Blue Spirit Rolls Out Its Prototype

Dean Sigler Announcements, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

On June 10, Blue Spirit Aero rolled out its full-scale hydrogen-powered Dragonfly prototype and completed the world’s first H2 refueling of a light aircraft directly from an airport station in Le Mans, France, site of the famous 24-hour endurance car race held four days later. Historic Antecedents In 1908, Wilbur Wright took an early Wright Flyer to Le Mans at the invitation of Léon Bollée, a prominent automotive manufacturer and balloon enthusiast.  Wilbur’s flights evoked admiration and stunned appreciation for what the two American brothers had achieved. As shown in the lead image for this entry H2 Today reported, “Yesterday’s event was nothing short of spectacular. Alongside the H24 EVO racing car, a 1912 Léon Bollée, and a replica of the Wright brothers’ Flyer, the presentation offered a striking blend of past and future. The ceremony was a resounding success, aided by clear skies and a fully operational aircraft.” Olivier Savin, founder of Blue Spirit Aero, proclaimed, “It was with great pride …

VoltAero Unveils Production Cassio 330 at Paris Air Show

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VoltAero has unveiled its production Cassio 330 hybrid electric aircraft at the Paris Air Show 2025, revealing a new look and revised, simplified technology.  Aerotime explains the craft is a result of VoltAero working with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) airworthiness certification agency. The original twin-boom configuration has been replaced with a T-tail, and its original parallel-hybrid power train with an internal combustion (thermal) engine inside the fuselage and two aft-fuselage-mounted Safran ENGINeUS smart electric motors on each side of the fuselage under the T-tail.  The internal combustion engine drives a generator that recharges the airplane’s onboard batteries in a serial hookup. Changing to a single fuselage eliminates the potential of damage to the twin booms if a propeller blade fails.  VoltAero explains, “The new configuration has a fully redundant architecture for operational safety. This begins with the two aft-fuselage-mounted Safran ENGINeUS smart electric motors, placing the Cassio 330 in the multi-engine aircraft category and opening its potential use in commercial …

Beta Does New York, and Ireland Too

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Beta Technologies, having flown its Alia from coast-to-coast and back, extebds its reach to New York City and even Shannon, Ireland. Beta Lands in New York Having completed an epic cross-country tour of the United States, a Beta Alia made a triumphant return to its Vermont home accompanied by two of its stable-mates.  Flying magazine pointed out some significant features of the long cross-country trip that preceded this homecoming.  “The trip was more than a public relations exercise, though. N916LF flew in VFR (Visual Flight Rules), IFR (Instrument Flight Rules), day, and night conditions through snowstorms and scorching heat—an impressive validation of its systems considering Beta registered the model with the FAA less than six months ago.” The First Electric Aircraft Landing at JFK A little more than two months after that return, Beta staged its next demonstration of Alia’s versatility. by performing the first all-electric aircraft landing at John F. Kennedy airport in New York City. Reuters reported, “Beta Technologies …

Pyka, a Potential Fire Supression Vehicle

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Pyka is an innovative company that’s been flying autonomously for over seven years.  Currently used in agricultural crop spraying and dusting operations, it seems to this editor that it could be a superb fire suppression vehicle.  Pyka’s youthful and exuberant crew would certainly be up to the task. Pyka’s latest product is a four-motor variant of their crop-spraying agricultural aircraft.  Holding 70 gallons of crop-fertilizing or bug-fighting liquid, the Cub-size craft can treat crops autonously, Because it’s autonomous with no pilot, Pyka is not risking anyone on board and can still fly after dark on its LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging)-based guidance. Interesting Engineering.com explains, “this technology utilizes pulsed lasers to accurately and constantly measure distances to a given target or area. LiDAR sensors are essentially light-based measurement and mapping tools that are incredibly useful in a variety of sectors.” Besides that, it has the coolest position lights of anything in the air. Pyka announced a partnership with Embraer, the Brazilian aircraft company, five …

Whisper Aero – Ultralight to Heavy

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Whisper Aero, Mark Moore’s startup in Crossville, Tennessee, fields devices to move air, ranging from leaf blowers to fairly large airplanes.  The company recently showed a lineup of three aircraft, starting with a dual-motor powered flying wing hang glider to a nine-passenger silent medium-range carrier.  Each benefits from the quiet propulsion system developed by Moore and his team. The Whisper Lineup Whisper Aero plans a range of craft from a single-seat ultralight sailplane to a small lightplane-size cargo carrier to a nine-passenger transport.  All are capable of flying autonomously, and all will be powered by from two to 30 Whisper Aero eQ250 propulsors, each capable of 80 pounds of thrust.  In this video, Manfred Ruhmer, seven-time world Class 2 ultralight soaring champion among other honors, shows off his Aeriane Swift 3, taken aloft by an Eck-Geiger electric motor, and then elevated by its light weight and Manfred’s piloting skills.  It will be fascinating to see how The ship will perform …

A Good Friend, Richard Steeves, Passes

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Richard Steeves, a good and dear friend has passed, known for his achievements in medicine and among his friends for leading a long-term aviation club and even constructing a Coot Amphibian and electric ultralight airplane. Many will know him from his leadership of the Coot Builder’s Club, a group of enthusiasts who build and fly Molt Taylor’s design.  The organization publishes a newsletter that Richard edited for an astonishing 50 years.  He became great friends with Moulton (Molt) Taylor, the designer of the Coot, and wrote books and articles about the amphibian.  Now, with Richard’s passing, Andrew Wayne will take over running the organization and publishing the newsletter, which promotes the continued building and flying of this craft. In the early days of aircraft home-building, enthusiasts had to find plans for their intended craft, materials, and if possible, supportive local help.  This made building a Coot especially challenging.  Managing construction of a complex airplane with retractable landing gear, and mastering …

Sustainability at AeroExpo2025: Alphafrog

Dean Sigler Batteries, Biofuels, Electric Powerplants, Fuel Cells, Hybrid Aircraft, hydrogen, Hydrogen Fuel, Solar Power, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

This year’s AeroExpo was particularly supportive of sustainability, with green balloons over “green” displays, a series of seminars on electric, hydrogen, and other clean skies aspirants, and flight demonstrations showing how far the industry and the Friedrichshafen exhibit have come. Alphafrog’s Illustrious Ancestor Alphafrog is a reintroduced and wildly updated ultralight from the 1970s, the Sirocco.  Its high wing, pusher engine, and forward cockpit made for a comfortable way to cruise at leisurely speeds while avoiding the rigors of more open aviating.  Even the original 1983 version, a wire-braced monoplane with three-axis control, had a polyester fiber-glass fuselage and fiber-glass leading edges on wings and tail surfaces.  Spars were “bidirectional stratified” composite construction.  (Burger-Burr’s Ultralight Aircraft of the World, 1983, a Foulis Aviation Book) The original, even with a partially-open cockpit, was capable of an around-the-world tour.  As Alphafrog relates, “Forty years ago, on September 29, 1984, Patrice Franceschi embarked on the first circumnavigation of the world with an ultralight …

Beta Barnstorms America

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Chris Stoner of eVTOL Insights reported that a Beta (Technologies) aircraft [completed] a “stunning” 3,064 nautical mile flight across America on March 4, the Beta Barnstorm.  Its headline-provoking journey gave many their first glimpse of a “mature” electric aviation product – one that could have great consequences in many areas. The Beta Alia CX300’s flight was charged along the eastern part of its route with an established network of charging and pilot rest stations built over the last several years by Beta.  Westward, the flight was assisted by a ground crew that brought Beta’s portable chargers to each destination airport.  Beta’s diverse and talented workforce is building a formidable network that will enhance electric aviation and its support structure through the next several decades. Nate Dubie and Noah Ranallo piloted the aircraft on a rotating basis while a small ground crew leapfrogged their efforts to provide backup and data capture. A Growing Network Beta’s network can be a precursor for …

Pipistel NUUVA V300 Lifts Off

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Pipistrel’s LinkedIn page features a happy headline and the culmination of a long development process. “Reaching new heights! ✈️ We’re thrilled to share that the Nuuva V300 – our long-range, large-capacity hybrid-electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) unmanned aircraft – successfully completed its first hover flight. 👏” Pipistrel, a division of Textron eAviation, announced that its new NUUVA V300 hybrid-electric unmanned VTOL aircraft successfully completed its first flight on January 31, 2025, in Gorizia, northeastern Italy, next to the Slovenian border. The page continues, “With a 600-pound payload and a range of up to 300 nautical miles, the aircraft’s unique capabilities and robust design will not only transform logistics, but also play a crucial role in commercial and defense missions such as search and rescue, humanitarian aid, disaster relief and ship-to-shore deliveries.” AeroTime reports that the newly flown heavy lifter can haul up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds or three Euro pallets) up to 300  kiilometers (186 miles).  Reporter Miquel Ros …

Beta from Norway to New Zealand

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Beta Technologies, Kyle Clark’s electric flight dream, is making inroads promoting clean aviation.  It’s impressive enough an effort the Today Show called.  Beta is not only capturing the attention of mainstream media in the U.S., but overseas with projects in Norway and New Zealand. The two countries are at extreme ends of the earth, but both share often cold climates, supposedly anethema to battery-powered vehicles. Electric Flight in a Country Courting EVs Despite its frigid northern latitude, Norway is on an electric roll.  CNBC headlines, “Norway is set to become the first country to fully transition to electric vehicles.”  The report shows a dramatic increase in EV acceptance.  “The country’s electric vehicle sales have increased from less than 1% of total auto sales in 2010 to a whopping 88.9% last year.”   CNBC notes, “Despite its vast oil and gas reserves, the Nordic country has long been recognized as a global leader in sustainable transportation.” Christina Bu, secretary general of the Norwegian …