2024 Corporate Aviation Leadership Summit

Mark Huber

News and issues regarding all manner of civil and military rotorcraft and their powerplants, including helicopters, tilt rotors and unmanned air vehicles.

News about bills, laws, regulations and other governmental decisions affecting aviation and aerospace. Topics include FAA re-authorizations, taxes on fuel and aviation activities, environmental legislation, ICAO decisions, governmental mediation of labor conflicts and World Trade Organization disputes and decisions.

News and issues relating to business, corporate and private aviation, primarily regarding turbine-engine-powered airplanes and helicopters. Subjects include aircraft, engines, maintenance, operations, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security, and training.

Coulson will fly firefighting CH-47s for California's Quick Reaction Force

Coulson Wins $16 Million SoCal Firefighting Contract

Hanneke Weitering

News and developments about airplanes, helicopters and unmanned air vehicles used in all varieties of operations, including airlines, military, business, commercial, general aviation and private.

DARPA selected four companies to design HSVTOL X-planes

Aurora Reveals Blended-wing-body HSVTOL X-plane Concept

Aurora Flight Sciences has revealed a high-speed, vertical-lift X-plane concept that the Boeing company is developing under a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).&nbsp;
DARPA has selected Aurora and three other companies to participate in its Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (SPRINT) project, in which the teams will compete for a contract to build and fly an experimental aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities and a cruise speed of 400 to 450 knots. Initial Phase 1 contracts, which fund the conceptual design phase, were awarded to Aurora, Northrop Grumman, Bell Textron, and Piasecki.&nbsp;
“This X-plane will demonstrate that a high-speed, vertical-lift, blended-wing-body aircraft will provide superior flexibility and operational performance to the military in the future,” said Larry Wirsing, Aurora’s v-p of aircraft development programs.
Aurora’s X-plane concept, which the company <a href="https://www.aurora.aero/2023/11/15/aurora-flight-sciences-to-design-high-speed-vertical-lift-x-plane/">revealed</a> on November 15, features a fan-in-wing configuration—essentially a blended-wing-body (BWB) airframe with vertical-lift propellers. Boeing, Aurora’s parent company, already has two decades’ worth of experience with BWB aircraft under its belt. The aerospace giant previously worked with NASA and Cranfield Aerospace to design, build, and fly an experimental BWB aircraft under the <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2013-05-03/boeing-nasa-complete-x-48c-blended-wing-body-flights?amp">X-48 program</a>.&nbsp;
Boeing's <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2021-03-05/aurora-insists-it-still-advanced-air-mobility-contender-evtol-technology">Aurora Flight Sciences</a> subsidiary has been developing uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) since 1989 and has been a leading partner in U.S. military programs such as the Global Hawk and Lightning Strike X-Plane. It was acquired by Boeing in 2017, and not long after the company revealed a technology demonstrator for its first passenger-carrying eVTOL aircraft, called the Boeing Passenger Air Vehicle (PAV). The PAV made its first flights in January 2019 and <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-06-12/boeings-autonomous-prototype-crashes">crashed</a> during its fifth flight test in June. Although Boeing said flight testing would resume in 2020, the PAV has yet to fly since.&nbsp;
While the future of the PAV program remains uncertain, Aurora will continue to develop vertical flight technologies through DARPA’s SPRINT program, applying lessons learned from PAV to a new high-speed, vertical-takeoff-and-landing (HSVTOL) aircraft.&nbsp;
The other three contenders participating in the SPRINT program have not yet publicly announced any details about their X-plane designs, but looking at their other projects could offer a preview of what they have in store. <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2021-08-03/bell-unveils-military-hsvtol-vehicle-concepts">Bell’s first HSVTOL concepts</a> were revealed in 2021, and the Textron subsidiary is continuing to research and develop the technology under the U.S. Air Force’s <a href="https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/defense/2023-04-11/bell-adds-pratt-snc-hsvtol-team">Afwerx HSVTOL Concept Challenge</a>.
Meanwhile, <a href="https://futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-11-21/us-air-force-backs-piaseckis-vtol-and-hydrogen-propulsion-development">Piasecki</a> is developing its Aerial Reconfigurable Embedded System (ARES) tilt-wing eVTOL aircraft with fresh funding from Afwerx. Northop Grumman is the only other contender known to be working on a BWB aircraft; it teamed up with <a href="https://www.futureflight.aero/news-article/2023-08-16/jetzeros-blended-wing-body-aircraft-boosted-us-air-force-contract">JetZero</a> earlier this year to develop a full-scale BWB demonstrator as an air-to-air fuel tanker for the U.S. Air Force.

Science & Technology Editor

Essential news and analysis on the defense aerospace business. Your trusted source for new and ongoing programs and requirements in military aircraft (manned and unmanned), engines, avionics, weapons and associated systems, including ground-based air defense.

Qatari Boeing F-15QA Flies at Dubai Airshow

Boeing B-1 Lancer Performs Double Flypast at Dubai Airshow

Kerry Lynch

News and issues relating to international air transport and cargo carriers, national airlines and regional airlines, including aircraft, engines, personnel, acquisitions, accidents, safety, security and training.

Oman Air's cargo business grew year-over-year by 42% in the first half.

Oman Air Takes Deliver First Boeing 737-800 Freighter

Boeing's orders, options, and purchase rights tally surpassed 200 on the opening day of the airshow

Boeing Kicks Off Dubai Airshow with Bevy of Orders

Matt Thurber

News and developments about aviation fuel, including jet fuel, aviation gasoline, and biofuel.

Boeing

News

Coulson Wins $16 Million SoCal Firefighting Contract

Aurora Reveals Blended-wing-body HSVTOL X-plane Concept

Aurora Reveals Blended-wing-body HSVTOL X-plane Concept

Qatari Boeing F-15QA Flies at Dubai Airshow

Boeing B-1 Lancer Performs Double Flypast at Dubai Airshow

Oman Air Takes Deliver First Boeing 737-800 Freighter

Boeing Kicks Off Dubai Airshow with Bevy of Orders

Boeing Agrees To Further SAF Development

USAF F-15EX Ignites Renewed Interest in the Boeing Fighter

T-7A Red Hawk Begins Air Force Flight Testing

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