Very interesting talks at the second day of the Electric Aircraft Symposium:

Panel on Leisure eVTOL in Oshkosh.

2 days to go for the world’s largest Aviation event, Airventure Oshkosh to start Exhibitors getting into their show booths. Several electric aircraft and eVTOL manufacturers are expected. But conventional Aircraft will still be the major Focus of this event.

Diamond DA 50 on the way to the Diamond exhibit.

Panel: Community Integration – with: Yolanka Wulff Cami , Rex Alexander 5 Alpha, Starr Ginn NASA, Grant Fisk Volatus

At the same time the VFS Electric Aircraft Symposium (EAS) in the University of Wisconsin has started at Saturday morning .

Speakers of world leading companies like Joby, Archer, Beta, Wisk , Skydrive, Rolls Royce etc as well as NASA.

The EAS continues until Sunday 5:30 PM – you may also join online – more info at –https://vtol.org/eas.

Mike Romanowski from Archer talking at EAS on the progress of their eVTOL

on July 19 2023 the corporate registry in China indicated that a company called „Commercial Aicraft Times“(商飞时代）was formed. What is interesting is that this is a joint venture among CATL, the largest lithium battery manufacturer in the world, COMAC （China’s Airbus/Boeing equivalent and the manufacturer of China’s C919 jetliner) and Shanghai Jiaotong University (Jiaotong means „transportation“ in Chinese and by no accident it is the alma mater of the founder and chairman of CATL). The name of the joint venture is obviously a combination of COMAC and CATL in Chinese language.

According to the description of the business scope in the corporate registry, the joint venture company’s business scope includes “ the design and production of civil aircraft parts, civil aircraft (engine, propeller) production, battery sales, etc.“

This partnership may be not a surprise considering that the three parties have already signed a MoU last year and CATL mentioned the possible aviation use at the introduction event unveiling its latest battery technology at Shanghai Auto Show in this April. It should be very interesting to see the outcome of this partnership.

Next to the big electric highlights of the show like the debut of the Autoflight Prosperity, the Voltaero Cassio 330, and the Archer Midnight there were many new sustainable projects in the halls and on the airfield. Have a first look at our images and read more in our next e-flight-Journal – coming soon.

https://www.voltaero.aero/en/

local media reports that the German eVTOL manufacturer Lilium signed an agreement with the government of Bao’an district of Shenzhen city to set up their Asia headquarter in Bao’an district.

Lilium also reportedly signed 100 pre-order with a local helicopter operator.

As a background, Shenzhen is the head office of Tecent who is the largest shareholder of Lilium and who invested extra $100mn in Lilium in May

A Thunderstorm came on the day before the show opening tomorrow Monday June 19th. and left some damage at some booth.

some booth were damaged

Good secured aircraft like Autoflight`s Prosperity survived the storm and is ready at Chalet #100 ready for the visitors.

We had the chance on Sunday June 18th to have a sneak preview of the first prototype of the Autoflight Prosperity at its first appearance in Europe on Le Bourget airfield.

Stay tuned for more news from Paris as the show goes on!

Last week at the prominent technology trade show Viva Technology in Paris the French startup Zapata revealed its latest design “AirScooter” single-seat eVTOL.

The Airscooter can reach a cruising speed of 80 km/h, with a top speed of 100 km/h. Weighed at 115 kilograms empty, it is thus qualifed as Part 103 ultralight of FAA in the US which does not require an airworthiness certificate for sale nor a pilot license to use. It can carry a maximum load of 120 kilos, can achieve a range of up to two hours, much more than exclusively electric aircraft, thanks to a hybrid electric and combustion engine, with an 18.9-litre tank.

The company does not plan to sell AirScooter to individuals at this moment. Instead, it will be offered in flight centers in the United States, with the first flights planned for 2024 in Arizona, the US. The whole flying experience will include an introduction in virtual reality, training in a simulator, then a 40-minute flight under the close supervision of an instructor. 

The creator of AirScooter, Franky Zapata, is famous for unconventional but creative air vehicle. He is the inventor of the jet-powered Flyboard. Down the road Franky Zapata is looking forward to have the AirScooter transform not only leisure, but also daily commute by offering an affordable air travel alternative. In this way, the company hopes to contribute to relieving congestion in cities and reducing traffic congestion. To do this, it will be able to rely in particular on the industrial site it has just installed in Châteauneuf-Les-Martigues, from which it intends to eventually produce 1,000 AirScooters per year in series.

For more information: https://www.zapata.com 

On 14 June 2023 Norwegian start-up Elfly Group unveiled their full electric amphibian named “Noemi” (no emission) in Oslo, Norway. The company said that early versions of the Noemi will have between 6 and 13 seats and will reach around 200 kilometers at speeds of up to 250 knots, with a pair of electric motors with output of one megawatt.

The company plans to fly the prototype in 2025 and to certify the aircraft under EASA’s CS23 Level 4 rules to give it scope to scale up the design to carry as many as 19 passengers. Elfly said that the aircraft will be ready to enter commercial service in 2030 with a cargo version ready by 2028.

There will be three cabin options for passenger-carrying versions of the Noemi, ranging from a six-seat VIP model to nine- and 13-seaters that could be used respectively for business flights or short tourist sightseeing trips. A large door will be available for use by passengers in wheelchairs or for loading freight.

Elfly has recruited engineers from companies such as eVTOL aircraft developer Lilium and Germany’s Dornier, th veteran seaplane manufacturer.

Elfly is no stranger to electric aviation. The company has been designing, producing and test flying the electric racer airplane to participate in the Air Race E electric air race event. CTO of the company Tomas Brødreskift established Equator Aircraft in 2010 and developed and test flew the P2 Xcursion electric amphibian airplane later on.

For more information: https://el-fly.no

On 13 June 2023 the Italian airplane manufacturer Tecnam announced to terminate the P-Volt electric commuter airplane project although they will continue research activities to explore new emerging technologies and will be ready to bring the P-Volt back into the type certification arena as soon as technology evolution allows.

the rendering image of P-Volt design

Tecnam has concluded that the time for P-Volt is not yet ripe after three years of intensive studies covering the entire lifecycle of an all-electric aircraft. Tecnam attributes the main reason to, perhaps undoubtedly, the limit of battery technology. Tecnam states that “The proliferation of aircraft with “new” batteries would lead to unrealistic mission profiles that would quickly degrade after a few weeks of operation. Taking into account the most optimistic projections of slow charge cycles and the possible limitation of the maximum charge level per cycle, the real storage capacity would fall below 170Wh/kg, and only a few hundred flights would drive operators to replace the entire storage unit, with a dramatic increase in direct operating costs due to the reserves for battery replacement prices.” Therefore,  Tecnam believes that these key factors cannot define a new aircraft development as “viable” with a target entry into service by 2026-2028 and that an aircraft with a battery pack at the end of its life would not be the best product for the market, but certainly the worst in terms of Net Present Value (NPV).

Tecnam is neither a new player in general aviation nor in electric aviation.P-Volt can be traced as far back as in 2018 when Tecnam, Rolls Royce and Rotax jointly developed the H3PS hybrid electric demonstrator airplane based on the Tecnam P2010 four-seater airplane. With dozens of EASA and FAA certifications, Tecnam is the most active General Aviation manufacturer in the world with the highest number of new type certifications in recent years. So their decision should be taken seriously. Though it’s sad to see the termination of an electric aircraft project, it’s brave and smart to face the problem and stop loss on time. We need to accept the fact that the business model and market entry point of full electric aircraft for now is very tricky due to battery restraint which, as Tecnam explained in the press release, will heavily affect the profitability and viability of the operation. Perhaps it’s a good time to read again Tecnam’s CTO Fabio Russo’s analysis last year of Eviation’s performance. Electric aircraft development is a steep and long slope so it’s natural and maybe necessary to change to a lower gear in the climb. The important thing when climbing a slope perhaps is not how fast we go, but to keep moving. As long as we are climbing, no matter how slow we are moving, we will reach the peak.

Tecnam’s CTO Fabio Russo’s analysis last year of Eviation’s performance. It is a very good read for anyone interested in electric airplane design and performance speculation: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fabio-russo-51375a33_eviation-alice-performances-analysis-ugcPost-6939894153900134401-_Ayo/

Paris Airshow will begin on 19 June and run until 25 June. As the prominent aviation trade show in the world, advanced air mobility (AAM) will of course be part of the show. As the AAM industry is going through certification and commercial operation threshold, there are quite some anticipation and some premier at the show this year.

We went through the exhibitors list to find the electric aviation exhibitors for you. There will be a dedicated area named “Paris Air Mobility”in Hall 5 where most electric and AAM aircraft will be presented. Of course there will be some other exhibitors in electric aviation especiall in supply chain domain scattering in other exhibition areas.

Here are the electric aircraft manufactures coming to present in Paris:

Aircraft at display:

Autoflight’s V1500M eVTOL (Hall 5)

Volocopter’s VoloCity eVTOL (Hall 5)

Archer’s Midnight eVTOL (Hall 5)

eHang’s 216 eVTOL (Hall 5)

Ascendance’s Atea eVTOL (Hall 5)

Lilium Jet eVTOL (cabin mockup) (Hall 5)

Eve Air Mobility eVTOL (cabin mockup) (Hall 5)

VoltAero (B4)

Aura Aero (B4)

Exhibitors:

Airbus (Hall 5)

Joby (Hall 5)

ZeroAvia (Hall 4)

Wisk (Boeing booth in C2)

Beyond Aero (Hall 2b)

We will bring you on-site report when the show starts. Stay tuned!