] mission system
will integrate secure communica-
tions and planning capabilities on
modern information technology,”
the service adds.
Critical deterrent
The US Department of Defense
describes the ability to command
the nation’s military forces – includ-
ing its nuclear arsenal – from an
airborne station as critical to deter-
ring adversaries from conducting
strategic attacks against it, allies
and partners.
In the event of a national emer-
gency or the destruction of
ground-based command centres,
the E-4Bs would provide national
leaders the ability to co-ordinate
actions by civil authorities, direct
US forces and execute emergency
war orders, including the launch of
nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, according to an 8
May stock exchange filing in South
Korea, Korean Air will sell five of its
aircraft to Sierra Nevada for W918
billion ($671 million). The filing
indicates that the jets will be dis-
posed of by 30 September 2025.
The carrier declines to comment
on the aircraft type involved in the
transaction, but says the sale is
consistent with its fleet planning,
which will phase out its “previ-
ous-generation fleet to introduce
new, next-generation aircraft”.
A report from news agency Reu-
ters, however, cites an unnamed
source as saying that the five air-
craft involved in the deal are 747-8Is.
Cirium data indicates that Korean
has nine in-service 747-8Is, with
an average age of eight years. Of
these, six examples are owned by
the carrier, with the others owned
by undisclosed parties.
In a 2021 interview with Flight-
Global, Korean chief executive
Walter Cho said the airline would
continue to operate its 747-8Is until
2031. But in early April 2024, the op-
erator shed light on its future wide-
body fleet plan, confirming orders
for 33 Airbus A350s: 27 -1000s and
six -900s. The carrier also has or-
ders for 787-9s and -10s, along with
A321neos and 737 Max 8s. ◗
 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
Pearson opening sees Bombardier
on the up after Downsview closure
Inauguration of new production facility for Global business
jets marks latest step in airframer’s transformation
Jon Hemmerdinger Toronto
H
ow to describe the last
few years at Bombardier?
‘Turbulent’ could seem too
strong, but it has certainly
been challenging at the very least.
Since 2020, the once sprawling
Canadian company has divested its
commercial aviation, aerostructru-
res and rail units, seeking financial
stability in becoming a pure-play
business aviation firm.
It is a strategy that appears to
be slowly paying dividends – the
company is back in the black and
paying down its debts. It even has
a new corporate logo, a design it
calls “Bombardier Mach”.
Against that backdrop, the
opening of the airframer’s new
Global business jet production
facility at Toronto Pearson Interna-
tional airport marks the final step in
its transformation.
Although the company started
some manufacturing work at the
new 71,500sq m (770,000sq ft) fa-
cility last September, the Pearson
site only became fully operational
and fully staffed in March this year.
At that point Bombardier stopped
producing Globals at its former facil-
ity in the Downsview section of To-
ronto. All Global aircraft – the 5500,
6500 and 7500, to be followed by
Martel takes clean-sheet aircraft off the table… for now
Bombardier chief executive
Eric Martel has largely ruled out
the question of the airframer
developing a clean-sheet
business jet for at least the
rest of the decade, saying that
current competitive dynamics
and technological advancements
do not support such a move.
“What I see between now and
2030 will be derivatives,” Martel
says. “I don’t see a clean-sheet.”
16 Flight International June 2024
the in-development 8000 – are now
assembled at the new plant.
“The facility opening here is a
big milestone,” Bombardier chief
executive Eric Martel said at a 1
May event to mark the occasion.
“We are building here, in this facil-
ity, the airplane that is the flagship
for the industry.”
He was referring to Bombardier’s
7,700nm (14,200km)-range Global
7500, which, for the moment, re-
mains the company’s flagship. How-
75
Global-family aircraft delivered
in 2023, according to the General
Aviation Manufacturers Association
ever, it will be supplanted next year
by 8,000nm-range Global 8000.
The Pearson assembly building
houses 20 work-stations along
two lines: one producing Global
7500s (and soon 8000s), and the
other producing 5500s and 6500s.
Next door, Bombardier has a sep-
arate, six-station flight-test hangar
where it completes final work with
fuelled aircraft.
Bombardier declines to re-
veal current production figures,
His comments make clear that
Bombardier plans to bank on
continued demand for its current
line up of business jets, at least in
the medium term.
Among those aircraft are
the ultra-long-range Globals –
including the Global 8000, which
Bombardier aims to have in
Bombardier
service next year – the large-cabin
Challenger 650 and its super-
midsize Challenger 3500.
although the company delivered 75
Global aircraft in 2023, according
to the General Aviation Manufac-
turers Association.
Bombardier had manufactured
aircraft at the former Downsview
site since acquiring the then De
Havilland Canada in 1992. It sold
that facility in 2018 amid finan-
cial pressure brought on by its
development of the CSeries (now
Bombardier
Airbus A220) single-aisle passen-
ger jet. Bombardier leased the
Downsview site as it transferred
production to Pearson, and flew its
last aircraft from the now decom-
missioned airport in March.
At the Pearson site, Bombardier
assembles Globals from large struc-
tural components produced inter-
nally and by external suppliers, in-
cluding Airbus Atlantic Canada, MHI
Canada and Spirit AeroSystems.
Pearson’s production system
makes extensive use of robotics
to secure major components on
the Global 7500. Each robot “drills,
reams, installs sealant [and] in-
stalls a fastener – all in a cycle time
of… under 30 seconds per fasten-
er. Consistently. Every time,” says
Bombardier director of operations
Michael Murphy. Workers still man-
ually drill and fasten the structures
on the Global 5500 and 6500.
After assembly, Bombardier
moves the jets outside for pre-flight
CEO says a ‘revolution’ in technology
is required to justify a new design

work, including fuelling and avion-
ics tests. Workers perform engine
tests in a “ground-run enclosure”
equipped with deflectors capable
of accommodating a Global 7500’s
twin 18,000lb (80kN)-thrust GE
Aerospace Passport turbofans at
full power. After that, the Globals
are flown to Montreal for cabin
completion work.
Improved efficiency
Despite a sleeker, more efficient
production system, Bombardier ex-
pects its aircraft delivery rate to be
largely flat for much of this decade.
“Aircraft deliveries are going to
level off in the coming years, after
a number of years of very strong
growth,” Bombardier chief financial
officer Bart Demosky says.
It also now seems Bombardier’s
EcoJet development programme
– an effort involving studies,
including a scaled demonstrator,
of a conceptual business jet with
a blended-wing-body design – is
unlikely to transition into an actual
aircraft this decade. Bombardier
has always viewed EcoJet as a
“post-2030s” concept, Martel says.
He insists technological
advancements are currently
insufficient for the development
of a completely new jet.
“We are building here, in this
facility, the airplane that is the
flagship for the industry”
Bombardier delivered 138 aircraft
in 2023 and anticipates it will ship
150-155 this year and about 150
in 2025. Its longer term forecast
assumes that same rate will hold
true as late as 2030.
Martel says Bombardier will
deliberately keep deliveries flat as a
means of “preserving” its backlog,
adding that the company could
tweak rates higher if circumstances
warrant. Keeping the order back-
log padded will also help maintain
longer-term financial health.
Martel stresses that neither
supply chain nor production con-
straints are behind the decision.
Bombardier ended March hold-
ing an order backlog valued at
$14.9 billion, up 5% in three months
and up 39% since 2020.
“I don’t see any new technology
game-changer coming in that will
justify me talking to the board
and justifying a clean-sheet
[aircraft],” he says.
“[We] need something that will
really be a revolution.”
Martel also sees no immediate
competitive imperative for a new
Bombardier business jet, saying
rivals have already “played their
cards, in terms of what products
they will be offering in the
[coming] years”.
Business aviation Manufacturer
Eric Martel Chief executive, Bombardier
Pearson site became fully operational
and fully staffed in March this year
“Our transformation has led to
a remarkable improvement in our
financial position,” says Martel. “We
have a very strong multi-year back-
log to execute our plan.”
But in order to hit its target of $9
billion of revenue per year in 2025,
up from $8 billion in 2023, Bom-
bardier is pushing hard to grow its
defence and aftermarket business-
es, and boost sales of used aircraft.
In 2023, sales of new business jets
accounted for 69% of the airfram-
er’s turnover, with the remaining
31% coming from the three other
revenue streams.
Bombardier aims for those three
buckets – aftermarket, defence and
pre-owned – to account for a com-
bined 35% of its revenue in 2025,
and up to 50% by 2030. ◗
Gulfstream just weeks ago
achieved certification of its ultra-
long-range G700, with its longer-
range sister ship, the G800, still
in the works. French airframer
Dassault Aviation, meanwhile, is
developing its ultra-long-range
Falcon 10X, which has yet to fly.
While largely rejecting the
possibility of a new aircraft,
Martel says Bombardier will
continue bringing innovations to
its current jets via updates and
possible derivatives.
June 2024 Flight International 17
 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com

Little Bird set to fly on for SOCOM

Aged light helicopters will remain in service until 2040, after
command’s plan to field a replacement was shot down by
US Army – but V-280 tiltrotor now due to join future fleet
Ryan Finnerty Tampa rotary-wing aviation procurement notes that the MH-6 utility version
office, says of the army’s surprise was not due to be replaced, and
announcement in February. will have an “enduring presence”

E
lite aviation units within the
US military’s Special Oper-
ations Command (SOCOM)
will continue flying Boeing’s
A/MH-6 Little Bird multi-role heli-
copter for the foreseeable future.
The decision marks a departure
from SOCOM’s earlier plan to retire
its attack variant of the Little Bird
and replace it with the now-defunct
Future Attack Reconnaissance
Aircraft (FARA): a next-generation
armed scout axed by the US Army
earlier this year.
FARA’s cancellation means that
the headquarters that supplies
Washington’s special operations
forces (SOF) must find a way to
keep its small fleet of A/MH-6s
flightworthy and relevant.
“That changed our equation,”
Steven Smith, director of spe-
cial programmes at SOCOM’s
SOCOM manages a specialised
fleet of aircraft, typically modified
versions of standard types like the
Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk and
Boeing CH-47 Chinook tailored for
special operations applications.
Unique mission
However, the Little Bird is excep-
tional in that it is a SOF-unique
aircraft not operated by any of the
USA’s conventional forces. Flown by
the US Army’s 160th Special Opera-
tions Aviation Regiment (SOAR), it
comes in the MH-6 utility and AH-6
light attack configurations.
Smith says SOCOM had planned
to acquire the selected FARA plat-
form to replace its AH-6s and the
MH-60 defensive armed penetrator
(DAP) variant of the Black Hawk.
Paul Kylander, who manages the
Little Bird programme for SOCOM,
in the fleet.
The cancellation of FARA
development means the AH-6 and
MH-60 DAP aircraft will have to be
sustained for “much longer”, Ky-
lander said at the SOF Week con-
ference in Tampa, Florida on 7 May.
Some of that work was already
happening. SOCOM and Boeing
have completed fleet-wide up-
grades to the Block 2.2 standard,
and deliveries of the latest Block 3
configuration are ongoing.
This includes a modernised
cockpit and a new “zero-hour”
fuselage from Boeing. In addition
to a flight-hour reset, this enables
an increased maximum take-off
weight of 2,270kg (5,000lb).
SOCOM’s rotary-wing aviation
office says the 160th SOAR will
now operate the Little Bird as far
out as 2040. Its Block 3-standard

Amphibious C-130J plans sunk by changing budget and modernisation priorities

The US Special Operations specialists included conducting ultimately not deemed a funding
Command (SOCOM) is no longer hydrostatic and windtunnel priority, due to SOCOM’s current
considering modifying Lockheed testing on proposed designs, via “budget outlook” and other
Martin’s C-130J tactical transport digital simulation and modelling. modernisation needs.
for amphibious operations. “The MAC is a capability While the command has
Speaking at the SOF Week we could field,” Bronder says, dropped the idea of fielding
conference in Tampa, Florida on 8 referring to its technical feasibility. an amphibious C-130J, the US
May, SOCOM’s head of fixed-wing However, the project was Defense Advanced Research
aircraft procurement Projects Agency
US Air Force Colonel (DARPA) is currently
Justin Bronder said it is Command had been assessing funding development
“hitting a pause on any the feasibility of a pontoon kit of its Liberty Lifter – a
plans to operationalise” conceptual heavy-lift
the MC-130J Amphibious transport that would be
Capability (MAC) concept. capable of amphibious
The command had take-offs and landings.
for several years been Boeing subsidiary
assessing the feasibility Aurora Flight Sciences is
of developing a pontoon the lone contender for the
conversion kit for the Liberty Lifter requirement,
type, in partnership with after DARPA in early May
US Air Force

Sierra Nevada. eliminated rival developer

Work conducted by General Atomics
the company and other Aeronautical Systems.

18 Flight International June 2024


aircraft will use the new designa-
tion AH-6R, which Smith quips
should stand for “resurrection”.
The command expects to
complete fielding its AH-6Rs by
2031. The new fuselage has a 15-
year service life, which he notes
“gives the army a little bit of time”
to determine a long-term solution
for the armed scout mission.
In the short term, army leaders
plan to use a combination of un-
crewed and space-based assets to
fill the FARA role.
Given that uncertainty, Smith says
SOCOM is looking at options to
further upgrade the Little Bird fleet.
“We expect we’re going to want
some additional performance,” he
says, noting that the diminutive
type is the slowest aircraft in its
fleet, with a top speed of around
126kt (233km/h).
Options currently being explored
include an advanced rotor blade
design, new powertrain and pos-
sibly even electrification. Howev-
er, Smith notes that SOCOM has
“nothing currently planned or
funded” with regard to additional
Little Bird upgrades.
Meanwhile, procurement offi-
cials confirm that SOCOM plans
to field Bell’s V-280 Valor: the til-
trotor model which won the ar-
my’s Future Long-Range Assault
Aircraft (FLRAA) competition.
The V-280 is intended to replace
the Black Hawk in army use, al-
though the two aircraft now appear
likely to overlap operations for
potentially several decades.
“FLRAA is set to come on to the
160th [SOAR] ramp in the middle
of the 2030s,” says Colonel Mark
Cleary, a test pilot who manag-
es aircraft sustainment and mod-
ernisation for the army’s spe-
cial operations fleet. Acquisition
documents indicate SOCOM plans
to field its first special opera-
tions-configured V-280 in 2034.
2,270kg
Increased maximum take-off weight
via A/MH-6’s Block 3 upgrade, which
also modernises cockpit systems
Created in the early 1980s after
a disastrous attempt to rescue
American hostages being held
in Iran, the 160th SOAR provides
rotary-wing aviation support to
SOF personnel across the US ser-
vices. It primarily operates the
MH-60 and the MH-47G.
Lieutenant Colonel Cameron
Keough, who manages the MH-60
programme for SOCOM, says its
aircraft modification process can
include structural and electrical
changes and the fabrication of
new fairings.
While such extensive alterations
have typically been conceived
Defence Special forces
160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment
US Navy
showcased type at SOF Week in Tampa
after initial aircraft design, SOCOM
has been working with Bell and
the army during the initial FLRAA
design process to streamline future
SOF-oriented modifications.
Brigadier General Scott Wilkinson,
head of the US Army Special
Operations Aviation Command, said
in April that SOCOM is working with
the army to ensure the Valor can
be “rapidly configured for our use…
with minimal modification to the
original airframe”.
Procurement officials say the final
V-280 design will incorporate fea-
tures allowing it to be altered quickly
and at minimal cost for SOF duties,
with additions such as an air-to-air
refuelling probe and nose-mounted
terrain-following radar.
“We’re still going to ‘Monster Ga-
rage’ it, but now it’s going to be a
lot more affordable,” Keough says.
Bell tells FlightGlobal that it ex-
pects to deliver the first V-280
test aircraft to the army around
mid-decade. Special operations test
pilots will not begin flying the mod-
el until roughly 2029, Smith says.
“We’re closely nested with the
army,” he adds, with SOCOM test
pilots embedded with the V-280
test team. The army’s procure-
ment team will take the lead on the
FLRAA acquisition, including initial
flight certification of the standard
aircraft design.
The army expects to equip its first
conventional aviation unit with the
V-280 between 2030 and 2031. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 19
 Unmanned systems Contest
Valiant’s nacelles pivot between
vertical and horizontal flight modes
FTUAS bidders advance
US Army clears path for further flight testing and evaluations
of Valiant and Aerosonde Mk 4.8 uncrewed aerial systems
Ryan Finnerty Syracuse
G
riffon Aerospace and
Textron Systems have
advanced to the next
stage of the US Army’s
Future Tactical Uncrewed Aerial
System (FTUAS) competition, with
the activity to culminate with their
delivery of production-representa-
tive prototypes.
The service in late April announced
that both bidders in the contest to
replace its Textron RQ-7B Shadow
fleet will take part in its third phase.
This will include flight demonstra-
tions, open-systems architecture
verification and the opportunity for
operator-level soldiers to evaluate
their candidates.
Griffon is offering its quad-
rotor-configuration Valiant design.
Similar to a tiltrotor, its nacelle
assemblies pivot between vertical
and horizontal flight modes. The
company has not released further
details regarding its progression in
the FTUAS process.
Incumbent Textron, meanwhile, is
Griffon Aerospace
promoting the Aerosonde Mk 4.8
hybrid quad-rotor. This features
four vertically-oriented rotors for
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
20 Flight International June 2024
generating lift and a rear-mount-
ed pusher propeller for use during
horizontal flight.
“The Aerosonde Mk 4.8 is a low-
risk offering that has participat-
ed in risk-reduction flights and
builds upon operator feedback and
decades of UAS experience,” says
Textron vice-president for air sys-
tems Wayne Prender. “Textron Sys-
tems’ expertise in UAS systems inte-
gration and manufacturing positions
us to accelerate at whatever speed
the army requests to provide our
FTUAS solution,” he adds.
Operational demonstrations
Both companies also were simulta-
neously selected for phase four of
the programme, which will cover
the delivery of production-repre-
sentative prototypes to support op-
erational demonstrations. That work
will include assessing the impact of
electromagnetic and environmental
variables, aircraft transportability
and additional flight evaluations.
Army requirements for FTUAS
designs include runway independ-
ence and vertical take-off and land-
ing (VTOL), along with the ability
to be rapidly deployed. The ser-
vice’s new aircraft will improve the
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Wo r l d A i r Fo r c e s r e p o r t
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ability of ground troops to “collect,
develop and report actionable
intelligence”, it says.
Used to provide surveillance,
reconnaissance and target acquisi-
tion support to the army’s ground
combat units, the in-service Shadow
must be launched from a pneumat-
ic catapult. Introducing a VTOL
capability will significantly expand
the effectiveness and flexibility of
the future type, the army says.
The winning FTUAS candidate
is expected to operate at low to
medium altitudes, and will employ
equipment such as an electro-
optical/infrared sensor with laser
range finding and target designa-
tion, data encryption, modern data
links, manned-unmanned team-
ing technologies and the ability to
operate autonomously.
The army also will require its
future UAS to be capable of
navigating and operating in GPS-
denied environments.
Previous other contenders for
the FTUAS need included Northrop
Grumman and Sierra Nevada, who
were excluded as part of a sec-
ond-phase decision last October,
and AeroVironment, which was
eliminated in May 2023. ◗

USAF picks two for CCA effort
Anduril and General Atomics chosen to deliver production-
representative unmanned combat aircraft, with US Air Force
identifying broader ‘vendor pool’ of 20-plus companies
Ryan Finnerty Syracuse
T
he US Air Force (USAF) has
selected two manufactur-
ers to advance into the next
round of its Collaborative
Combat Aircraft (CCA) programme:
Anduril Industries and General
Atomics Aeronautical Systems.
Announcing its decision on 24
April, the USAF said the companies
will receive funding to design and
manufacture “production-repre-
sentative test articles”. Their con-
tracts will also cover flight-test ac-
tivities using the prototype aircraft.
Other companies not selected to
advance – including heavyweights
Boeing, Lockheed Martin and
Northrop Grumman – “will continue
to be part of the broader industry
partner vendor pool” for CCA, the
air force says.
In addition to the possibility of
supplying prime contractors during
production of a first increment of
autonomous combat aircraft, those
companies will have the opportu-
nity to bid on a second increment,
which the USAF says it will begin
work on later this year.
“All current and potential future
industry partners from the CCA
vendor pool will compete for this
follow-on effort,” it says, noting this
includes more than 20 companies.
“As we navigate the next
phase of CCA development, our
US Air Force
General Atomics has confirmed
XQ-67A is the basis for its prototype
collaboration with both current
and potential industry partners
remains pivotal,” says assistant air
force secretary Andrew Hunter.
Anduril’s submission is likely to
be based around the Fury auton-
omous jet, which the company ac-
quired with its 2023 purchase of
start-up Blue Force Technologies.
“Anduril is proud to pave the way
for other non-traditional defence
companies to compete and deliver
on large scale programmes,” chief
executive Brian Schimpf says.
Cost conscious
General Atomics confirms that
its recently revealed XQ-67A Off-
Board Sensing Station is the basis
for its CCA prototype. That aircraft
made its first flight in February in
a remotely piloted configuration,
as part of an Air Force Research
Laboratory programme to develop
low-cost autonomous air vehicles.
“Since then, this prototype for
CCA has successfully completed
two additional test flights, laying
the groundwork for a successful
production and flight test
programme,” General Atomics said
in late April.
CCA testing will also incorpo-
rate the manufacturer’s MQ-20
Avenger to more quickly advance
autonomy and mission systems
technology, it says.
The USAF expects to make a
production decision for the first
Defence Selection
increment of CCA in fiscal year
2026, with plans to field a fully op-
erational capability before the end
of the decade. It aims to buy at least
1,000 autonomous aircraft, to be
suitable for roles including electron-
ic warfare, air-to-air engagements
and air-to-surface strikes.
A future breed of CCA de-
signs are intended to pair with
the USAF’s highly-classified
Next Generation Air Dominance
sixth-generation fighter, which is
currently under development.
Such unmanned platforms will
expand the USA’s fighter capacity
at lower cost and with faster devel-
opment and production times than
possible for piloted aircraft.
Separately, General Atomics has
used an unmanned Mojave demon-
strator armed with two pod-housed
Dillon Aero DAP-6 miniguns to
conduct live-fire tests at the Yuma
Proving Ground in Arizona.
Some 10,000 rounds of 7.62 x
51mm ammunition were expended
across seven target passes on 13
April, the airframer says.
“Mojave has the ability to act as a
sensor, shooter and sustainer, while
mitigating threat environments and
vulnerabilities, and safeguarding
human lives,” says General Atomics
Aeronautical Systems president
David Alexander.
The company is also develop-
ing a DAP-6 installation kit for its
MQ-9B SkyGuardian. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 21
 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
Spirit believes Airbus partnership
would survive Boeing acquisition
Negotiations complicate European airframer’s relationship
with supplier as it targets ramp-up of key programmes
David Kaminski-Morrow London
S
pirit AeroSystems chief
executive Patrick Shana-
han believes the compa-
ny will remain a partner
to Airbus even as Boeing negoti-
ates a potential acquisition of the
aerostructures firm.
The Boeing discussions com-
plicate Spirit’s relationship with
Airbus, given that the European
airframer has been immersed in
pricing talks with Spirit, as well as
intensified supply chain monitoring
as it seeks to ramp-up A350 and
A220 production.
Speaking during a first-quarter
briefing, Shanahan said that dis-
cussions with Boeing over a possi-
ble re-acquisition of Spirit “contin-
ue” – a situation over which Airbus
chief executive Guillaume Faury
has expressed reservations.
Faury has disclosed that the two
parties are holding preliminary
talks on a “variety of options” to
secure sourcing in the event of a
Boeing takeover.
Airbus has already moved to
re-integrate aerostructures facili-
ties in France and Germany which
it had previously established as
737 Max inspections will support higher rates, says Shanahan
Jon Hemmerdinger Sarasota
Spirit AeroSystems has disclosed
more detail about a newly
implemented 737 Max fuselage
inspection process that executives
say has initially slowed deliveries
but will ultimately better
prepare the company for future
production rate increases.
On 1 March, Boeing started
requiring that 737 fuselages
be fully inspected for possible
defects or other problems prior
22 Flight International June 2024
standalone divisions. But Faury has
yet to reveal the airframer’s thinking
regarding Spirit’s Airbus activity.
Spirit’s relationship with Airbus
dates back nearly 20 years, after
Boeing’s decision to divest its Wich-
ita and Tulsa commercial aircraft
manufacturing facilities to Canadian
private equity firm Onex in 2005.
The divested plants were rebrand-
ed with the Spirit AeroSystems
name, and the newly independent
company courted Airbus to sup-
plement its activity with aerostruc-
tures work – although Airbus’s ini-
tial reaction was to suggest Spirit’s
proposals were too expensive.
Wing components
But Spirit persisted and became a
supplier to Airbus in 2006 with the
acquisition of UK-based BAE Aero-
structures, giving it work on items
including wing components and a
facility in Prestwick, Scotland.
When Airbus sought to divest
some of its own aerostructures op-
erations under a restructuring plan
designated Power8 – among them
French, German and UK sites such
as Saint-Nazaire, Nordenham and
Filton – Spirit was keen to take part,
particularly as Airbus had embarked
on its A350 XWB programme.
to Spirit shipping them from its
Wichita production site to the
narrowbody’s final assembly line
in Renton, Washington.
Boeing intends the inspections
to reduce or eliminate fuselage-
related “travelled work” – meaning
work completed later than planned
during production.
The inspection requirement
was implemented amid intense
pressure to improve quality in the
wake of the 5 January in-flight
failure of a 737 Max 9’s mid-cabin
door-plug.
Spirit was unsuccessful with its
bid for the plants but subsequently
achieved a breakthrough in 2008
when it secured the centre fuselage
package for the A350, for which it
would establish a new facility at
Kinston in North Carolina.
The company’s efforts to di-
versify from Boeing work proved
Airbus
difficult, however, and Spirit
endured several years of prob-
lematic operations battling cost
overruns on development pro-
grammes including business jets.
But Spirit has demonstrated its
capabilities, with some 600 A350s
delivered, and has managed to
reinforce its collaboration with
Airbus. It took over the former
Bombardier plant in Belfast, North-
ern Ireland, which produces wings
for the A220, in 2020 and remains
a supplier of components for other
Airbus models.
Shanahan indicates that he be-
lieves the two sides will maintain
their co-operation.
“We’ve explored other economics
and a different relationship in our
production system. There’s a path
forward on all fronts and we’ll con-
tinue to partner with Airbus.”
Airbus is concerned about sup-
ply chain reliability as it looks to
Spirit and Boeing are now jointly
inspecting, prior to delivery,
737 fuselages coming out of the
Wichita assembly site.
“The decision was made
to fundamentally change the
inspection process,” says Spirit
chief executive Pat Shanahan.
“Today, working shoulder to
shoulder with a standardised
26-zone product-verification
process, the teams verify product
conformity on the 737.”
Ideally, the changes will ensure
that fuselages arriving in Renton

raise production of the A350 and
A220, and is supporting Spirit with
its own personnel to ensure qual-
ity is maintained. Pressure to ad-
dress quality issues with 737 Max
production had spurred Boeing’s
acquisition discussions with Spirit.
“We have lots of conversations
with Airbus on many different
levels,” says Shanahan. “These tend
to focus on the integrity of supply,
given the significant ramp-ups on
the A350 and the A220.”
He points out that the A350 ramp-
up amounts to a 43% increase this
year, with production set to include
the first A350 freighter, while the
A220 will have a 52% hike – result-
ing in an “intensity” of discussions
with the airframer.
The two sides have been trying
to reach an agreement on pricing,
are ready to go, meaning Boeing
can “load [them] into their first
position and immediately put
floors down”, Shanahan adds.
“We cannot travel any work that
would disrupt their ability to start
on day one.”
Boeing executives have said in
recent months that anything that
disrupts production opens a door
for possible quality problems to
be introduced.
Shanahan says the new
inspection process prevented
Spirit from delivering 45 fuselages
produced during the first quarter,
which “in effect paused our ability
but progress has been slow and
has yet to lead to a result.
“We have never stopped talking
about price with Airbus,” says
Shanahan. “We haven’t made the
progress we want, but we’ve never
stopped talking about price.”
Delivery targets
He says this “impasse” as well as
“continued pressure” on meeting
delivery targets for the A350
and A220 led to Spirit’s book-
ing “significant losses” for the
first quarter, the result of re-
versing previously booked price
assumptions combined with net
incremental losses for anticipated
future performance obligations
beyond 2026.
First-quarter forward losses on
the A350 and A220 programmes
to receive payment for [them]”.
Boeing did, however, loan Spirit
$425 million, which it expects to
repay in the third quarter.
Spirit now anticipates
completing 31 737 fuselages
monthly for the rest of this year,
far lower than its previous plan.
But the inspections have already
driven a 15% “improvement in
quality” and will enable Spirit
to deliver more consistently as
output increases, Shanahan says.
“This all supports rate 42, rate 47
and beyond.”
Spirit swung deeply into the
red during the first quarter,
Manufacturing Strategy
Aerostructures manufacturer secured
A350 centre fuselage work in 2008
amounted respectively to $281 mil-
lion and $167 million.
Shanahan says that financial risk
“ultimately manifests itself as opera-
tional risk”, and the company needs
to reach agreements with Airbus as
it has with Boeing, although he re-
sists the idea of using hardball tac-
tics to resolve the pricing issue.
He also stresses that the company
has “risen to the challenge” of strain
on the supply chain, and that it will
continue to work with Airbus to “en-
sure that quality and safety remain
the foremost considerations”.
Shanahan says he is “confident” of
reaching “some kind of conclusion”,
adding: “We have to have financial-
ly strong business and partnerships
are the only way to do this. But we’ll
probably have to have a few more
family meetings.” ◗
losing $617 million – which nearly
matched its full-year 2023 loss
of $633 million – amid sharply
reduced 737 fuselage deliveries
and hefty charges against its
Airbus A220 and A350 work.
Spirit has also cut its forecast
for 787 production and now
anticipates that it will deliver
50 forward fuselage sections
this year, down from its original
expectation of 80.
On 16 May, Spirit said it was
cutting its Wichita workforce in
reposnse to lower production
rates. Up to 450 positions could
be affected, local media reports.
June 2024 Flight International 23
Heart Aerospace Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
Heart breaks silence on updated
design for hybrid-electric ES-30
Developer reveals significant changes to developmental
regional airliner as it simplifies planned propulsion system
Dominic Perry London
S
weden’s Heart Aerospace
has radically redesigned its
developmental ES-30 hy-
brid-electric regional air-
craft, switching to an off-the-shelf
propulsion system – a combination
of stock turboprops and electric
motors – and dropping distinctive
features such as the strut-braced
wing and large under-fuselage
battery bay.
In addition, the company now
says the first flight of its full-scale
demonstrator aircraft, set for next
year, will be uncrewed.
The newly-disclosed design revi-
sions are the latest changes to the
Heart Aerospace
Download the 202 Commercial Engines Report
now with updated enhanced data and in-depth market analysis
FlightGlobal.com/commengines
24 Flight International June 2024
aircraft the Swedish start-up hopes
to bring to market.
At its launch in September 2022,
the ES-30 – itself a replacement
for the abandoned full-electric 19-
seat ES-19 – Heart said the aircraft
would be driven by four electric
motors powered by batteries stored
in a large compartment mounted
underneath the fuselage.
A turbogenerator in the rear fuse-
lage was to serve as a range extend-
er, pushing potential flight distances
out from 108nm (200km) to 215nm
with a full 30-passenger load. Range
could even stretch to 430nm if only
25 passengers were carried.
Additional elements such as a
strut-braced wing with winglets
also featured.
Forslund has been acting in a technical
leadership role as well as chief executive
However, Heart has changed
course, believing the new configu-
ration, which it describes as having
an “independent hybrid propulsion
system”, offers a simpler, more
cost-effective solution.
Underpinning the decision was
the knowledge that the turbogen-
erator would only be used for a
tiny fraction of the ES-30’s flights.
“We don’t want to be spending all
of our resources, all of our develop-
ment, on that system,” says Heart
co-founder and chief executive
Anders Forslund.
Outboard engines
Instead of the turbogenerator, hy-
bridisation is achieved through a
pair of small turboprop engines
mounted outboard on the wing,
while inboard will be a pair of large
electric motors, sized to enable
flights of up to 108nm on battery
power alone.
While feathered during all-
electric flights, the turboprops can
be activated if the cruise phase
needs to be extended, Heart says.
“The simplest way of doing it is
to design a turboprop and design
an electric aircraft and put [both
powertrains] on the same wing,”
adds Forslund.
The company has yet to provide
specifics, but he says the power
output of the electric motors will
be “not quite twice as large but in
that ballpark”.
“This is a simple solution that we
ran the numbers on extensively. We
are really excited about it.”

Ditching the turbogenerator has
freed up space in the rear fuse-
lage, allowing the battery pack to
take its place and removing the
need for the sub-fuselage storage.
This has twin benefits of reducing
drag and improving crashworthi-
ness, says Forslund.
Additionally, the move to the
new propulsion system architec-
ture meant that the wing-strut
could be eliminated.
“When designing for the power
constraints of the turboprop you
end up being in a better place with-
out the strut,” Forslund says.
However, the design changes do
not alter any of the ES-30’s range
or payload specifications, the
company stresses.
Heart is yet to disclose the sup-
pliers it will employ for its pow-
ertrain, but Forslund says the
thermal engines will be an off-the-
shelf model “of a form factor that
is commonly used”.
Using stock powerplants for
propulsion rather than electrical
generation also means that the
“level of recertification required is
very minimal,” he says.
While the ubiquitous Pratt &
Whitney Canada PT6 would clear-
ly offer one option, that engine
class is a “competitive space” and
Heart is “engaging with a few dif-
ferent suppliers”.
Heart had not disclosed the sup-
ply chain for its previous propul-
sion system: in its early days it had
been developing its own electric
motor, but it is unclear how far this
“[An off-the-shelf propulsion
system] is a simple solution that
we ran the numbers on extensively.
We are really excited about it”
Anders Forslund Co-founder and chief executive, Heart Aerospace
progressed. The company in March
2023 also said it was working with
BAE Systems to define the battery
system for the ES-30.
Development of the revised
powertrain will be driven by a
new R&D hub that Heart is cur-
rently setting up in Los Angeles,
California under the leadership of
newly-appointed chief technology
officer Benjamin Stabler.
Heart is continuing to build a
full-scale aircraft demonstrator at
its Save airport headquarters near
Gothenburg in Sweden but after
250
Orders for the ES-30, with options and
purchase rights for another 120, plus
letters of intent for a further 191
its roll-out later this year it will be
transferred by ship to Los Angeles
ahead of its maiden sortie.
Although first flight is set for next
year, Heart has yet to reveal where
the milestone will take place, save
that it will be in the USA.
But given that the maiden flight
will be remotely piloted it is, out
of necessity, likely to occur some-
where “in a very unpopulated area”.
Having previously flown an
uncrewed scaled demonstrator,
Forslund thinks there is significant
value in flying initially without a
pilot on board.
Environment Programme
Aircraft no longer features strut-braced
wing or an under-fuselage battery bay
“We are not trying to replace the
conforming flight tests with pilots,
– we are just trying to put this as
an early stage development tool,”
he adds.
The location of the R&D hub has
yet to be disclosed but Heart says
it is in the “final stages” of selecting
office and hangar space in the Los
Angeles area.
Stabler, whose appointment
is effective immediately, is also
recruiting a team of around 20
people to staff the facility.
Heart will retain its opera-
tion in Gothenburg and “remains
headquartered in Europe, where
it will pursue type certification in
2028”, the company says.
First flight of a more produc-
tion-representative aircraft – with
a pilot on board this time – is
expected in 2026.
Stabler joins Heart from Parallel
Systems, a developer of automat-
ed, battery-electric rail freight vehi-
cles, which he co-founded. He has
previous experience on hardware
and software teams for SpaceX’s
Crew Dragon programme.
Key technologies
In addition to the powertrain, the
Los Angeles operation will work
to develop “other key technolo-
gies” with a focus on “systems and
vertical integration”.
Despite the company’s Nor-
dic roots, the Swedish business is
owned by Heart Aerospace Inc – a
Delaware-registered company with
premises in Palo Alto, California.
Stabler’s appointment as CTO
will allow Forslund to transition
from his interim technical leader-
ship role to focus exclusively on his
duties as chief executive.
Heart says it has secured 250
orders for the ES-30, with options
and purchase rights for another
120 aircraft. The company also
holds letters of intent for a further
191 units. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 25
 Fighters Production
Interim ‘combat training’ standard
should unblock F-35 shipments
Deliveries likely to resume in third quarter to support pilot
readiness, after Technical Refresh 3 delay meant no examples
were handed over during first three months of this year
Craig Hoyle London
L
ockheed Martin expects to
resume deliveries of its F-35
in the third quarter of this
year, with the US Department
of Defense (DoD) to begin by taking
updated aircraft in an interim “com-
bat training-capable” standard.
The airframer delivered no F-35s
in the first three months of this
year, as difficulties with complet-
ing its delayed Technical Refresh 3
(TR-3) modification for the stealth
fighter dragged on. The zero figure
marked a drop from 18 jets handed
over in the last quarter of 2023.
Last July, the DoD began refusing
to accept F-35s manufactured
in the TR-3 operating standard,
due to yet-to-be-completed flight
testing of the updated software.
The halt also has been adopted by
international customers including
Belgium and Denmark.
During a first-quarter earnings
call on 23 April, Lockheed chief ex-
ecutive James Taiclet said the com-
pany expects to hand over a first
TR-3 aircraft in the combat train-
ing-capable standard later this year.
This “Release 1” step will ena-
ble pilots, maintainers and squad-
rons to begin preparing to use the
updated jet operationally once its
full software load gains approval
several months later.
Lockheed Martin
26 Flight International June 2024
Some 95% of the interim training F-35 deliveries
configuration’s full software load
was in flight testing as of late April, 2021 2022 2023
Taiclet says. Q1 22 17 26 5 0
“We’re encouraged by the Q2 25 37 35 45
solid progress made over the last Q3 31 36 27 30
few months towards resuming Q4 42 52 53 18
deliveries, including improvement Total 120 142 141 98
Source: Lockheed Martin financial results
in aircraft mission system capa-
bilities and system stability as
we advance from prior software
versions toward the combat Its current expectation is for
training-capable configuration,” shipments in 2024 to total between
he adds. “We are highly confident 75 and 110 aircraft, Taiclet says. The
based on the test results so far company transferred 98 of the
that those [aircraft] will be deliv- type in 2023: its lowest total so far
ered in the third quarter.” this decade (see table, above).
Meanwhile, Poland’s first F-35A
Transfer window has entered the latter stages of
The transfer of “full combat final assembly at Lockheed’s Fort
capability” jets is expected to get Worth site in Texas.
under way in 2025. Warsaw will field 32 examples,
“We remain focused on pro- which it will operate under the local
gramme execution in terms of con- name ‘Husarz’ (Hussar).
current development, production Final assembly of the Polish air
and sustainment, and we’re bring- force’s TR-3-standard jets will be
ing all relevant resources across our split equally between the USA and
company and collaborating closely Cameri in Italy. Deliveries will begin
with our customers and suppliers later this year, with the service’s
to fully implement the TR-3 capa- lead aircraft to initially support
bilities that everybody’s looking training activities at Ebbing Air
forward to getting,” Taiclet says. National Guard base in Arkansas.
Lockheed has continued to pro- Once operational, Poland’s
duce F-35s at an uninterrupted rate F-35As will be flown from its tacti-
of up to 156 jets per year despite cal air bases in Lask and Swidwin. ◗
the current delivery freeze, mean-
ing that it is amassing a significant Additional reporting by
stored inventory. Bartosz Glowacki in Warsaw
Deliveries of Poland’s TR-3-standard
aircraft are expected to begin this year

Firepower boost
for Australian Hornets
In-service types to remain active until 2040,
with new investment to enhance weapons
integration as nation seeks to deter potential
adversaries by fielding long-range capabilities
Greg Waldron Singapore
C
anberra has confirmed
plans to extend the service
life of its Boeing F/A-18F
Super Hornet and EA-18G
Growler fleet until 2040, with the
types to complement its Lockheed
Martin F-35A stealth fighters and
other assets.
Australia detailed its plan for
the current models within an
Integrated Investment Program
document published in mid-April.
This outlines its goals for a broad
range of defence capabilities over
the coming decades.
“Together, these two combat air-
craft will provide the integrated, fo-
cused force with multiple credible
and valuable strike and missile de-
fence options,” says the document.
It points to the value of the
Super Hornet’s “large and diverse”
weapons capacity in supporting
operations with the F-35A. The
EA-18G electronic warfare (EW)
aircraft is able to back a broad
spectrum of Australian Defence
Force activity, it adds.
“The F/A-18F Super Hornet and
EA-18G Growler will be provided
with lethality and survivability
upgrades, while maintaining their
interoperability with the United
States and other key partners,” says
Commonwealth of Australia
the document. “Defence is looking
to extend the operational life of
both these capabilities to 2040.”
The publication does not dis-
close a planned investment figure
for updates to the Super Hornet,
but indicates that total spending
on the F-35A over the next decade
will be A$4.3-5.3 billion ($2.7-3.4
billion). Some A$3.8-4.3 billion will
be spent on the EA-18G fleet.
Lockheed’s AGM-158C Long
Range Anti-Ship Missile will be in-
tegrated with the Royal Australi-
an Air Force’s (RAAF’s) F/A-18Fs,
F-35As and Boeing P-8A Poseidon
maritime patrol aircraft. The AGM-
158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff
Missile will also equip the F/A-18F
and F-35A. The latter platform and
the EA-18G will also carry Northrop
Grumman’s AGM-88E Advanced
Anti-Radiation Guided Missile –
Extended Range.
Finally, “The development of
hypersonic air-launched weapons
for employment from the F/A-18F
Super Hornet will provide the abil-
ity to engage targets at longer
ranges,” the report says.
Uncrewed assets
Meanwhile, Canberra will continue
to develop and assess the Boeing
Australia MQ-28A Ghost Bat un-
manned combat aircraft, as part of
a decade-long, A$4.3-5.3 billion in-
vestment in uncrewed capabilities.
Intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance (ISR) is also a
high priority, with investment be-
ing made in the Northrop MQ-4C
Triton unmanned air vehicle and
the Gulfstream MC-55A Peregrine.
The RAAF plans to field up to four
of the G550-derived assets to
perform ISR and EW tasks.
“Modernisation of air pow-
er capabilities across the region
Defence Fleet
F/A-18F Super Hornet (left) and
EA-18G Growler will be upgraded
has resulted in a need for more
survivable and potent air domain
capabilities that can operate at
longer ranges,” says the document.
“The Integrated Investment
Program includes investment of
A$28-33 billion in capabilities that
will enable [the] air force to under-
take expeditionary air operations
to project force into our primary
area of military interest.
“These capabilities will provide
aerial surveillance of our mari-
time approaches, [and] hold at
risk, at extended ranges, potential
adversary forces that could target
our interests during a conflict, and
deter attempts to project power
against Australia.”
The investment plan’s release
coincided with the publication
of Australia’s new National De-
fence Strategy, which describes
the strategic environment as at its
most challenging point since the
Second World War.
“Entrenched and increasing
strategic competition between
the United States and China is a
primary feature of our security en-
vironment,” it states.
“It is being accompanied by an
unprecedented conventional and
non-conventional military build-up
in our region… without strategic
reassurance or transparency.
“The challenges to regional
stability and prosperity arising
from this competition are being
compounded by a range of other
security risks, including climate
change, grey-zone activities and
technological advancements.” ◗
June 2024 Flight International 27
AirTeamImages Safety Report
Failure of ATR 72 systems traced to
wire fractured by wrong MRO tool
Twin-turboprop’s crew diverted to Birmingham after facing
barrage of alerts during initial East Midlands approach
David Kaminski-Morrow London
U
K investigators have deter-
mined that a wire defect,
which led to a cascade of
electrical problems on an
ATR 72-200 freighter, had resulted
from incorrect use of wire-
stripping tools by a third-party
maintenance provider.
The West Atlantic aircraft –
arriving from Belfast on 17 January
last year – had been conducting
the final stage of a Category II ap-
proach in low visibility, at night, to
East Midlands airport’s runway 27.
As it descended into cloud at
500ft, the crew received indica-
tions of a DC generator fault. The
autopilot disconnect horn sounded
and, as the crew opted to execute a
go-around, they received multiple
audio and visual alerts including
spurious terrain, bank angle, and
height warnings.
Although standby instruments
continued to function normally,
both pilots experienced periods of
blank displays and the crew was
unable to reselect the autopilot.
Attempts to contact air traffic
control to request a diversion to Bir-
mingham – on both the regular ra-
dio frequency, and the distress fre-
quency – were initially unsuccessful.
“With the prospect of a manual-
ly-flown diversion, using degraded
28 Flight International June 2024
flight instruments and without radio
communications, crew workload
was high,” says the UK Air Acci-
dents Investigation Branch.
But the pilots managed to reach
East Midlands radar controllers and
request vectors to Birmingham.
The crew, carrying out quick-
reference checks, turned off DC
generator 2 about 7min after the
incident began, and power was also
lost to the corresponding DC bus.
Audio and visual warnings
ceased, and the first officer’s
display screens – which had been
flashing – went blank.
Battery discharging
The crew sought to determine
which systems had been lost,
recognising that the main battery
– which had a 30min life – was
discharging, and the green hydrau-
lic system, which extends the land-
ing-gear, was unpowered.
All automatic flight functions
were unavailable, says the in-
quiry, so the captain flew a manual
raw-data ILS approach to Birming-
ham’s runway 33, and the crew
used the blue hydraulic circuit to
pressurise the green circuit and
lower the undercarriage.
The aircraft (G-NPTF) landed
safely and neither pilot was injured.
Investigators inspected the air-
craft’s right-hand DC starter-gener-
ator and focused on a speed sensor
All automatic flight functions became
unavailable during the incident
which measures the high-pressure
compressor’s rotation speed. Its
output connector is connected to
the sensor unit by two wires.
One of these wires was found to
be broken, but held in place by its
heat-shrink sleeve, close enough
for intermittent contact. The inquiry
says the manufacturer’s compo-
nent maintenance manual did not
specify the tool to be used for
stripping the wire, and the mainte-
nance organisation used a mechan-
ical – rather than a thermal – tool,
resulting in the fracture.
While the inquiry could not
determine why the wire failed when
it did, the break occurred during a
critical phase of flight. The partial
connection of the wire resulted in
rapid, intermittent speed signals
being sent to the generator
control unit, and triggering power-
distribution anomalies and various
electrical problems.
“Due to the rapidly changing and
unusual power distribution config-
uration of the aircraft during this
event, it has not been possible to
fully explain the behaviour of some
of the flight instruments observed
by the crew and that of other
aircraft systems,” the inquiry says.
Investigators say the starter-
generator manufacturer and the
overhaul organisation have identi-
fied a number of safety actions they
will take to prevent a recurrence. ◗

H160’s weighting game
Operators of new medium-twin will see payload and
range gains based on analysis of airframes delivered
to date and real-world fuel-consumption data
Dominic Perry London
A
irbus Helicopters has
reduced the published
empty weight of its new
H160 medium-twin by
100kg (220lb), driven by analysis of
the airframes built so far and better
than anticipated fuel consumption.
Disclosing the improvement,
Gilles Armstrong, head of the H160
programme, says operators will
benefit from increases to range and
useful load as a result.
Range rises by about 60nm
(111km), he says, or 30min extra en-
durance; payload grows by 100kg.
Airbus Helicopters has previously
listed maximum useful load for the
H160 as “up to 2,000kg”.
No design changes have been
needed to achieve the improve-
ments, but analysis of airframe
weights “has allowed us to remove
a certain amount of conservatism”
inherent in the airframer’s projec-
tions, says Armstrong.
Analysis of weight data from
the 28 customer aircraft so far
delivered has shown “less than a 1%
gap between different aircraft”, he
says; historically “we would have
expected a bigger spread”.
“What we are confirming is that
it is not luck or one-offs – we have
done the work to confirm this is the
Dianne Bond/Airbus Helicopters
trend and this is the new baseline.”
Operators flying “heavily
equipped” helicopters, for example
search and rescue- or police-roled
examples, will see most bene-
fit from the changes, he adds,
“because the more equipped it
was, the more prudent we had
been about the official weight”.
“In all these missions you get an
extra passenger or an extra 60nm
[range],” Armstrong says.
Around 75% of the 100kg total
comes from the lower airframe
weight, while the remainder is
driven by better than expected fuel
consumption from the H160’s twin
Safran Helicopter Engines Arrano
powerplants.
These are delivering fuel-burn
figures around 3% lower than fore-
cast, says Armstrong, enabling
around 25kg less fuel to be carried
for a typical mission.
Manual control
The airframer has now updated its
technical publications and flight
manuals to reflect the changes.
Armstrong says the baseline
improvement will further “close the
gap” to the competing, and heav-
ier, Leonardo Helicopters AW139
intermediate-twin.
For the offshore market, the
number of platforms beyond the
range of the H160 and still able to
be served by the AW139 will be
“very, very small”, he argues, add-
ing: “In my view, today there’s not
an awful lot of reasons to buy an
AW139 in oil and gas now.”
Interest from the oil and gas
market will be spurred by the out-
come of route-proving activity in
the USA. Led by customer PHI, the
flights are due to commence soon,
says Armstrong.
That process was held up by the
delay to US Federal Aviation Ad-
ministration certification for the
Rotorcraft Programme
Route-proving activity in the
USA will be led by customer PHI
H160, a milestone finally achieved
in June 2023.
But with US type approval now
secured, Airbus Helicopters has
been able to ratify the training
syllabus for the H160: Flight Stand-
ardization Board approval for the
process was received in February
and check flights for PHI pilots be-
gan in mid-April, says Armstrong.
In addition, US validation for
instrument flight rules operations
is expected “in the coming weeks”,
the airframer says.
Interest from the oil and gas
industry in the H160 “is huge”, he
says, describing the entry into
service with PHI as a “key marker”
for the programme.
Backlog for the H160 is “over 100”,
including 30 examples of the mili-
tary M-model variant being devel-
oped for the French armed forces.
Production lead times are also
coming down as the industrial pro-
cess matures, Armstrong adds.
“We are driving the industrial
ramp-up very hard,” he says. “That’s
what we are really going into in this
mid part of the year and coming in
with a better lead time.”
Meanwhile, the airframer con-
tinues its maturity testing of the
helicopter, in April beginning the
second 1,000h block of ground runs
using the whirl tower facility at its
Marignane production site in the
south of France. That process will
continue until the end of the year,
with a third phase still to come.
“That’s going to help us get
ahead of the curve on the high
flight rate that we expect out of the
PHI operation,” says Armstrong. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 29
 Safety Report
Blade release due to manufacturing
fault doomed VX4 prototype: AAIB
UK investigators detail the sequence of August crash in
which eVTOL developer’s first test article was written off
Dominic Perry London
V
ertical Aerospace’s initial
VX4 prototype was writ-
ten off after the failure of
a propeller blade due to
a manufacturing fault led to a loss
of thrust from two of the aircraft’s
remaining electric motors, ultimate-
ly causing it to impact the ground
with a high rate of descent, UK in-
vestigators have determined.
AAIB
Detailing the crash sequence in
its final report into the 9 August
2023 incident, the conclusions of
the Air Accidents Investigation
Branch (AAIB) support the man-
ufacturer’s own findings, which it
published a month after the event.
At the time of the accident, Verti-
cal was carrying out a second phase
of uncrewed testing of the VX4
electric vertical take-off and land-
ing (eVTOL) aircraft at Cotswold
airport in southwest England.
Controlled by a remote pilot,
the test was intended to evalu-
ate the VX4’s performance with
one electric propulsion unit (EPU)
inoperative during out of ground
effect hover.
Having been held in a hov-
er at 30ft above ground level for
10s, the VX4 (G-EVTL) was be-
ing accelerated towards a target
ground speed of 7kt (13km/h)
when, at about 2-4kt, “a loud ‘pop’
was heard, and a propeller blade
was released from EPU3”.
The VX4 was equipped with eight
Equipmake HTM-1900 EPUs, with
the four tiltable units on the wing’s
leading edge numbered one to four,
from left to right, and the rear fixed
units numbered five to eight.
As the blade released at about
1,200rpm, the out of balance load
created led to the failure of the
EPU3 pylon as its forward section
initially rotated upwards under
residual propeller thrust.
This movement in turn damaged
high voltage power cables and
wiring harnesses – two of six CAN
30 Flight International June 2024
buses were completely severed and
a third experienced an intermittent
connection – ultimately leading to
the loss of thrust from EPUs 4 and 7.
Damage to the wiring “meant
the system did not command suffi-
cient thrust to the remaining EPUs
to allow the aircraft to continue to
hover”, says the AAIB.
Although the flight-control system
maintained the VX4 in an “approxi-
mately level attitude”, it descended
at a rate of 19.45ft/s – twice the
limit it was designed to withstand –
hitting the southern edge of runway
26, with the left main wheel and
nose wheel on the grass.
Accident damage
During the impact, the nose-gear
collapsed and the starboard wing
broke at the inboard pylon, remain-
ing attached to the rest of the air-
craft by wiring harnesses.
Subsequent examination of the
released blade showed that its inner
spar had become unbonded from
the outer sheath. This allowed the
outer part to translate radially out-
wards, increasing the bending load
on the spar until its outer section
fractured and separated.
“The blade sheath that released
during flight showed evidence
of poor bonding,” the AAIB says.
“Most of the adhesive remained
attached to the internal sheath
surface with very little present on
the blade spar.”
Nose-gear collapsed and starboard
wing snapped after heavy impact
Stress analysis conducted by Ver-
tical showed that only 5% of the
spar-sheath bond area was required
to retain the sheath in the condi-
tions in which the failure occurred,
pointing to “progressive degrada-
tion of the bond” during operations
prior to the release, the report says.
CT scans of two other similar
blades from Vertical’s spares pool
revealed widespread voids in the
bond line in both components,
alongside variations in the shape of
the spar cross-section.
“A review by the manufacturer
determined that the blade structur-
al design, and the relevant manu-
facturing control, quality assurance
processes and verification pro-
gramme were contributory factors
to the blade release,” the AAIB adds.
Vertical has since retired all the
so-called “generation one” blades,
replacing them with a second-gen-
eration design that eliminates the
possibility of the bonding failure
mode. These will be flown aboard
its next prototype, due to make its
maiden sortie in the coming weeks.
In all, the manufacturer identified
36 product and process improve-
ments resulting from findings of
the investigation.
“These include improvements
in quality control, supplier qual-
ification, design and verification
processes, flight-control laws, CAN
bus architecture and the routing of
wiring harnesses,” says the AAIB. ◗

Aircraft design concepts have been used
to understand system requirements
Supply chain issues slow GKN
motor tests, but H2GEAR advances
UK firm confident in progress despite need to produce parts
internally delaying timeline for hydrogen fuel cell powertrain
Dominic Perry London
G
KN Aerospace continues
to advance development
of a 1MW hydrogen-elec-
tric powertrain under its
H2GEAR programme – but progress
has been slower than hoped due to
issues with the supply chain for its
cryogenic electric motor.
Although the overall project is
“progressing really well”, says Russ
Dunn, chief technology officer of
UK-headquartered GKN, it had
hoped to complete testing of the
powertrain in 2025, a milestone
which has now slipped into 2026.
GKN is developing a liquid-hydro-
gen-based system and intends to
use the cryogenic temperaure of the
fuel – via a transmission medium of
helium gas – to cool the entire sys-
tem, significantly enhancing motor
and electrical distribution efficiency.
Bench testing of a cryogenic
demonstrator motor and distri-
bution network in order to raise
both systems to technology readi-
ness level (TRL) 4 was due to have
taken place last year, but GKN
has struggled to secure suitable
suppliers, delaying the project
slightly, says Dunn.
“We found some quite significant
challenges in the supply chain for
the demonstrator motor; we’ve end-
ed up having to bring a lot of that
[component production] in house.”
Parts suppliers were either unwill-
ing “to invest or allocate resources
GKN Aerospace
on a long-term hydrogen-type pro-
gramme” or could not deliver the
required quality, he says.
However, the need to internalise
production has meant GKN “lever-
aged some unique IP” from across
the business: “We have actually
probably got greater value out of
having to bring it in house than
we anticipated, but it wasn’t in the
original plan.”
The demonstrator motor – with
power output of “hundreds of kilo-
watts” – is now being assembled at
GKN’s Global Technology Centre
in Bristol in southwest England
and is “looking very, very good”,
says Dunn.
Technology tests
Evaluations to show the motor
and electrical network – the
“really, really complex parts of
the programme” – have reached
TRL4 will take place “over the next
couple of months” at the Univer-
sity of Bath’s IAAPS propulsion
research facility in Bristol.
Assembly of the complete 1MW
powertrain being developed
through H2GEAR should be fin-
ished by the end of 2025, leading
to the completion of testing by
around mid-2026.
In addition to the 1MW system,
Dunn says GKN has designed a
conceptual system with double
the output. But any decision to in-
vest in building that powertrain “is
something that we would need to
go through based on value”.
As part of its study work, the com-
pany has created “design concepts”
of 19-, 46- and 96-seat aircraft that
could be powered by a hydrogen
fuel cell powertrain, to better under-
stand the real-world trade-offs and
Sustainability Development
limitations imposed on its system.
Dunn says it continues to see no ob-
stacles to scaling the system further
for a larger aircraft.
GKN’s studies suggest around
2MW combined output would be
required for a 46-seat aircraft, and
8MW for a 96-seater.
Airbus is considering a fuel
cell-powered 100-seat aircraft de-
sign under its ZEROe effort, to
enter service in the middle of next
decade, and has been developing
its own 1.2MW powertrain.
Dunn says that while GKN has
regular conversations with the air-
framer regarding hydrogen pro-
pulsion, there is, as yet, no formal
agreement between the two.
“It would be completely stra-
tegically well aligned for us to do
something with Airbus and we are
very, very keen to further strength-
en that relationship,” he adds.
Although he declines to pro-
vide details, Dunn says GKN is
“increasingly confident” in its solu-
tion for the thermal management
of the fuel cells. However, he stress-
es this can be improved if fuel cell
efficiency also increases.
H2GEAR is a project part funded
by the UK’s Aerospace Technology
Institute (ATI). GKN in late March
announced the launch of sepa-
rate ATI-backed project – HyFIVE
– through which it will work with
Marshall Aerospace, Parker Meg-
gitt and three British universities
to develop liquid hydrogen fuel
system technologies.
GKN will develop the hydrogen
storage tank and other compo-
nents for the full system. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 31
 Visit FlightGlobal Premium for all the latest aviation news and insight FlightGlobal.com
Better connected
The US Navy has delivered high-fidelity training to more
than 1,000 F-35 pilots using a Joint Simulation Environment,
which is now being expanded to include further types
Jan Tegler Washington DC
U
S Navy (USN) officials have
revealed that a virtual test
range originally created to
assess the mission effec-
tiveness of Lockheed Martin’s F-35
has also quietly been in use since
2022 to provide fighter pilots with
advanced training that cannot be
replicated in the real world.
“We’ve been training F-35 avia-
tors for about two years now and
the demand signal is through the
roof, with just about every opera-
tional F-35 squadron in the US Navy,
Marine Corps and Air Force seeking
time here, to get exposure to that
high-fidelity threat environment,”
says Blaine Summers, Joint Simu-
lation Environment (JSE) director
for the Naval Air Warfare Center
Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) at NAS
Patuxent River in Maryland.
More than 1,000 F-35 pilots
have now trained through the JSE,
Summers says.
The unique, realistic training
provided by the JSE has already
led the US military to add Lock-
heed F-22 cockpit simulators to
the system. Officials are also work-
ing to bring Boeing F/A-18E/F
Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler and
Northrop Grumman E-2D Advanced
Hawkeye simulators online.
Terri Thomas/US Navy
Four F-22 cockpits are part of the
system installed at NAS Patuxent River
32 Flight International June 2024
The JSE, conceived in 2016 to
provide a secure venue in which
to fully test the F-35’s classified
sensors and mission systems, was
the hurdle that delayed a full-rate
production decision for the fighter
being reached until March 2024,
almost nine years after it first
became operational with the US
Marine Corps (USMC).
But even as NAWCAD struggled
with completing and validating
the JSE, the idea to use the virtual
32
Counter-air missions made in a JSE
training exercise in 2022, each with
eight F-35s facing up to 20 adversaries
battlespace as a state-of-the-art
joint service training aid took hold,
Summers says.
In early 2022, instructor and stu-
dent pilots from the US Air Force
(USAF) Weapons School’s 6th
Weapons Squadron, headquartered
at Nellis AFB in Nevada, travelled to
NAS Patuxent River to use the JSE
for a sprawling training exercise.
“They executed 32 defensive
counter-air missions,” Summers
recalls. “Each of those missions
Terri Thomas/US Navy
4.6m-wide dome simulators provide
F-35 pilots with a 300° field of view
was eight F-35s against up to 20
[adversary] threats. That’s just
unheard of. We can’t do that on
our open-air ranges. Most of our
low-end simulators don’t have
the reliability to get that kind of
throughput. That’s when JSE for
training was born.”
The JSE is a collection of net-
worked simulators. Eight F-35
cockpits, now joined by four for
the F-22, each reside within 4.6m
(15ft)-wide domes – giving pilots a
300° field of view and immersing
them in the virtual environment.
US Air Force
Pilots take a seat in F-35 and
F-22 cockpits that “match the
real jets down to the part num-
ber”, with every button, screen,
switch and sensor being identical
to those found on actual aircraft,
Summers says.
The simulated cockpits also
run the actual operational flight
programmes that are used on the
fighters – “real code from the jet,
re-hosted in our environment”,
Summers notes.
A multitude of complex mission
scenarios, incorporating thousands
of threats derived directly from
the US intelligence community’s
latest models, can be simulated on
the JSE digital range. Adversary
aircraft and weapons, and elec-
tromagnetic, infrared and cyber-
space threats, can be integrated in

varying combinations, simulating
enemy and friendly forces.
Summers says the JSE allows the
US military to expose its weapon
systems and aviators to a well-in-
formed, complex and dense threat
environment. “We just can’t do
[that] on our open-air ranges be-
cause we don’t have the quantity
of equipment, the quantity of air-
craft or the complexity of systems.”
The JSE allows fighter pilots to
fully exercise aircraft, weapons
and sensors while out of sight of
adversaries. It is a closed enclave
where USN, USAF and USMC
aviators can “execute formal
tactics and experiment with new
ones”, Summers says.
The integration of weapons sys-
tems within the JSE is set to ex-
pand. Super Hornet and EA-18G
cockpits are now being added, and
E-2D cockpits and tactical work sta-
tions are to join this year.
Emerging platforms
Plans also call for JSE updates to
accommodate future and emerging
platforms, including the Next Gen-
eration Air Dominance sixth-gen-
eration fighter, the Northrop B-21
stealth bomber, and so-called col-
laborative combat aircraft.
JSE training is already part of the
formal curriculum for the services’
“Often, the operators say this is
the first time sitting in a cockpit
[that] they have had a true sense
of fear. That’s because the threat
representation is high quality”
Blaine Summers
Joint Simulation Environment director, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division
weapons schools, and the facility
provides pre-deployment training
for fighter squadrons.
By 2025, the US military plans
to integrate elements of the
digital-range environment into the
integrated test-training facility at
NAS Fallon in Nevada, home to
the USN’s Strike Fighter Tactics
Instructor Programme, better
known as Topgun.
In 2028, the USAF expects to
receive a full high-fidelity JSE
with F-35 and F-22 cockpits at its
Virtual Training and Testing Center
at Nellis AFB.
An effort is underway to “take
the JSE capability and move it
closer to warfighter concentra-
tion areas”, Summers says. “We’re
working to figure out how we
Training Technology
Virtual system is facing demand from
‘almost every operational squadron’
get this capability replicated at
different navy and air force facili-
ties all over the DoD [Department
of Defense].”
Pilots who train at the JSE come
away understanding its value as
the only training environment
“short of war” that realistically sim-
ulates how they would fight peer
adversaries in actual air combat,
Summers says.
“Often, the operators say this is
the first time sitting in a cockpit
[that] they have had a true sense
of fear,” he adds. “That’s because
the threat representation is high
quality. That F-35 operator is get-
ting visible and audible warnings.
“They’re getting engaged with
weapons. They’re getting punished
if they make mistakes tactically.” ◗
June 2024 Flight International 33
 Programme Enhancement
Tecnam takes P2006T to next level
Tecnam
Italian airframer reveals updated version of piston-twin
featuring more than 300 improvements over predecessor
Pilar Wolfsteller Friedrichshafen
I
talian airframer Tecnam has
launched an updated version of
its popular P2006T four-seat
piston-twin, which it designates
the NG.
Tecnam introduced the new
design, along with a sleek NG
Sport configuration, at the Aero
Friedrichshafen general aviation
show on 17 April. It is aiming to
achieve European certification by
year-end.
Powered by two Rotax 912SC3
four-stroke 100hp (75kW) engines,
the NG sports an additional door
on the starboard side for co-pilot
access, and external access to the
luggage compartment. It comes
outfitted with a Garmin G1000 NXi
avionics suite, and the cockpit in-
terior has also been reconfigured
to include a centre console that
houses the flight-management
system keyboard.
“After feedback from the market
we implemented more than 300
minor and major changes to the
airframe under the metal to im-
prove aircraft reliability,” Giovanni
Pascale Langer, Tecnam managing
director, tells FlightGlobal.
The NG’s maximum speed is
148kt (274km/h), some 3kt higher
than the previous variant. The
aircraft has a range of 930nm
(1,720km) – down on the P2006T’s
figure of 1,100nm – and its useful
34 Flight International June 2024
load rises to 410kg (904lb), from
370kg previously.
With the new Rotax engines, the
company says it was able to reduce
the aircraft’s CO2 emissions by
about 70%.
“We were able to get much
better fuel economy in cruise, so
we can go down to about 11 litres
per hour per side. So that makes
the P2006 the most cost-effi-
cient aircraft that a flight training
organisation can operate.”
The “super-premium” NG Sport
features additional design touch-
es such as a leather and alcantara
interior and a metallic silver livery.
European sales
For the moment, the firm is
focusing on selling to European
operators, and “a couple of flight
schools” have signed letters of in-
tent to acquire the new aircraft,
Langer says. Gaining approval for
the aircraft in the USA will require a
longer timespan, however.
“US certification is probably a
two-year journey, we don’t want to
commit to something not knowing
the validation timeline,” he says.
Tecnam will continue to produce
first-generation P2006Ts, of which
it has already built about 400.
The launch of the NG comes
hot on the heels of European
certification in March of the short
take-off and landing (STOL) var-
iant of the twin-engined P2012
commuter aircraft.
Company says new Rotax engines
reduce CO2 emissions by 70%
Tecnam developed the P2012
STOL for airports with short run-
ways and operational constraints.
The certification campaign lasted 18
months, and production aircraft are
now in the final stages of assembly.
“For many years the STOL
market has been dominated by
just a few OEMs,” Langer says. “It’s
a big achievement because what
we’re certifying today is complete-
ly different from what was certified
many years ago.
“The level of safety that you find
on an aircraft that is certified and
validated today cannot be com-
pared to what was done in the past.”
Tecnam has so far taken 10 or-
ders for the P2012 STOL, and
Langer says the company expects
to announce more deals in the
coming week as many operators
were waiting for the certification to
be completed before committing.
With the new models launching,
space at the company’s final assem-
bly facility in Capua near Naples in
southern Italy is at a premium. But
Tecnam is in the process of building
a new hangar to accommodate an
increased production rate: Langer
says the facility, encompassing
16,000sq m (172,000sq ft), will be
ready by year-end.
“We are expanding our capa-
bilities, and building new hangars
to improve our production rates.
Right now we’re doing the impos-
sible in order to produce with the
space that we have available.” ◗

Staying positive
Hybrid-electric aircraft developer VoltAero boosted by start
of powertrain certification testing for five-seat Cassio 330,
despite supply chain pressures delaying first flight milestone
Pilar Wolfsteller Friedrichshafen
F
rench aircraft developer Vol-
tAero is maintaining its end-
2025 goal for certification of
its Cassio 330 as it gears up
for a busy year of testing, including
a hotly-anticipated maiden sortie.
In addition, the company has now
begun certification bench tests of
the parallel hybrid-electric power-
train that will equip the five-seater.
Speaking to FlightGlobal at the
Aero Friedrichshafen trade show
on 17 April, where the compa-
ny displayed a wingless mock-
up of the Cassio 330, Jean Botti,
VoltAero’s chief executive and
chief technology officer, said the
firm now expects the prototype’s
maiden flight “at the end of this
year”, around 12 months later than
originally planned.
Supply chain issues – wide-
spread across the industry – have
also plagued the company, but
Botti is confident the long-term
effects will be minimal.
The initial prototype will be used
to validate the aircraft’s configura-
tion and new Duc Helices-supplied
propeller, and will run solely on its
Kawasaki Motors thermal engine.
“It will fly in thermal only, not
electric yet, because we want to
validate the flight characteris-
tics of the aircraft,” he says. “It’s
a new design, with new aerody-
namics. We want to make sure we
separate the variables; we will test
the new propeller, and then once
this is done, we will implement the
powertrain that is being tested
right now on the bench.
“We have all the potential devel-
oped for the future of Cassio 330,
and we are halfway to certification
– we have passed two steps out of
four – and we hope to be done by
the end of 2025,” Botti says.
The Cassio 330 will be certificat-
ed in Europe first, but the compa-
ny aims to move quickly to secure
validation by the US Federal Avia-
tion Administration so that it can
also take on the largest aviation
market in the world. VoltAero plans
to use partners in the USA to build
the aircraft locally, Botti adds.
VoltAero’s hybrid-electric
module combines the Kawasa-
ki-supplied thermal engine, Safran
ENGINeUS 100 electric motor and
a gearbox from French transmis-
sion specialist Akira Technologies.
Batteries are provided by US firm
Electric Power Systems.
Architecture has been validated on
Cassio S – a modified Cessna 337
VoltAero
Propulsion Technology
The Kawasaki four-stroke en-
gine’s basis is a motorcycle pow-
erplant – the Ninja H2R – modified
and optimised for an aviation con-
text, says Jamie Imai, manager of
business planning at Kawasaki.
VoltAero says the configuration
provides a combined 330kW of
power: 180kW from the electric
motor and 150kW from the Kawa-
saki engine.
Certification test activities are
being performed in Bayonne in
southwest France, at facilities
belonging to Akira.
Flight test activities using
VoltAero’s Cassio S testbed – a
modified Cessna 337 – have already
validated the overall hybrid-elec-
tric architecture, says Botti.
The Cassio S has performed over
230 flights since October 2020,
accumulating more than 170h.
Factory fit
VoltAero is also constructing a
new final assembly facility at Ro-
chefort airport, north of Bordeaux,
France, expected to be completed
in July. It will be capable of pro-
ducing 150 aircraft per year, with
the first example due to roll out in
2026, Botti says.
Botti says VoltAero has pre-
orders for 218 aircraft. “That’s why
we want to fly this year – we want to
turn those into firm orders,” he says.
Kawasaki’s aero-piston-engine
roadmap calls for the turbocharged
gasoline engine to be available by
2025. It is also developing a hydro-
gen version that will be available
by 2029, with certification antici-
pated by 2035.
“The engine has been around for
some time. It’s a proven design, we
know it works very, very well, and
the reliability is excellent,” Imai says.
Kawasaki also became a strategic
investor in VoltAero last May, joining
Series B funding for the develop-
ment, production and certification
of the Cassio aircraft family. ◗
Additional reporting by
Dominic Perry in London
June 2024 Flight International 35
 Programme Technology
Electron sparks into life
Dutch developer aims to achieve service entry for all-electric
five-seater by 2028, but ambitions hinge on securing funding
Dominic Perry London
D
utch electric aircraft start-
up Electron Aerospace is
pressing ahead with a goal
of securing certification
and entry into service by 2028 for
its five-seater Electron 5 aircraft
but concedes the timing hinges on
securing additional funding.
Initial design studies for the bat-
tery-powered aircraft have been
completed, says co-founder and
chief commercial officer Marc-Hen-
ry de Jong, but another tranche of
investment will be required to com-
plete the concept design review
stage in the coming months and
advance the programme further.
“That’s really when it starts
getting more expensive because
that’s when you need to start in-
vesting in hardware and building
stuff,” he says.
“Our timeline is really subject
to accessing funding; being a
product design company, technol-
ogy is not what’s holding us back,
access to capital is.”
Differing from others in the
space, Electron does not propose
building a demonstrator or proto-
type of the Electron 5 but instead
plans to fly in 2026 a largely pro-
duction-conforming aircraft.
While a demonstrator makes
sense for those developing new
technology or new aircraft con-
cepts, “we don’t really need to
prove that a fixed-wing aircraft
can fly”, says de Jong. Fixed-wing
aircraft have been flying for over
100 years, and Pipistrel has in re-
cent years certificated a small
Electron Aerospace
36 Flight International June 2024
battery-powered aircraft, he points
out, referring to the Velis Elctro.
Resembling a skinnier Piaggio
P180 Avanti with twin pusher pro-
pellers and forward canards, the
Electron 5 has a long, slender wing
to cut drag and boost efficiency.
Suitable for both passenger
and cargo transport missions, the
Electron 5 has a projected oper-
ating range of 270nm (500km)
with a 135nm reserve, traveling at
a cruise speed of 135kt (250km/h).
It will be able to carry either a pilot
and four passengers plus luggage
or a 500kg (1,100lb) cargo payload.
Short take-off
Short runway performance, key
to Electron’s regional air mobili-
ty model, should see the aircraft
capable of taking off and landing
in as little as 500m (1,640ft), re-
quiring 800m runway length for
commercial operations.
Notionally a six-seater aircraft,
Electron has opted to reduce the
passenger count for its initial ver-
sion due to the power density limita-
tions of current battery technology.
However, the firm is confident that
improvements to later generations
of cells will allow it to lift seat count
and performance accordingly.
De Jong sees both passenger
and freight operations as contrib-
uting to the aircraft’s success. It
has already secured an undisclosed
investment from Danish logistics
firm DANX Carousel Group, which
has helped with the design of the
cargo variant.
Meanwhile, Electron has also
won tentative orders for an un-
disclosed number of aircraft from
four operators: Australia’s FlyOnE
and South Korean firm Mint Air,
and, more recently, Berlin-based
Air2E and Hopscotch Air from
Farmingdale in New York. The last
of these – which describes itself as
a “personal air limo service” – is an
existing operator of small Cirrus
types, flying short routes on the
eastern seaboard of the USA.
A switch to an all-electric fleet will
allow operators to both improve
their environmental performance
and provide “an operating cost ad-
vantage which in our view will open
up the market to a much wider
customer base”, says de Jong.
But Electron wants to move
beyond simply supplying the
aircraft and also become an opera-
tor in Europe, he adds.
Much of the aircraft’s supply
chain has already been firmed
up, albeit undisclosed, with
other agreements “in their
final stages”, allowing
Electron to consider the final
assembly process.
“We will start small but the
idea in the end is that we want to
produce a few thousand, not a few
hundred, aircraft a year; we really
believe there’s a huge market,”
adds de Jong. ◗
Electron 5 features twin
pusher-configured motors
 Opinion

Structural deficit
Despite being a vital link in the supply chain, those at the top
of the aerostructures sector struggle for profitability – but
there is a way forward, say Collin Heller and Richard Apps

I
n the 20 years that Counterpoint
Boeing is likely to acquire its
has been analysing the aerospace
supplier Spirit AeroSystems
industry, the aerostructures mar-
ket has seen consistently lower
Paul Christian Gordon/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

profitability compared with the rest

of the supply chain.
The problem appears most acute
at the top of the aerostructures sec-
tor. Historically, the industry has had
several “super tier one” suppliers
that can design and build large in-
tegrated aerostructures. That busi-
ness model appears to be broken:
Spirit AeroSystems seems likely to
be acquired by Boeing; Triumph
exited the aerostructures business
entirely; Leonardo’s aerostructures
business has experienced heavy
losses for years; and GKN has
moved away from producing large businesses in-house. This strategic enable a less skilled workforce to
integrated structures. shift allows the airframers to con- perform effectively. We have seen
Only the Japanese “heavies” – trol key technologies while provid- impressive examples with US firm
Kawasaki, Mitsubishi and Subaru – ing better oversight of the most Orizon and Spirit’s Prestwick facility.
appear to want to stay the course. critical parts in their supply chain. Research and development: ad-
As OEMs bring more work in- It also puts OEMs in a position of vancing technologies – wheth-
house, we expect the outsourced strength when negotiating with er to drive down cost or improve
aerostructures market will shrink at outside aerostructures suppliers. manufacturability – can allow com-
the tier one level. How might aerostructures com- panies to develop IP for next-gen-
All aerospace has suffered over panies respond, and what does this eration platforms. The Airbus Wing
the past few years, but the unique mean for the future of the industry? of Tomorrow programme involves
characteristics of the aerostructures several aerostructures companies.
market made profitability elusive Strategic solutions Vertical integration: this can offer
well before the pandemic began. No single strategy leads to profita- efficiencies where many complex
Aerostructures has little aftermar- bility in aerostructures. Fundamen- pieces join together, allowing easier
ket demand, which often provides tals like cost control and favourable resolution of compatibility issues.
higher margins and smooths pro- contracts are clearly essential. Yet Airbus Atlantic has had some
duction peaks. Intellectual property beyond the basics, we see a few success with this strategy.
is not as pronounced as in sectors strategies that have allowed com- These trends have clear con-
like avionics and engines, which panies to carve out their own niche. sequences for the industry. We
lowers barriers to entry. Economies Specialisation: on its own, this anticipate greater in-sourcing and
of scale are limited, and rationali- does not ensure profitability. The more specialised suppliers carving
sation is difficult. Know-how that key is the combination of differen- out niche positions in the industry.
works for aerostructures often does tiated technology and the ability Those changes bring opportunities
not translate to other industries. to drive down costs at scale. We for re-shaping and create challeng-
Contract profitability, therefore, see this employed with Standex’s es for incumbent players.
depends on achieving learning Spincraft business and with Ducom- More than ever, the aircraft OEMs
curve reductions in unit cost. Spirit mun’s expertise in titanium parts. still need technologically advanced
has found this challenging with its Automation: this capability has and financially sound aerostruc-
composite programmes, telling in- become more important, particu- tures suppliers but, even so, it is
vestors in 2023 that the company larly due to the loss of talent dur- likely to remain a tough business. ◗
“never really achieved the learning ing the pandemic and the need to
curve to come down in terms of respond to higher production rates. Collin Heller is vice-president
cost historically”. After a period of cuts, we have seen and Richard Apps is director at
The market appears to be get- aerostructures companies reinvest- Counterpoint Market Intelligence, a
ting tougher. OEMs continue to ing. Effective automation involves provider of market research for the
move more of their aerostructures not just machinery, but the tools to aerospace and defence sectors

June 2024 Flight International 37

 Still facing labour and supply chain challenges,
German aerospace manufacturers are hoping to
advance initiatives that will propel them to the
top of the sustainable aviation sector
Germany
rising
Pilar Wolfsteller Friedrichshafen
A
s the German aerospace industry gears
up for the ILA trade show in Berlin in early
June, the country’s aerospace and aviation
manufacturers are taking an optimistic tone,
even though the challenges of the global coronavirus
crisis are not yet fully in the rear-view mirror.
Supply chain problems persist, and the crunch
for qualified professionals is a constant concern.
As the drive for sustainable aviation technologies
remains in high gear, many companies see even
more opportunity for the kind of innovation that has
allowed Germany to establish itself as an economic
leader in the first place.
But amid the guarded positivity, a mild post-
Covid-19 hangover remains. Inflation continues to be
a nuisance, and clients’ unique wishes when it comes
to detailing their products add complexity.
Civil aviation in Germany has always played
second fiddle to a world-class automotive industry,
but in recent years – and particularly supported by
production ramp-ups at the major players in the field
– the sector has gained traction.
According to the German Aerospace Industries
Association, or BDLI, in 2022 (the latest year for
which complete statistics are available), aviation
and aerospace employed 105,000 workers, of which
73,000 worked in the civil sector. It generated €28
billion ($29.8 billion) in revenue. About two-thirds
of the sector’s value creation is for export, the trade
association says.
38 Flight International June 2024
According to Stefan Berndes, the BDLI’s head of
air transport, equipment and materials, Covid-19 is a
memory, but one that remains somewhat painful.
“Everything is on a very good path, the production
figures, both among narrowbodies and in the long-
range sector, are rising, and the entire industry is
growing along with it,” he says. “The challenge at
the moment is to get the skilled workers and to
organise the ramp-up, that is, to get the parts of the
appropriate quality in the correct time frame.”
The BDLI is hoping for a banner turnout at the
biennial ILA show in Berlin, which traces its roots
to 1909 and claims to be the oldest aviation show
in the world. It is the first ILA since all pandemic-
related travel and production restrictions were lifted,
and organisers say at least 600 exhibitors from 30
countries will attend.
Integrated industry
Germany, in the centre of Europe, is also at the centre
of a flourishing and burgeoning European aerospace
industry – an enviable position.
“[Aviation] is one of the few areas where there
is an integrated European industry – the whole
life cycle from the beginning of development,
research, technology, right through to construction
and operation – it is basically set up in a European
manner, and not in silos next to each other, like in the
automobile industry,” Berndes says.
“All of this is happening in a global growth market,
in a position at the top of the world. That’s why it’s
important for me to emphasise how valuable it is [for
Germany] to maintain this position.”

That said, labour issues have been afflicting
German industrial firms of all stripes since the
coronavirus pandemic abated. Many European
governments implemented sector-specific financial
aid so that companies were able to manage through
the downturn without widespread layoffs or
substantial bankruptcies. So while some expertise
was lost, much remained.
Michael Schreyoegg, chief programme officer at
MTU Aero Engines, says the company “worked hard
to retain our experienced and expert workforce
€28bn
Revenue generated by the German aviation and aerospace
sector in 2022, according to the industry association BDLI
throughout the pandemic, because they are not only
the heart and the brain of MTU but also our future”.
“In light of developments across the industry since
then, this has proven to have been a wise move,”
Schreyoegg adds.
During the pandemic, German firms made use of
labour market mechanisms such as short-time work
programmes – a temporary reduction in working
hours due to a lack of orders – that other countries
such as the USA did not have.
Germany Industry
Action Press/Shutterstock
Nation is at the centre of a flourishing
European aerospace industry
That allowed companies to keep experts on staff,
even as the Covid-19 pandemic brought aviation to its
knees for the best part of two years.
In addition, the industry’s “sexiness” has helped
it thrive. Aviation is not for everyone, but for those
who are passionate about flying machines and the
technologies that drive them, Germany presents a
myriad opportunities.
“The companies offer secure jobs, long-term
prospects and often family-friendly conditions, and the
number of female managers and executives is increas-
ing meaningfully,” says Berndes. However, he adds,
demographic change is already making itself felt.
“We are lucky in that aviation is a fascinating in-
dustry and our products extremely high-tech, as this
continues to attract talent,” adds Schreyeogg. MTU
increased its employment to over 12,000 at the end
of 2023, up from 10,500 in 2021.
“Nonetheless, as with many others in Germany, we
are experiencing a squeeze, particularly in areas that
are in high demand, such as for IT specialists and
engineers. It will remain an item to watch in coming
years,” he adds.
Diehl Aviation, for one, is looking abroad for help in
roles where it cannot recruit the specialists it needs
to grow. The maker of cabin interiors and supply
systems is building a plant in Mexico, from which it
hopes to deliver by the end of 2025.
“We want to be more international,” says the
company’s chief executive, Joerg Schuler. It chose
Mexico to be closer to its three major OEM custom-
ers in the Americas – Embraer to the south, and
Airbus and Boeing to the north.
June 2024 Flight International 39
 “The access to talent also plays a role. We can build
up engineering and production teams, and get skills
and competencies there that are more difficult to
come by in Europe,” he adds.
Currently about 80% of Diehl’s 5,000 employees
are in Germany.
In recent years, the firm has had some success in
attracting production specialists from automotive
companies. But with behemoth Airbus also out on a
hiring spree, smaller companies are finding it more
difficult to find engineering and software talent, as
well as specialists for complex hardware, especially in
the area of avionics, he says.
“Airbus is quickly ramping up its production rates,
and of course Airbus is hiring massively,” he says.
“That’s when we realise aviation is not that big of an
industry. Everyone has to scramble for employees
in order to keep up with the production rates of the
OEMs. That internal competition is the larger problem.”
One of Germany’s largest MRO shops, Lufthansa
Technik, is also looking outside the country for growth
and skilled workers. It is planning investments worth
€1.2 billion ($1.28 billion) in the next four years,
including a new component repair factory in south-
western Europe, expected to go online in 2027.
Acquisition targets
It is also trawling for potential acquisition targets in
the Americas and Asia-Pacific, as organic growth will
not be enough to fulfil its ambitious earnings goals.
The backbone of Germany’s economy, however, the
so-called “Mittelstand” – the small- and medium-sized
businesses that employ the vast majority of German
workers – is having even more difficulty finding the
specialists they need in order to thrive and grow.
MTU Aero Engines
Companies such as MTU still experience
‘knock-on effects’ in their supply chains
40 Flight International June 2024
“The lack of subject-
matter specialists affects
us all. It leads to higher
salaries, the applicants can
pick and choose, and that
makes it difficult for us”
Maximilian Rommel Managing director, RS Flight Systems
“As a small company we can’t offer the benefits that
a large corporation can,” says Eric Spieker, team leader
of structural engineering at FTI Engineering Network,
a company with about 50 employees based outside of
Berlin. It makes video-based and sensor security sys-
tems that are installed both inside and outside aircraft.
“A big company will offer a package with all sorts
of things, like fitness club membership, and people
accept that the work is probably less varied. You look
at the colleague two buildings over, and you ask,
‘What do they do?’
“In a small company, we offer a wide palette of work
and more opportunities, and you can figure out faster
if something is fun and interesting to you or not.”
Maximilian Rommel, managing director of RS
Flight Systems, a 15-person avionics specialist
south of Munich that works in support, implemen-
tation and follow-up of flight testing and flight data
acquisition, agrees.

“The lack of subject-matter specialists – that
affects us all,” he says. “It leads to higher salaries,
the applicants can pick and choose, and that makes
it difficult for us. Finding the employees will be the
key success factor and biggest challenge for the
next years. Those who can will be successful, those
who can’t, won’t.”
And it is not just the human specialists that are
missing. Supply chain woes affecting parts and
materials are hitting across the board. The Mittel-
stand is able to mitigate some of the effects by being
creative, while larger companies have graver issues.
“Mittelstand companies are very resilient, we have
the advantage that we are somewhat more flexible
and agile than the larger companies, and that has
helped us through crises,” Rommel says. Also, the
nature of aviation construction and maintenance
allows more supply chain flexibility, than, for example,
when building cars, Spieker adds.
“In the automobile industry you have a production
line and when the parts are missing, the production
stops. In aviation, that’s less the case.” He says FTI
has had to broaden its supplier portfolio, in order to
be able to access parts when they are needed.
At larger companies, the supply chain continues to
create headaches that can be complex to solve, and
these are not likely to abate until at least the end of
this year.
Schreyoegg says MTU “still experiences knock-on
effects” on its supply chain.
“MTU follows a dual or multiple source policy for
our OEM production, as such, we have been able
to mitigate a number of bottlenecks and deliver on
our commitments to OEMs and customers – both
throughout the pandemic and since then,” he says.
“In our MRO segment we have invested in used
material, increased our lease-engine pool and utilised
€1.2bn
Investment Lufthansa Technik plans for its MRO shops in the
next four years, including a new site in southwest Europe
Germany Industry
Messe Berlin
Berlin’s biennial ILA event claims to be
the oldest aviation show in the world
our repair network to mitigate the impact of late or
lacking [new] replacement parts for customers.”
“The topic is quite massive and a daily struggle,”
Schuler adds. “During Covid everyone stepped on
the brakes. The warehouses were full, then afterward
inventories were reduced, then there were trans-
portation and energy issues, then inflation, then the
Ukraine crisis, the Middle East conflict, and we are
noticing that the supply chains are still not stable.”
As a result, Diehl has built up parts buffers to
“plug the holes”.
Customisation challenge
For OEMs and their airline clients, customisation is
the name of the game, and that is where it gets tricky
for suppliers like Diehl. “We have small volumes and
many, many different parts,” says Schuler. “We fulfill
every customer’s wishes.”
Each programme has its own specifications and re-
quirements, he says. Citing the example of an onboard
lavatory, he notes that less than 20% of parts on the
Airbus A320, A330 and A380 models are the same.
“That really affects the supply issue. As long as
Airbus offers its customers four, five, six, seven differ-
ent options for lavatory garbage bins, we will deliver
the parts. But really, at the end of the day it doesn’t
matter if it’s one design or seven different designs. All
we want to do is throw the wet paper towel into it.”
“Unfortunately there’s not that much we can do
about the supply chain situation,” adds Lufthansa
Technik’s Stark. “Of course we have tried to build up
buffers, but you can only increase material stock if
material is available on the market.”
With global civil air transport squarely focused
on sustainability – having committed to a net-zero
greenhouse gas target by the middle of this century –
German companies see increasing potential in getting
a slice of that pie.
The BDLI is advocating for the country as “a global
hub for climate-neutral flying”.
“With its key competencies and as a partner in
a strong research and science network, Germany
has excellent conditions to be at the forefront of
the technologies and innovations required,” the
organisation says.
Diehl is working on numerous projects that
are focused on reducing aircraft weight – a
June 2024 Flight International 41
 Germany Industry

key component in cutting fuel burn – as well as

measures to improve the passenger experience and “There is great potential
simplify crew operations.
“Today a cabin is 100% landfill,” Schuler says. “So in Germany for us to
there’s a lot to be done with new materials. And
today the cabin is the highest energy consumer, so develop machinery, plants
we can be more efficient there, too.”
The company has begun testing a grey water and facility infrastructure
system that recycles the water used for hand washing
in lavatory areas, potentially reducing an aircraft’s for the production of SAF
take-off weight by at least 250kg (551lb).
The global focus on – and race to produce – that could be exported”
sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will open vastly more
opportunities for the country’s aerospace specialists, Michael Schreyoegg
adds Schreyoegg. Proponents include Deutsche Chief programme officer, MTU Aero Engines
Aircraft, which is developing its D328eco twin-
turboprop to run on 100% SAF.
“There is great potential in Germany for us to “We must be smarter about keeping these
develop machinery, plants and facility infrastructure companies in Europe,” he adds.
for the production of SAF that could be exported to That does not mean, though, that Germany’s (in)
support global production,” Schreyoegg says. But famous bureaucracy will make an exception for
companies cannot do that alone. pioneering aerospace ideas.
“We believe that both the German government and A recent law, with the captivatingly complicated
the European Union need to establish more ambitious German name of “Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtenge-
plans for the establishment of pilot facilities and setz”, or “The Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obliga-
growth of infrastructure,” he says. tions in Supply Chains”, has complicated life for some
of those firms looking to bring fresh ideas to market. It
Aerospace ecosystem requires companies of a certain size to conduct human
And with Airbus’s 8,500-strong aircraft backlog, that rights and environmental audits of their supply chains.
creates promise for the smaller firms that not only In March, the EU added its own supply chain law.
feed into its assembly lines, but also into the German “It means more bureaucracy, especially for small
aerospace ecosystem in general. and medium-sized companies, and it is causing
“Digitalisation, efficiency increases, but also amen- massive problems for our companies’ growth
ities for the end-user – be they a pilot, a flight school opportunities,” says Berndes.
or maintenance personnel – are important,” Rommel That bureaucracy has already trickled down to the
says. “So anywhere you can create innovation – there smaller end of the Mittelstand, says Rommel. “Our
is a market for it.” customers have requirements that they pass on to us
But funding could pose a problem, as Europeans as their suppliers.”
te
tendd to have
ave a lower
owe risks appet
appetite te than
t a investors
vesto s in Despite these headwinds, ahead of their 5-9
other regions. June gathering in Berlin, German aerospace
“W
Wha
hatt co
“What conc
ncer
erns
ns m
concerns me e is tthat
hatt in tthe
ha he U SA o
USA ne
one industry stakeholders are buoyant for its continued
approaches the issue by throwing large sums of development and success. At 2024’s ILA, start-ups
money at it, and here some great companies are will enjoy a special focus, the BDLI notes.
worried about getting the funds to take the next And as for ILA itself, its immediate future is also
stepps,,” Berndes says
steps,” y .
says. secure – a recent framework agreement signed by
“Here in Europe we are very good at innovation but the local governments of Berlin and Brandenburg has
not so good
good in commercialisation,” notes Volocopter ensured Europe’s longest-running aerospace trade
chief executive Dirk Hoke. show will continue through at least 2030. ◗
Deutsche Aircraft

Deutsche Aircraft’s D328eco twin-

turboprop will run on 100% SAF

42 Flight International June 2024

 Germany Defence

After years of under-spending on its armed

forces, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven
Germany to increase investment and re-equip its
military to address an uncertain future

Boosting
defence
Jane Schmidt/Bundeswehr

Air force acquisitions are to include

a further batch of 38 Eurofighters

June 2024 Flight International 43

 Craig Hoyle London
E
urope’s challenged strategic environment
has prompted one of the biggest transforma-
tions in military posture of recent years, with
Germany now meeting NATO’s benchmark for
defence spending – and looking to invest more.
Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the
western military alliance’s unfaltering support for Kyiv
has led to many European nations now considering
themselves as in a “pre-war” era.
Indeed, Moscow’s aggression has driven Germany
to make rapid strides towards substantially
bolstering its armed forces’ capabilities. This means
that multiple major acquisitions are currently under
way, which will deliver a combined total of almost
240 advanced combat aircraft, surveillance assets
and rotorcraft.
“We are spending more on our armed forces this
year than ever before,” German defence minister
Boris Pistorius says. “And I am working very
hard to increase this level of defence spending
substantially,” he adds.
Speaking at an Atlantik-Bruecke event held in
the nation’s capital on 25 April, Pistorius said the
financial action is intended to counter the threat
posed by an “authoritarian and warmongering
Russia”. Ukraine’s invasion was followed by Berlin
announcing a special fund for its Bundeswehr, which
has added €100 billion ($107 billion) over previously
planned investments.
The war in Ukraine has forced Berlin to “grow
up fast in security terms, [and] to take more
courageous steps”, Pistorius says. These steps have
included its government’s provision of personnel
training and weapon systems to Kyiv, including Diehl
Defence surface-launched IRIS-T and Raytheon
Patriot air-defence missile batteries – it recently
pledged to donate a third system of the US-
produced defensive equipment.
Significant contributions
Other notable donations have included Leopard 2
main battle tanks, examples of which were also freed
up for transfer from other nations after concerted
lobbying eventually persuaded German Chancellor
Olaf Scholz to approve the step.
The German government says the contribu-
tions and commitments it has made to Ukraine so
far value €28 billion, which puts it as the largest
European donor of military aid to Kyiv.
But Berlin has not – so far at least – yielded to
pressure to also supply the Ukrainian air force
with Taurus stand-off-range cruise missiles. Such a
provision would follow the transfer of MBDA SCALP-
EG/Storm Shadow weapons already supplied by
France and the UK.
Given Germany’s economic might, many had
long argued that the nation needed to commit
significantly more resources towards strengthening
its armed forces.
NATO figures show that Germany’s defence
spending equated to just 1.35% of its gross domestic
product (GDP) in 2019 – a time when its military was
supporting the alliance-led mission in Afghanistan,
albeit in a strictly non-combat role.
44 Flight International June 2024
While that fell well short of the alliance’s 2%
spending target for member nations, it was a signifi-
cant increase from only a few years earlier: in 2014, its
allocation represented just 1.19% of GDP.
Buoyed by extra funding, Berlin’s level of invest-
ment was expected to climb to 1.66% last year, and
has now come into line with the NATO objective,
which its members had agreed as a goal in 2006.
“The fact that Germany now invests 2% of GDP on
defence matters for all allies,” NATO secretary general
Jens Stoltenberg said on 26 April.
Berlin’s 2023 allocation was estimated at around
€68 billion, which would rank it second behind the
UK among European NATO spenders by value.
While Stoltenberg notes that two-thirds of the
bloc’s 30 European members are expected to hit its
spending target this year, NATO cautions: “Allies will
need to spend more than 2% on defence if they are
to remedy existing shortfalls and meet the demands
of a more contested security order.”
Deliveries expected
In terms of current equipment orders, the German
air force is to take delivery of a combined 73 new-
build combat aircraft.
This total includes a so-called Tranche 4
acquisition of 38 Eurofighters via Project Quadriga.
Boeing
To replace already-retired Tranche 1 examples,
these will comprise 30 single-seaters and eight
twin-seaters, to be assembled at Airbus Defence &
Space’s Manching site near Munich.
Under a contract signed in late 2020, the Quadriga
jets will be delivered between next year and 2030.
New equipment to be provided with the latest
model includes an active electronically scanned
array (AESA) radar.
Germany also has ordered 35 Lockheed Martin
F-35As to replace part of its Panavia Tornado fleet.
To be delivered from 2026, the stealth fighters will
perform roles including meeting Berlin’s nuclear
deterrent commitment to NATO.
The 5-9 June ILA event will be the first Berlin air
show to feature the F-35 in the flying display.
Once operational at Buechel air base, the German
air force’s F-35As will receive technical support
from local industry players including ESG, Lufthansa
Technik Defense and Rheinmetall. The last of these
also will be involved in central fuselage production
in support of the F-35 programme, with work to be
undertaken at its Weeze facility.
In addition to those new-build assets, 15 of the
Luftwaffe’s in-service Eurofighters are to be modified
for electronic warfare (EW) duties. This will see the
new EK-model variant gain sophisticated equipment
Major German aircraft procurements
Airbus Helicopters H145M 62
Boeing CH-47F 60 2027
Eurofighter (Quadriga) 38 2025
Lockheed Martin F-35A 35 2026
NH Industries NH90 (Sea Tiger) 31 2025
Boeing P-8A 8 2024
Bombardier Global 6000 (Pegasus) 3 2027
Total 237
 Germany Defence

Deliveries of eight P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol

aircraft are due to commence later this year

“We are spending more on our

armed forces this year than ever
before, and I am working very hard
to increase this level of defence
spending substantially”
Boris Pistorius Defence minister, Germany

including Saab’s Arexis EW system and Northrop
Grumman AGM-88E AARGM anti-radiation missiles.
The modified jets will replace the Luftwaffe’s aged
Tornado electronic combat and reconnaissance
aircraft in service by 2030.
Meanwhile, Germany is conducting an AESA
radar upgrade to its existing Eurofighter fleet, with
Hensoldt to provide the new sensors for integration
by Airbus’s defence unit. The type also is to gain
MBDA Brimstone 3 air-to-surface missiles.
Airbus is also trying to encourage the German
government to pursue a future Tranche 5 buy of 50
more Eurofighters. This would help the company
and its supply chain to bridge the gap until a Future
Combat Air System (FCAS) programme currently
being advanced with France and Spain delivers an
operational capability from around 2040.
Production continuity
An extra order from Berlin also would help to ensure
production continuity while Airbus and its Eurofighter
programme partners BAE Systems and Leonardo
seek additional export sales.
Underscoring its domestic campaign, Airbus
notes that the combat aircraft programme currently
sustains around 25,000 jobs in Germany.
Late-March saw the 30th anniversary of the
Eurofighter’s debut flight from Manching. The German
air force – which earlier this year deployed examples
to Lielvarde air base in Latvia as part of NATO’s Baltic
Air Policing commitment – plans to continue operat-
ing the multi-role type until beyond 2050.
And in recogntion of another significant
anniversary, a Luftwaffe Tornado will appear at ILA
in the prototype’s striking white and red livery to
mark 50 years since the variable-geometry type
made its first flight.
73
New-build combat aircraft Berlin currently has on order –
38 Tranche 4 Eurofighters and 35 Lockheed Martin F-35As
Meanwhile, Germany is bolstering its special mission
aircraft capabilities via several further acquisitions.
Last November, its BAAINBw federal procurement
agency signed a €1.1 billion contract with the US Navy
to take three Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol
aircraft (MPA). That deal boosts its total commitment
for the 737NG-based type to eight examples.
To be delivered from later this year, the heavily
modified twinjets will replace the German navy’s
Lockheed P-3C Orion fleet, which the nation
purchased secondhand from the Netherlands.
The Luftwaffe’s Persistent German Airborne
Surveillance System – or Pegasus – signals
intelligence (SIGINT) aircraft fleet is now expected to
enter service from 2027, having been delayed.
The defence ministry’s equipment report of early
2024 details a 20-month slippage to the more
than €1 billion programme, with costs also having
increased by €211 million, or almost 12%.
A trio of adapted Bombardier Global 6000 long-
range business jets will be fielded under the project,
with prime contractor Hensoldt to provide the
platform’s mission equipment.
“The first two Pegasus aircraft were used for
structural modifications to later accommodate the
SIGINT system,” the report says. The programme’s
third airframe has been transferred to Hamburg

June 2024 Flight International 45

 Chinook acquisition to transform Germany’s rotorcraft operations
Berlin’s years-long search for a new heavy transport
helicopter came to an end when it selected Boeing’s
CH-47F Chinook to replace its aged Sikorsky CH-
53G-series rotorcraft.
It will acquire 60 Block II-standard aircraft via
a more than €7 billion ($7.6 billion) deal that was
agreed last year, with deliveries to run between
mid-2027 and 2032. Operations with its current
assets will end in 2030.
The Chinook buy is one of several major purchases
being made using the Bundeswehr’s €100 billion
special fund: a budgetary boost
three-quarters of the German fleet will be assigned
to supporting NATO missions if required.
The CH-47F will introduce new capabilities, with
the aircraft fitted with an in-flight refuelling probe
to enable operations to be supported using the
Luftwaffe’s Airbus Defence & Space A400M and
Lockheed KC-130J tankers.
“This is new for us, and a great co-operation
potential,” Guntsch says, pointing to the potential to
conduct joint training with France and the USA.
The Luftwaffe does not plan to overlap the use of
its current and future models, he

“We have to
announced following Russia’s notes. “We don’t envision parallel
February 2022 invasion of flight operations as the new type

train probably
Ukraine. Others include taking comes in. We don’t want to operate
Lockheed Martin F-35A fighters a CH-47 like we did a CH-53.”

30 pilots per
and Israel Aerospace Industries’ The air force’s main operating
Arrow 3 missile defence system. base for the Chinook will be at

year through
Germany initially considered Schonewalde, where 47 will be
making a direct commercial assigned. The location also will

2030 – that’s
buy from Boeing, “but the cost house two full-flight simulators, plus
got out of hand”, says Colonel rear-crew and maintenance trainers.

a challenge”
Christian Guntsch, advisor to A further squadron with
the air chief for the CH-47F 12 aircraft will be located at
procurement at German air force Laupheim, to support SOF tasks.
headquarters. Instead, it will Colonel Christian Guntsch And one aircraft will be assigned
acquire its aircraft using the US Advisor to the air chief for CH-47F to supporting work at the service’s
government’s Foreign Military procurement, German air force flight-test centre in Manching.
Sales mechanism – fortuitously Once deliveries commence,
agreeing to doing so just months Guntsch says “the first couple will
before the US Army also committed to buying the stay in the USA to support certification”, along with
Block II version. providing conversion training for pilots.
Berlin’s aircraft will be built in a configuration Its first aircraft is due to arrive at Schonewalde
almost identical to the US Army’s, with only three in the third quarter of 2027, when so-called “delta”
national-specific modifications. These are an training also will commence in Germany.
intensive care-standard aeromedical evacuation “There is a three-year period to assure that this
kit, Link 16 communications, and BOS radios, which capability [update from the CH-53] can be done,”
will enable crew members to speak directly to law Guntsch notes. “We have to train probably 30 pilots
enforcement and disaster relief personnel. per year through 2030 – that’s a challenge,” he said
Other roles will include combat search and rescue, at Defence iQ’s International Military Helicopter
and supporting special operations forces (SOF), and conference in London in late February.

First example is due to arrive at

Boeing

Schonewalde air base in 2027

46 Flight International June 2024


Airbus Defence & Space
ahead of work by Lufthansa Technik, and a critical
design review activity was approved by the
BAAINBw in November 2023.
Although the Pegasus capability was placed under
contract in mid-2021, it has been financed from the
Bundeswehr’s special defence fund since last year.
The type will close a capability gap which
has existed since 2010, when Berlin retired its
SIGINT-roled Dassault-Dornier Atlantiques. It
originally intended to replace them with high-
altitude, long-endurance unmanned air vehicles
via the subsequently axed EuroHawk project with
Northrop Grumman and Airbus.
Also in the surveillance sector, Germany will in the
future field the Eurodrone system, the development
of which is being led by Airbus Defence & Space. A
preliminary design review was completed in May 2024.
Also involving Airbus Defence & Space Spain,
Dassault Aviation and Leonardo, the Eurodrone
programme will provide 20 systems for use by
partners France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Each
will include three medium-altitude, long-endurance
aircraft and two ground control stations (GCS).
Fleet replacement
First flight should occur in January 2027, with
Germany expecting to take its first aircraft and GCS
in April 2030. Its aircraft will replace modified Israel
Aerospace Industries Heron TPs in operational use.
The Luftwaffe’s fleet of airlifters continues to grow,
meanwhile, with Cirium fleets data showing that 44
of its eventual 53 Airbus Defence & Space A400M
tactical transports have been received. All but one
of its six Lockheed C/KC-130J transports/tankers are
also now in use.
Berlin is also investing heavily in its rotorcraft
fleet, having signed for 62 Airbus Helicopters
H145M light-twins, plus 20 options. These will be
acquired in an armed configuration, and serve as
a “bridge solution” while the army’s future attack
requirements are defined.
The H145Ms will replace the service’s Tiger attack
helicopter inventory. The defence ministry early
Germany Defence
Eurodrone programme will provide 20 systems for
use by partners France, Germany, Italy and Spain
62
Order for Airbus Helicopters H145Ms, with options for 20
more – a ‘bridging solution’ for army’s attack requirements
this year announced that it will retire its 55-strong
fleet of the Airbus Helicopters-built type by early
2033: six years sooner than previously expected.
This move stems from its decision to not participate
in a MkII+ upgrade for the European type being
performed by France and Spain.
Under a gradual handover of duties, Berlin will
reduce its Tiger fleet to 33 aircraft by 2028, and then
24 by 2032.
In another major acquisition effort, the Bundeswehr
also will receive 60 Boeing CH-47F Block II transport
helicopters, as replacements for its aged Sikorsky
CH-53 fleet (see p46).
And the German military continues to expand its
inventory of NH Industries NH90s, with 31 examples of
the new Sea Tiger anti-submarine/anti-surface warfare
variant on contract. First flown on 30 November 2023
at Airbus Helicopters’ Donauworth site, the new model
will be delivered to the German navy between late
2025 and 2030, replacing its Westland Lynx.
Still in its definition phase, meanwhile, is one of
the most significant developments to be pursued
by Germany since its involvement in multi-national
projects like the Tornado and Eurofighter.
Now in Phase 1B, the FCAS project between
France, Germany and Spain is due to deliver new
platforms to enter service from 2040, including a
so-called “sixth-generation” manned fighter. Belgium
also holds observer status.
French airframer Dassault is prime contractor for the
manned fighter, the next major investment decision on
which – whether to advance to a Phase 2 development
activity – will be taken in mid-2025. ◗
June 2024 Flight International 47
 Volocopter chief executive and former Airbus
Defence & Space boss Dirk Hoke is bringing
advanced air mobility to the masses – with or
without a Paris Olympics appearance
Ready for
the world
Pilar Wolfsteller Bruchsal
D
irk Hoke strides into his corner office at
Volocopter’s headquarters with the confidence
of someone who knows he is in demand, and
time is ticking. Dressed in business casual
and wearing bright white trainers, the former Airbus
Defence & Space chief executive has wholeheartedly
embraced the role of start-up CEO.
An air of impatience extends beyond Hoke’s
glass cube. Dozens of employees buzz around
the open-plan office, tapping away on laptops at
height-adjustable desks, or taking calls in soundproof
pods. As if in uniform, many sport dark blue hoodies
emblazoned with the company’s stylised triangle logo.
It is easy to forget that Volocopter is based in
the small southwestern German town of Bruchsal,
far from the nation’s aerospace clusters of Munich
and Hamburg. The region is better known for its
asparagus crop, and the city’s main tourist attraction
is a baroque palace built in 1720.
In the office, a stone’s throw from the old freight
railway depot, there is a distinct Silicon Valley
high-tech vibe. In addition to the ubiquitous hoodies
and free lunch in the company cafeteria, wall art
in the restrooms reminds employees that they are
“Where the magic happens”.
There is a distinct feeling of two very disparate
worlds colliding.
“Our marketing people did a really good job in
building a strong brand,” Hoke says. “When you walk
around in the city or if you go to the restaurants,
48 Flight International June 2024
people are proudly wearing Volocopter hoodies,
even outside of work.
“The hoodies are also really good quality,” he adds.
“Really good quality” has also traditionally been a
trademark of German engineering. Within just two
generations in the second half of the 20th century,
Germany went from vanquished military power to
Europe’s economic powerhouse – fueled primarily
by the nation’s automotive, mechanical engineering,
chemical and electrical industries.
German engineers also channelled their creativity
and ingenuity into aviation, and Volocopter is
building on that legacy.
The company was founded by two students in 2011
when they sent a rickety contraption – VC1 – into the
air, to prove that they could. A “test pilot”, wearing
just a motorcycle helmet for protection, sat atop a
yoga ball to which 16 electric motors were strapped.
The flight lasted 90 seconds.
Now, seasoned managers with major aerospace
company experience lead 650 employees hailing
from 60 countries. As of the end of April, Volocop-
ter’s prototypes had conducted more than 2,000
test flights with five post-yoga-ball aircraft, including
demonstrations in nine other countries.
Having raised more than €500 million ($538 mil-
lion) in start-up funding, Volocopter has emerged as a
global leader in the race to certify a whole new class
of air transport vehicles. Hoke promises an electric
vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) revolution.
“It’s not rocket science,” he says. “I’ve done rocket
Volocopter
science. It’s just sweat and blood and hard work every
day. All the technology elements are there.”
 eVTOL Volocopter

Volocopter
Final assembly of multi-rotor VoloCity takes
place at a hangar close to Bruchsal airfield

“It’s not rocket science. Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), coupled with
the industry’s notorious ongoing supply chain woes,
I’ve done rocket science. he reluctantly walks back from that aspiration.
“I cannot guarantee what we will do in Paris,” he
sweat and
It’s just swe says. “It’s complex, and still a work in progress, and
can change even at the last second.
blood anand hard work “What the final decisions are, on authorisation, on
safety, security, on our progress on towards certifica-
every day.
d All the tion, what kind of permit we will fly under, and which
vertiports will we be allowed to use… we are working
technology
techno elements on keeping all options open.”

Olympic options
are there”
the VoloCity’s options range from, at best, selling tickets
for an air taxi ride to anyone (for €10-15 per person
Dirk Hoke Chief executive, Volocopter per kilometre), all the way through limited operations
with a permit to fly – either transporting athletes or
other third party guests, or at its most restrictive, a
At last summer’s Paris air show,
A basic demonstration flight campaign with just one
Ho
Hoke surprised the industry by test pilot on board.
b
boldly proclaiming the German A network of five vertiports across the French
a
air taxi company would launch capital will be completed before the event, and
c
commercial operations of its routes have been defined.
f
fourth-generation multi-rotor “Everyone is committed, from the highest level
vehicle, VoloCity, at the city’s of the French government through the different
Olympic Games – scheduled ministries and local authorities, municipalities, us,
to begin just one year and 36 EASA – everyone involved wants to make it happen.
d
days later. “So there are different steps, depending on the
Speaking to FlightGlobal just level of achievement and the confidence that all
w
weeks before the event and bat- parties have into flying into congested airspace and
tle
tle-hardened by seemingly nev- a very complicated safety situation.”
er-e
er-ending negotiation with French But just getting this far is already an achievement,
secur
security authorities and the European and even if the Olympics prove to have been too

June 2024 Flight International 49

Volocopter

Start-up still hopes to launch operations

at the Olympic Games in Paris

ambitious a target, Parisians will still be able to get
a close look at what urban air mobility can do.
“We want to prove that if the population of Paris
will accept it, then we can fly anywhere in the
world,” Hoke says.
The company plans to spend the next two years
working to gain the public’s trust, now that the
technology is maturing and certification appears to
be within reach.
“The problem that we have is with people who have
not witnessed the vehicle flying. When they see it [on
the ground] they see it looks a bit like a helicopter, so
the perception is: loud, not totally safe and expensive.
“Once you have seen and heard it operate, people
change their opinion, and that’s why this opening
phase is so important for scaling up.”
After all, this is a billion-euro business, and its
backers hope for a return on investment some day.
“You have people that think this is totally crazy,
and we don’t need this product at all. And you have
people that think this is the best thing ever.”
It is now time to bring those in the former camp
into the latter.
“EASA will not move from 10-9 as a prerequisite
to fly in civil airspace, no way,” Hoke says. So by
certificating in Europe first, the VoloCity has that
buffer when it seeks the FAA’s blessing.
In addition, the regulators have taken different
approaches to the details of testing, for example of
batteries or other systems, or cascading errors that
could lead to a catastrophic failure.
Inevitably, though, the sector will have a very public
failure that could mean the end of companies like
Volocopter and urban air mobility.
“Anything that happens, anywhere, will have an
impact on everyone,” Hoke says. “That’s why we hope
that the FAA and EASA get to an agreement on the
safety level. Because there’s a big difference between
10-7 and 10-9. If something happens with a vehicle
that’s certified against 10-7, no-one in the public will
see the difference. They will just blame us.”

Certification questions
According to the company, the VoloCity is still on
track to be certificated by European regulators
later this year, with US certification six months later.
But EASA and the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) disagree on safety rules in the unlikely event
of a catastrophic failure.
EASA maintains eVTOL aircraft must prove safety
probability of ten to the minus-nine (10-9) or one
catastrophic failure in one billion flight hours. In North
America, regulators appear to have taken a less rigid
approach, with certification standards looking to be
Volocopter

Parts for two eVTOL aircraft were in

set at 10-8, one in 100 million, or 10-7, one in 10 million
production flow during late-April visit
flight hours.

50 Flight International June 2024


€3-5
Cost per person per kilometre Volocopter hopes to achieve
with its next-generation, four-passenger VoloRegion aircraft
Hoke takes a practical view when it comes to
dealing with the aviation regulators, and says that
while getting a product from the drawing board to
the commercial market is not easy or cheap, there are
ways to smooth the rough edges for both parties.
“Is it worth it to fight with a regulator for two or
three years to certify a certain component, or should
we take an approach that they know, and they feel
more comfortable with,” he asks. “Afterwards, when
we have proven that component is safe, we can take
the next step to make it simpler.
“For the regulators it’s the first time and for us it’s
the first time, and both sides want to guarantee when
someone gets into the aircraft, that it is safe, and we
will not compromise on that.”
Financial control
Like others in the eVTOL space, Volocopter is burning
cash as it races to certification. Hoke will not detail
the company’s current financial status, but he does
say that its annual spend is “much, much lower” than
at other companies.
The chief executive of a northern California-based
eVTOL competitor once said that the certification
journey for one of these new aircraft types will cost
around $1 billion.
“We will be definitely below that, and we are
demonstrating that can be done,” Hoke says. “We
could have done better, but even if we would include
development of the next vehicle, we would still be far
below what is spent on the other side of the ocean.”
How is that possible?
“I think Silicon Valley is not the cheapest place to
build an eVTOL,” he says.
The “next vehicle” he alludes to is the VoloRegion,
a pilot-plus-four-seat fixed-wing design that will con-
nect cities with suburbs and which the company aims
to bring to market by 2027. The more seats in the
aircraft, the better the economics will work.
With three paying passengers, Hoke says the cost
could come down to about €3-5 per person, per kilo-
metre. The larger craft’s payload will be between 420-
430kg (926-948lb) – enough to transport either three
adults, or a family of four with minimal luggage.
Between 2035 and 2040, Volocopter also sees
scope to pluck the pilot from the aircraft, and add
another revenue passenger.
“Autonomy will increase the business case tremen-
dously,” he says. “But before that happens, we need
to be certified for instrument flight, and that means
we need to be integrated into air traffic control.”
Industry experts, and Hoke himself, know not to
hold their breath on that one.
“I always say once we see Airbus and Boeing com-
mercial aircraft fly with a single pilot, then we will be
getting closer to flying with autopilot,” he adds.
eVTOL Volocopter
Company is targeting certification
SIAE
in Europe by the end of this year
Detailing VoloCity’s design
The two-seat VoloCity is Volocopter’s fourth-
generation electric vertical take-off and landing
(eVTOL) aircraft. It has a maximum take-off
weight of 900kg (1,980lb), including a payload
capacity of up to 200kg. Its range is slated to
be 18.9nm (35km) at a maximum speed of 59kt
(110km/h). Power comes from nine exchangeable
and rechargeable lithium-ion battery packs,
making flight emissions-free. Its 18 motors are
mounted on a ring of beams above its egg-
shaped fuselage. Volocopter is one of several
companies undergoing European Union Aviation
Safety Agency type-certification, and is looking to
show compliance with SC-VTOL regulations. The
company is targeting certification in Europe by the
end of this year, and with the US Federal Aviation
Administration in 2025.
For the moment, though, the firm’s full energy
is going into certification of the VoloCity, with
the VoloRegion remaining just a concept, as the
company searches for a manufacturer to help
sponsor its development.
So far, a few notable names have jumped on the
VoloCity bandwagon. The aircraft has attracted the
attention of Germany’s non-profit helicopter rescue
organisation ADAC Luftrettung, which has placed
two firm orders with options for 150 more, and
Bristow Group, which has also committed to two
orders and 78 options.
Volocopter is also looking to operate its VoloCity
at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, and Japan Airlines
has indicated it could take up to 100 aircraft. In 2021
the airframer signed an agreement to launch a joint
venture with Aerofugia, a subsidiary of China’s Geely
Technology Group, which has expressed interest in
up to 150 aircraft.
Saudi Arabia’s NEOM economic zone also has
signed on for 15 examples, and Volocopter flew its
prototype in that region last year.
June 2024 Flight International 51
 eVTOL Volocopter
BillyPix
Hoke has a secret wish list of 40 locations with
which the company could partner. But it has set
up some guardrails to ensure the overall long-term
success of the eVTOL proposition.
“We cannot do everything. So we will focus on the
[cities] that are really dedicated, and they understand
it’s not a [profitable] business model in the first two
years, but it will be afterwards.”
A short drive away from headquarters (in one of
the company’s conspicuously branded electric cars),
is Volocopter’s production facility, large enough to
accommodate a rate of 50 aircraft per year, per shift.
The first parts for certification-conforming VoloCity
airframes made here wait to go through quality
control and final assembly. That last step takes place
at a third location – a hangar adjacent to Bruchsal air-
field’s grass runway, with a vertiport for flight testing.
The company received an extension of the German
Federal Aviation Authority’s (LBA’s) Production
Organization Approval (POA) for the new buildings
earlier this year. That allows the start-up to manu-
facture all of its own composite carbonfibre parts, as
well as all aspects of the electric propulsion system
in-house, and to begin serial production.
Universal approval
Volocopter is the world’s only eVTOL company so
far to hold both design organisation approval (DOA),
which it received in 2019, and POA, first granted
in 2021. In March it added LBA certification as an
approved training organisation (ATO) for pilots.
During our visit, parts for two aircraft were in
production, including the company’s first own-
constructed fuselage shell. At the hangar, three
airframes in various stages of assembly occupied
the shop floor – a space designed for five. Engineers
conduct flight tests almost daily unless the fickle
northern European weather refuses to play along.
Despite a tight labour market, late-stage start-
up Volocopter has been successful in finding the
specialists it needs to thrive, even as other German
industrial companies struggle to find talent.
“We get more than 50,000 job applications every
year,” says Hoke, who notes that the ‘coolness factor’
“makes it easier”.
But amid the enthusiasm of the eVTOL dreamers,
there are cautionary voices and many questions to
which the nascent industry does not yet have answers.
Current battery technology is unable to match the
range of a traditional, fossil-fueled small helicopter
52 Flight International June 2024
The VoloCity performed demonstration
at last year’s NBAA event in Las Vegas
“Success and non-
success are very close
together. There will be
consolidation, for all of us,
and we have to live with
this prospect every day”
Dirk Hoke Chief executive, Volocopter
(and will not do so for a long time), strict weight
restrictions limit the craft’s payload, landing spots
will be rare, and authorities are still holding back
on opening the regulatory floodgates. And at some
point, the money will run out.
“Success and non-success are very, very close
together,” Hoke says. “There will be consolidation,
for all of us, and we have to live with this prospect
every day.”
And fundraising is a constant discussion.
In late April, the company was confronted with
that reality when an expected state loan guarantee
of up to €100 million did not materialise, leaving it
to scramble for alternative means of financing. Even
declaring insolvency is not off the table, it cautions.
“Volocopter has been transparent that the fund-
raising market has been difficult in the past few
years. The German federal government is still very
supportive of Volocopter… but in general, Germany
has very limited mechanisms to support start-ups in
the late stages of financing,” he says.
Hoke is not one for frenzied exuberance, nor does
he succumb to despair when a component, a process,
or a flight test fail to meet the standards he and his
teams have set. Innovation is hard, reaching mile-
stones is harder, and changing mindsets is harder yet.
It is one thing to imagine something cool, and quite
another to make it real.
But even if progress is slow, Hoke is convinced
that by the 2030s, the technology will have found its
niche, and its commercial value.
“Because it will be in small steps, people will not
realise it’s a revolution,” he says. “Twenty years from
now will we be able to call it a revolution.” ◗
 Advanced air mobility developers are working
overtime to make their designs mainstream –
navigating regulations, overcoming financial
hurdles and convincing a mostly sceptical public
that their vehicles will deliver genuine value

Electric
charge
Yonhap/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

EHang’s fully autonomous, two-seat EH216-S

has performed commercial demonstrations

54 Flight International June 2024


Howard Hardee Sacramento
Dominic Perry London
Greg Waldron Singapore
F
or more than two decades, investors around
the world have been placing large bets on
novel air mobility vehicles. Vast sums have
gushed into the dream of creating multi-
modal transportation networks that include the third
dimension to relieve overstressed ground-based
infrastructure networks.
That is the futuristic promise. But turning the
fantastic designs into certificated reality is proving
Joby Aviation
difficult, and costly. We take an in-depth look at the
top players in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe,
as they pursue different paths toward regulatory
approval and commercialisation of their vehicles.
Congested cities, broad expanses of water, and
national aerospace aspirations make the Asia-Pacific
a key region for electric vertical take-off and landing
(eVTOL) aircraft. Although the region has lagged
behind the West in the development of commercial
airliners, it has big aerospace ambitions. Prestige and
highly jobs are the main motivator for the continent’s
governments to take a closer look at the sector.
Prime markets
Moreover, traffic-choked cities such as Bangkok, Ja-
karta and Manila offer prime use markets for eVTOL
aircraft. They can also offer an ‘island-hopping’ role,
across the sprawling archipelagos of Indonesia and
the Philippines, or China’s Pearl River Delta.
Arguably the best known eVTOL firm in the region
– if not the world – is China’s EHang. Its two-seat, fully
autonomous EH216-S started flying passengers in
“commercial demonstrations” last December.
The EH216-S has secured its type certificate from
the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC),
making EHang the world’s first air taxi developer
to be blessed by a major civil aviation regulator. Its
early application has been sightseeing operations –
thereby preparing the public for an eventual roll-out
in the country’s big cities.
Local governments are working together with in-
dustry stakeholders to commercialise the aircraft, says
Alan Lim, a director at Alton Aviation Consultancy.
“These efforts include both financial and policy
perspectives – with individual cities such as Hefei and
Qingdao engaging in funding and partnerships with
EHang, as well as regulatory co-ordination to allow
for flights between Shenzhen and Zhuhai,” he says.
A salient fact about the rise of the eVTOL sector in
China is that EHang and the CAAC view autonomy
– and not human pilots – as a critical safety fea-
ture. While individual eVTOL aircraft will have the
autonomy to conduct emergency landings and other
measures as required, ultimately the entire network
will be controlled by a central command system.
From the Chinese perspective, it would be
dangerous to mix autonomous and piloted eVTOL
assets in the same airspace.
Autonomy, though, comes at the expense of
flexibility, with eVTOL models – for the time being at
least – largely restricted to routings previously flown
by drones, which also map out diversion points in the
event of an emergency.
eVTOL Programmes
Joby is likely to be the first US-based
eVTOL company to certificate its aircraft
Other Chinese eVTOL hopefuls include Xpeng,
which has flown its developmental X2 and plans for
a series of “modular flying cars”, and Geely, which
has tested its five-seat, tiltrotor Aerofugia AE200.
Tech giant Tencent also owns a 23.4% stake in
Germany’s Lilium.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea aims to launch
urban air mobility operations in 2025, and has
kicked off the K-UAM Grand Challenge, in which
companies such as EHang, Hanwha, Hyundai
and Vertical Aerospace will demonstrate eVTOL
operations and safety.
South Korea’s Hanwha sees opportunities as a
systems provider for eVTOL aircraft, having signed
a deal with Vertical at last year’s Paris air show to
produce core parts for the UK company’s VX4.
Hyundai unit Supernal revealed its proposed S-A2
eVTOL in January. The piloted, four-passenger,
V-tail aircraft features a distributed electric
propulsion system driving eight tiltrotors. The
company sees its path to global success through
the US market, where it has locations in Washington
DC and California.
In March, Japanese eVTOL firm SkyDrive started
production of its SkyDrive SD-05 model with car
maker Suzuki, and hopes to operate its product at
the Expo 2025 in Osaka. Suzuki’s partners include
Thales for flight controls, Avidyne for avionics, and
Toray for the aircraft’s body and rotor frames.
Windtunnel tests
Indonesian firm Vela is conducting windtunnel tests
with its Alpha lift-and-cruise eVTOL design, which
features eight electric motors for vertical lift and
a single pusher-propeller for forward flight. The
company will develop two variants: a hybrid version
with a range of 270nm (500km) planned to operate
between cities, and a fully electric version with a
range of 54nm.
Following certification in Indonesia, Vela will seek
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval next,
to tap into sales opportunities in the USA.
“Given the complexities and novelty of this
sector, we will likely see a very measured approach
by both Asia-Pacific and other OEMs around the
globe, along with their respective regulators, in the
entry-into-service and certification of their individual
eVTOL aircraft,” says Lim.
June 2024 Flight International 55
 This ‘crawl-walk-run’ approach will lead to a gradual
ramp up in operations in 2026/2027 when the aircraft
are certificated.
In the USA, several California-based companies are
racing each other to get their vehicles off the ground
and certificated.
Frontrunners Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation are
moving fast, while Boeing-backed Wisk Aero is taking
a more long-term approach, having chosen to jump
straight to autonomous flight with its Gen 6 vehicle.
However, unlike in China, the FAA is likely to approve
piloted vehicles first.
But instead of first operating flights at home, the US
firms appear increasingly likely to launch passenger
service in a region more eager to embrace advanced
air mobility projects, like the Middle East.
“They have been spending a lot of time in the region,
generating deals and opportunities,” says Andres
Sheppard, a senior equity analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald.
While Archer has chosen Abu Dhabi, Joby is
focusing on operating in Dubai. Both companies
see the region as “pivotal” to their commercialisa-
tion efforts. But they are racing against time. They
can afford to burn cash for only so long, and less
complex airspace appears to offer the fastest route
to generating revenue.
Analyst Sergio Cecutta of SMG Consulting agrees
with that assessment. A year ago, he says, the
industry speculated which US city could be the first
with an air taxi service. “I don’t think anybody is talk-
ing about that anymore,” he says.
Joby is likely to become the first US-based eVTOL
company to certificate its aircraft. The company has a
major lead on flight-testing, having amassed thou-
sands of hours of flight time, including a demonstra-
tion in downtown Manhattan.
Archer has been conducting hover tests of its
Midnight aircraft over the past several months, but
by late April had yet to transition to forward flight –
a major milestone in any tiltrotor aircraft’s develop-
ment programme.
It could have the faster path to generating revenue,
aiming to sell aircraft directly to operators, in addition
to developing its own air taxi service. And, Archer
may ultimately boast the industry’s most robust
production capacity, through its partnership with
automotive giant Stellantis.
In March, the FAA issued its final airworthiness
criteria for Joby’s eVTOL aircraft, marking a milestone
Lilium has so far flown scaled versions
Lilium
of its Lilium Jet at a test site in Spain
56 Flight International June 2024
“Early clarity on how
these aircraft will operate
is of enormous benefit to
manufacturers, customers
and investors”
Trevor Wood
Director of regulatory affairs, Vertical Aerospace
for the company and paving the way for other US
developers, including Vermont’s Beta Technologies.
Beta recently transitioned a full-scale prototype
of its Alia-250 design from hover to wing-borne
forward flight – and back to hover – with a pilot
onboard. The major technical achievement is distinct
from a tiltrotor transition, as Beta’s craft is config-
ured with four lift propellers and one aft-mounted
pusher propeller for forward flight.
It will take the FAA longer to assess Wisk’s autono-
mous, uncrewed approach. Wisk too has also logged
thousands of flight hours and is currently testing
relatively mature technologies. It is assembling a
full-scale protoype and may pursue a certification
strategy starting in New Zealand.
Heavy investment
Embraer-supported Eve Air Mobility is also taking
a more measured approach, building the industry’s
largest tentative orderbook while spending heavily
on developing its piloted, four-passenger eVTOL
aircraft. Eve plans to launch a flight-test programme
this year.
Rounding out the second wave of eVTOL
developers in the USA are Supernal and Southern
California’s Overair.
Sheppard calls the air taxi business model “a
no-brainer” – once it is up and running. Whether
Archer or Joby can afford major certification delays is
another question, however. Joby, for example, has the
highest cash burn, but also the highest balance, with
more than $1 billion in liquidity.
“Obviously, that’s not infinite,” Sheppard says.
Should certification be pushed into 2027 or beyond,
both developers could experience a cash crunch.
When the first air taxi services do launch in the
USA, downtown-to-airport routes in New York and
Los Angeles will be the most likely. South Florida
could be another proving ground for eVTOL types.
Manufacturers have targeted limited air taxi service
ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, also in Los
Angeles, but seamlessly moving between an Uber,
bus, subway or taxi into an eVTOL aircraft is unlikely,
Cecutta believes.
For now, the industry remains speculative.
“The reality is that no American eVTOL OEM has
achieved certification, so it’s still a ‘show me’ story,”
Sheppard says.
European companies Lilium and Vertical – the two
highest-profile eVTOL developers after Volocopter
(see p48) – are both facing similar challenges: flight
and finances.

Although the companies are developing wildly
different aircraft pitched at different parts of the
market – Lilium with its Lilium Jet and Vertical the
VX4 – both need to achieve flight-test success this
year if the financial stresses are to ease.
The two firms are at different stages of aircraft
development: Lilium has yet to fly a full-scale proto-
type, while Vertical has already flown – and written
off – its initial VX4 (see p30).
That accident, during uncrewed testing last August,
forced the UK company to suspend flights while it
investigated the causes and implemented chang-
es on the next test aircraft. It says the incident was
triggered by the failure of a propeller blade.
Second-generation versions of the propellers, plus
an in-house-developed battery pack and other im-
provements – around 70% of the components are new
– have since been incorporated on the next prototype.
Crewed flight testing is scheduled, and a sister aircraft
is expected to follow by year-end.
Vertical has ambitious plans for its prototype this
year, including several public flight demonstrations,
notably at July’s Farnborough air show.
In Germany, meanwhile, assembly of Lilium’s first
production-conforming prototype is well underway.
While the initial aircraft will be used solely for ground
tests, a second fuselage, MSN002, was inducted in
late May. That prototype will be used for flight testing
beginning towards the end of this year.
By the end of 2024, Lilium expects to have three
prototypes assembled or in assembly, with three more
examples to follow next year. In all, it is targeting 800-
1,000h of flight testing in pursuit of European Union
Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) certification.
Lilium is maintaining a 2025 certification goal – a
year ahead of Vertical, despite the latter being argu-
ably more advanced with its flight-test programme.
But development and testing activity costs money:
Lilium expects to burn through €340-360 million
($369-391 million) in 2024, while Vertical will spend a
relatively modest £70 million ($90 million).
With little revenue coming through the door,
successful fundraising is crucial.
In 2023, Lilium raised €292 million, and in addi-
tion to banking some pre-delivery payments from
customers, hopes to end 2024 with about two-thirds
of that liquidity on its balance sheet.
eVTOL Programmes
Vertical Aerospace
Vertical’s initial VX4 was written off after
an accident during an uncrewed test flight
The company in mid-May announced that it is in
discussions with the French government regarding
potential production opportunities in the country,
linked to state subsidies and loan guarantees. Loans
from Germany and Bavaria may also be forthcoming.
Vertical also needs to raise more cash. In January,
founder Stephen Fitzpatrick agreed to inject up to $50
million of his own money into Vertical, “extending [the]
cash runway” into the second quarter of 2025.
As of mid-March, the company held approximately
£52 million. In a regulatory filing it said it “will require
additional financing” to make it to commercialisation.
If Europe’s leading lights lack the deep pockets and
flight-test progress of their counterparts across the
Atlantic, they can at least benefit from a significantly
clearer regulatory environment.
EASA is leading on the topic – it first published its
initial SC-VTOL airworthiness requirements in 2019
and has more recently set out a comprehensive set
of operating rules in the form of Part-IAM (Innovative
Aerial Mobility), which has been adopted into EU law.
Guidance materials
Further consultation around acceptable means of
compliance and other guidance materials continues,
helping to give industry a clear understanding of the
regulatory framework ahead of service entry.
Contrast that with the USA where the FAA is agree-
ing means of compliance with individual manufactur-
ers, and offering little in the way of external visibility
even on fundamental safety issues or common indus-
try-wide topics. EVTOL aircraft in the USA will also be
certificated under the agency’s ‘Powered Lift’ catego-
ry, with a knock-on impact on issues like pilot training.
Vertical is under the jurisdiction of the newly-
independent UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which
has largely followed EASA’s lead on eVTOL regu-
lation, notably around airworthiness requirements.
On operating rules, the CAA says it is developing a
framework that is better suited to the UK.
“Early clarity on how these aircraft will operate is of
enormous benefit to manufacturers, customers and
investors,” says Trevor Woods, Vertical’s director of
regulatory affairs. “We look forward to continuing to
work closely with the CAA, EASA, the FAA and other
key regulators as we certify and get these aircraft into
commercial service in the coming years." ◗
June 2024 Flight International 57
 Ones to watch
We highlight the eVTOL sector’s leading developers,
shown with their location and certification targets
Wisk Aero

Beta Technologies

Wisk Aero
Gen 6
Northern
California, USA Beta Technologies
By 2030 Alia 250
Vermont, USA
2026

Eve Air Mobility

Eve Air Mobility

Eve-100
Florida, USA
Archer Aviation

2026

Archer Aviation
Midnight
Northern
California, USA
2024
Joby Aviation

Joby Aviation
S4
Southern
California, USA
2025
Shutterstock

58 Flight International June 2024

 eVTOL Industry

Vertical Aerospace

Vertical Aerospace
VX4
Bristol, UK
Late 2026

EHang
EHang
EH216-S
Airbus

China
Airbus 2024
CityAirbus
Munich, Germany
TBC
Lilium

Lilium
Lilium Jet
Volocopter

Munich, Germany
2025

Volocopter
VoloCity
Bruchsal, Germany
2024

June 2024 Flight International 59

 From yuckspeak to tales of yore, send your offcuts to murdo.morrison@flightglobal.com

The visitors who

never were
Disappointing news for UFO watchers from the
US Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly
Resolution Office (AARO) which has – after a
thorough and final review into so-called Unidentified
Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) using a “rigorous
scientific framework and a data-driven approach” –
concluded that there is “no evidence confirming extra-
terrestrial technologies”.
AARO’s 63-page report was produced following a
review of almost 80 years of reports of sightings of
what used to be called unidentified flying objects. It
included analysis of what were, at the time, classified
national security programmes.
“AARO has found no verifiable evidence that any
RAF Museum

UAP sighting has represented extraterrestrial activity,”

acting director Tim Phillips told a
6 March Pentagon briefing.
“We assess that [such]
claims… are largely
the result of circular
reporting in which
a small group of
individuals have
repeated inaccurate
claims they have heard
from others over a period
of several decades.”
So there you have it. An
official report by a government
agency denying that any part
of the government has been
involved in covering up
UFOs – that should
put a stop to all the
conspiracy theories.
Not so green
European campaign group Transport & Environment is
concerned about the pace of emission reductions.
It claims transport is decarbonising three times slower
than the rest of the economy and warns mobility will
comprise nearly half of European emissions by 2030.
Aviation still gets a bad rap, naturally, although
aircraft and engine technology have improved
considerably over the past 60 years.
Transport & Environment nevertheless chose to
illustrate a recent press statement on business travel
emissions with a stock photograph – ‘Plane in the
Evening Sky’ by Oleg Ivanov – showing a Soviet-era
Tupolev Tu-134 belching twin trails of soot.

100 75
Shutterstock

From the archive

1924 Day of the death ray 1949 Farnborough fare

The Air Ministry makes the following statement
regarding negotiations with Mr. Grindell Matthews, the
inventor of the so-called Death-Ray. A demonstration,
proposed by the inventor, and shown on May 26,
consisted in stopping at will a small motor-cycle
engine from a distance of about 15 yards by means
of his ray. The demonstrations were carried out in the
inventor’s laboratory, all the apparatus being provided
by him. As it was not possible to form any definite
opinion as to the value of the device under these
conditions, Mr. Matthews was accordingly offered an
opportunity to demonstrate the stopping, by means of
his ray, a small petrol motor engine to be provided by
the Government. Mr. Matthews has refused this offer,
and it is understood that he has left the country.
Now that organization of this year’s S.B.A.C. Display
at Farnborough is, presumably, under way, might
one appeal to the S.B.A.C. to give earnest thought
to the gastronomical aspect in order that last
year’s lamentable offerings be not repeated? I have
depressing memories of queueing for an endless
period (which might have been more profitably spent
in studying some very interesting aircraft) in order
to consume an inadequate and pallid imitation of a
“high-class’’ lunch at a price of, I seem to remember,
8s. May I suggest to those responsible for the
catering that an unlimited supply of reasonably good
sandwiches and coffee or tea (apart from alcoholic
refreshment), available at any time, would be much
more convenient at an affair of this sort?

60 Flight International June 2024


Captain Eric Moody
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
We have a small problem. All four engines have
stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them
under control. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
Thus the late Captain Eric Moody attempted to
reassure terrified passengers aboard his British Airways
Boeing 747-200 when it lost all power after flying
through a volcanic ash cloud en route from Kuala
Lumpur to Perth on 24 June 1982.
Using the glide ratio, Moody and his crew calculated
they would stay airborne for about 23min, and began to
discuss damage limitation scenarios – including ditching
in the ocean, something never attempted on a 747.
1974 Laker on Concorde
50
Last week British Airways sent a report to the
Department of Industry which forecast that it is likely
to lose about £25 million a year on the five Concorde
aircraft that it has on order. The same day Mr Freddie
Laker, chairman of Laker Airways, outlined a Concorde
operating plan, which, he said, would generate a
profit of upwards of £5,845,000 a year. “If I can have
the same terms and conditions as British Airways I
will operate Concorde and I will make a profit,” Laker
said. “The British Airways document is based on the
concepts of air transport as we’ve had them for the
last 50 years. A beat-up, down-and-out organisation
like IATA is all that’s in the way. We must get Concorde
in the air now. I do not believe that Concorde should
be allowed to die without a fair trial.”
Straight & Level
Dust the job
“How was your day?”
“Oh, pretty uneventful. I did a bit of
dusting around the place.”
The suspended aircraft at the
Royal Air Force Museum Midlands in
Cosford have just had their annual
spring clean, carried out by a vertigo-
immune specialist team who work
their magic dangling in harnesses
from the ceiling, 30m (100ft) in the air.
The museum’s spruced-up types
include an Avro Vulcan, Douglas
Dakota, English Electric Canberra
and Lightning, Gloster Meteor and
Javelin, Hawker Hunter and North
American Sabre.
However, as they were preparing to take the aircraft
into the sea, they managed to restart engine number
four, which bought them time by allowing Moody
to slow the descent. Eventually all four Rolls-Royce
RB211s came back to life and they were able to climb
sufficiently to divert to Jakarta.
Moody, who has died peacefully aged 84, went
down in history for his phlegmatic approach to
the crisis, including what was described as his
“masterpiece of understatement”.
A former colleague who once sat next to Moody
– who by the 1990s had a career on the after-dinner
speaker circuit – recalls: “Over the meal we exchanged
introductions and he proceeded to give me the full
unabridged story of the famous flight. Lovely guy. I’d
have flown with him any day.”
1999 The illusion of control
25
NASA has placed into service a full-scale virtual reality
air traffic control tower, which will be used to study
ways of improving airport capacity and safety. The
virtual tower is installed at NASA’s Ames Research
Center at Moffat Field in California. The two-storey
facility uses a Silicon Graphics Onyx2 workstation to
process real-time graphics, imaging and video data.
Using sources such as satellite imagery, digitised
photographs and architectural drawings, the system
can portray any airport in the world on a 360° display.
The top floor is a 7.3m-diameter tower cab with 12
air traffic control positions. The wraparound display
allows controllers to move around as they would in a
real tower, while the image generator can simulate up
to 200 moving aircraft and vehicles.
June 2024 Flight International 61
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62 Flight International June 2024

 Henrietta Davies fell in love with helicopters at 14.
After piloting them in one of the industry’s toughest
environments – the North Sea – she now flies
emergency medical missions for Babcock
Ambulance call
Murdo Morrison London
A
ged 14, her parents bought Henrietta Davies
a 15min flying lesson in a helicopter – and
she was hooked. “From that point I knew I
wanted to be a rotorcraft pilot,” says Davies,
who has just earned her captain’s stripes flying an
Airbus Helicopters H145 for Babcock on behalf of the
East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) charity.
After almost a decade as a first officer in the North
Sea oil and gas sector – one of the most demanding
working environments for any pilot – she has been
flying helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS)
missions for Babcock since returning from maternity
leave in 2020, becoming the first female multi-crew
commander with Babcock.
The job involves four 12h shifts – two days followed
by two nights – with four days off. As well as her
co-pilot, the helicopter’s crew comprises a doctor and
critical-care paramedic, with a specialist consultant or
a second paramedic on hand if necessary. As captain,
she is mission commander, ultimately responsible
for the wellbeing of often critically injured or unwell
patients, as well as the crew.
Charitable partners
Babcock partners with EAAA, a charity responsible for
providing HEMS across a swathe of eastern England.
Although East Anglia has a smattering of cities such as
Cambridge and Norwich as well as large towns, remot-
er parts of the region can be an hour’s drive from the
nearest accident and emergency department. That is
when EAAA’s helicopters come into their own.
Incidents vary from cardiac problems and strokes
to road traffic or horse-riding accidents. No day is
typical, says Davies. While EAAA’s bases in Norwich
and Cambridge average eight callouts every 24h, it
can vary enormously. One day recently, Davies’ crew
were called out five times in a single shift; the next
day they did not leave their station.
Unlike her previous role, Davies does not have to
fly over the sea (maritime search and rescue cover is
provided by another operator for HM Coastguard). But
while East Anglia’s flat farmlands might lack the undu-
lating landscapes of other areas, landing at night as near
as possible to an incident always presents challenges.
66 Flight International June 2024
When a callout comes in, Davies and her team will
“pause for a few moments” and plan the mission,
East Anglian Air Ambulance
particularly at night. “This gives us the situational
awareness of what we are likely to face,” she says. Air
traffic control gives HEMS flights priority over other
traffic, so “it’s rare that we cannot fly in a straight line”.
Typically, Davies and her crew will arrive on the
scene at around 1,000ft and assess if it is safe to
descend to 500ft – hazards include power cables
and wind turbines. At night they will usually deploy a
high-intensity searchlight to identify a landing spot.
The medical crew in the back of the aircraft have
night-vision monocles and act as “additional pairs of
eyes, something that is really useful”, she says.
Once on the ground, Davies and her co-pilot often
return the favour by helping the medical team. “We’re
not trained medically but we can move bags and
equipment and hold splints to allow the medics to get
on with their jobs,” she says. “One of the best parts of
this job is the camaraderie and being part of a team.”
In the periods between callouts, Davies and the
other pilots will often relax – the crew facilities have
rest pods. During day shifts, time is spent on admin-
istrative tasks, refresher training, studying, or simply
reading. There are ambassadorial duties, too, to keep
EAAA in the public eye. “EAAA is a charity, so it has
to constantly earn money from donations,” she says.
Like many pilots, Davies’ interest in aviation stems
from a young age. Her mother tells a story of a hel-
icopter dropping red noses for a charity event in a
park close to their home, and Davies was entranced.
Her parents had initially given her a 15min lesson in
a fixed-wing aircraft at a local flying school at just
“Every time I land in a
park, kids see me. That’s
what happened to me
all those years ago. I saw
that doing a job like this
was possible”

14 for her birthday, but she knew even then that her
heart lay with rotorcraft.
After leaving school, she went to Florida, aged 19,
to attend the Bristow Academy in Titusville (now
US Aviation Training Solutions), flying two-seat
Schweizer S300s, leaving with European and US
licences. However, like many newly qualified pilots,
she found it hard to getting on to the first rung of
the career ladder.
“I had 150 hours and no real-world experience,” she
says. “I could have stayed in Florida instructing but
my dad died, and I wanted to come home.” She fig-
ured that the North Sea sector was the best place to
start, but it was 2009/2010 and oil and gas produc-
tion was dropping fast, leaving the helicopter compa-
nies serving the sector shedding not recruiting pilots.
Career ambition
After working as a children’s nanny to pay the
bills and travelling to the UK’s oil and gas capital
Aberdeen to “get my face around”, CHC invited her
for an interview. Six months later she was offered a
job, and eventually, two years after qualifying on the
tiny S300, she found herself flying the 19-passenger
Sikorsky S-92.
Subscribe today at www.FlightGlobal.com/subscribe
Women in aviation
Davies has just earned her captain’s
stripes flying an Airbus Helicopters H145
She moved to rival Bristow on the same type, and
later to Norwich to fly Leonardo Helicopters AW189s
after completing her type rating in Milan. By now
established in London with a family, commuting to
Norfolk was more convenient. Then, in 2018, pregnant
with her second child and unwilling to relocate to Ab-
erdeen with Bristow, she took a two-year career break.
In 2020, she spotted an advertisement for a co-pilot
with Babcock. “I had a tiny baby but couldn’t pass up
the opportunity,” she says. “I had experience of flying
offshore but this role would add onshore experience.”
She joined at the height of the pandemic. “It was
a weird time,” she recalls. “I was going back to work
while everyone else was stuck at home.”
Of the UK’s more than 1,200 helicopter pilots, only
around 36 are women – an even worse ratio than for
airline pilots. Because of this, Davies is determined to
be an evangelist for the profession to young women.
“There is more promotion around STEM [science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics] careers
for young women these days, but equally important
is that they have role models,” she says. “Every time
I land in a park, kids see me. That’s exactly what
happened to me all those years ago. I saw that doing
a job like this was possible.” ◗
June 2024 Flight International 67