Kerry Lynch stepped into the role of editor of the&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;monthly magazine in May 2022 after serving with&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;for eight years. She joined&nbsp;AIN&nbsp;in December 2014 as a senior editor covering Washington and business aviation news. She has also served on Convention News teams, including as editor of&nbsp;HAI Convention News. Lynch previously spent 25 years with Aviation Week. During her time there, she reported for and later steered&nbsp;The Weekly of Business Aviation, oversaw business aviation content on the&nbsp;Aviation Week Intelligence Network, served on the&nbsp;Show News&nbsp;staff, and held roles as the Washington columnist for&nbsp;Business &amp; Commercial Aviation&nbsp;and&nbsp;Overhaul &amp; Maintenance&nbsp;monthly magazines. In 2021 she was honored with the National Business Aviation Association Platinum Wing Award for lifetime achievement in journalism and was the 2004 recipient of the National Air Transportation Association’s Aviation Journalism Excellence Award. She also has been a recipient of an Aerospace Media Award for business aviation (2022) and NBAA Gold Wing Award (2003, 2024). Lynch graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism.

Editor, AIN monthly magazine

Kerry Lynch

Hermeus took its next step toward hypersonic flight with its first test vehicle, Quarterhorse Mk 1, taking to the skies. Quarterhorse Mk 1, the first flight-test vehicle in a series of uncrewed aircraft Hermeus is planning as it progresses toward a 20-seat hypersonic aircraft, flew last week at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The vehicle will be used to validate high-speed takeoff and landing gear of a large uncrewed aircraft, Hermeus said, noting that its unique configuration for high-speed flight can make basic takeoff and landing operations challenging.
According to Hermeus, the flight demonstrated a rapid development pace, going from a clean sheet to flight-ready in a little more than a year. “Mk 1 has redefined the pace of developing and flying new aircraft,” said Hermeus CEO and co-founder AJ Piplica. “We’ve proven the viability of our iterative development approach. But this is just the start. We have much more to do as the bar rises for the next iteration.”
Data from the flight campaign is also validating design and performance models, including aerodynamics, stability, and control, as well as subsystems such as propulsion, fuel systems, hydraulic power, thermal management, avionics, flight software, telemetry, flight termination, and command and control.
“The real-world flight data from Mk 1 provides significant technical value that we’re rolling into our next aircraft,” said co-founder and president Skyler Shuford.
Taking a “one aircraft per year” tack, Hermeus is reviewing data and integrating lessons learned into its next vehicle, Quarterhorse Mk 2, under development at the company’s headquarters in Atlanta. This aircraft will have the scale of an F-16 and will incorporate a high-Mach design to de-risk uncrewed supersonic flight. Hermeus expects it to fly later this year.
Ultimately, Hermeus is planning three Quarterhorse flight-test vehicles—along with an iron bird variant—before moving forward with its Darkhorse hypersonic multi-mission uncrewed aircraft, destined for military purposes, and then ultimately the Halcyon passenger vehicle.

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