ZeroAvia Gains Backing at High Levels

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation 1 Comment

“Cannot be more proud and humbled to be a part of this stellar team!”  That’s power system developer Gabriel DeVault’s response to ZeroAvia’s Chief Financial Officer Katya Akulinicheva’s enthusiastic endorsement of Bloomberg LP’s news.  She listed the investors taking an active interest in ZeroAvia, including Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, Horizons Ventures, Shell Ventures and Summa Equity. Already benefiting from a $16.3 million grant from Innovate UK, Aerospace Technology Institute and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), ZeroAvia will be able to push forward on plans to create a 19-seat hydrogen-powered commuter liner. According to Bloomberg, “ZeroAvia aims to demonstrate that it can fly a plane 500 miles (804 kilometers) with as many as 20 seats by 2023. It wants to scale up to 1,000 miles with over 100 seats by 2030.” With individuals such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos taking an interest, an aviation blog now feels a little like …

Lugosi Enterprises Pioneers Late-Night Drone Deliveries

Dean Sigler Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Even while Jeff Bezos at Amazon and competitors like UPS and FedEx strive to deliver packages to your front door, a Transylvanian experiment in extreme biomicry promises to make delivery in the dark of night the new standard. While other drone makers use fixed- or rotary-wing configurations, Lugosi Enterprises relies on a radical, human-powered ornithopter with the ability to change shape and size depending on the stage of the mission in which it is engaged.  This proprietary technology is shrouded in secrecy, but enables the wingsuit wearer to shrink to an extraordinarily small size, at which point, according to Lugosi spokesperson Dwight Frye, the operator can fly an undisclosed distance in total silence, except for an occasional annoying high-pitched piping noise. For reasons best known to the Lugosi operation, deliveries will take place only at night, and will not be curtailed by high winds, thunder, or multiple lightning strikes.  Navigation will depend on bat-like echolocation, in which sounds emitted by the flyer help …