Chinese drone company DJI (Da Jiang Innovations) is working with Buddhist nation Nepal to supply heavy left drones that will help clear the estimated 140 tons of garbage on Mt. Everest. Perhaps more distressingly, over 300 bodies of climbers are scattered on the mountain. World’s Highest Garbage Dump At least one body has been on the mountain since 1924, but growing incursions of climbers have grown the number of bodies and the amount of debris on the slopes. DJI reported in June, ”Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, has seen 6,664 successful summits as of 2023. With the increasing number of climbers each year, Everest has also become known as the “world’s highest garbage dump.” According to the Nepal Times, approximately 140 tons of waste have accumulated on Everest over seventy years. This waste includes oxygen bottles, food packaging, human waste, and even the bodies of climbers who perished on the mountain.” Buddhists, who according to a friend who practices …
Yelling Fire on a Crowded Planet
The earth is on fire. That’s not some Sierra Club hyperbole, but a factual assessment of where we are as a planet. Your editor has woken (for three days now) coughing and inhaling the smoke and ashes from a small-potatoes, 300-acre forest fire 15 miles away. The rest of Oregon is suffering far more. Throughout America and the world, forests, brush lands, prairies and savannahs are being ravaged at record levels. The National Interagency fire Center illuminates the alarming numbers. “As of this morning (August 14), 75 large active wildfires are being managed with full suppression strategies nationwide. Current wildfires have burned 2,337,468 acres. More than 26,000 wildland firefighters and support personnel are assigned to wildfires, including 21 complex and 5 Type 1 incident management teams, 578 crews, 1,357 engines, 152 helicopters, and six Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, or MAFFS. Sixty fireline management personnel from Australia and New Zealand are assigned to support large fires in the Northwest Area.” Note …
H3X Four Years Later
After Only Four Years It’s hard to believe that H3X is only four years old, has only 18 employees (so far) and is already creating multi-megawatt motors. A little over a decade ago, by contrast, a 50 kilowatt aircraft motor was about the largest available, with 100 kilowatts a high-end luxury. By 2011, the Pipistrel G4 showed up at the Green Flight Challenge with 145 kilowatts (195 horsepower), the record at the time. It was much heavier than any equivalent motor today. Until recently, most air-cooled internal combustion aircraft engines carried about two pounds of weight for each horsepower they could generate. Current electric motors have turned that formula on its head, and H3X is even more disruptive, claiming 12 kilowatts (16 horsepower) per kilogram, or about 7.27 pounds per horsepower. Sweetening that, most motor makers count their three to four kilowatts per kilogram output at peak power. The firm calculates their performance at continuous power. Further enhancing their claims, …
Autoflight and CATL’s New Relationship
AutoFlight and battery developer CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., announced “an exclusive strategic investment and cooperation agreement, a relationship valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.” Uniting these two technological leaders, the agreement provides developmental cash to AutoFlight and a platform for CATL to expand their electric aviation market. A Trip Across the Yangtze An August 1 flight across the Yangtze River highlighted how the strengths of this new relationship can grow both companies. Nanjing, an ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, is only one of 29 major cities on either side of the great river. All face the same transportation difficulties. The 5.5 kilometer straight-line distance between Nanjing UAV Base and Yuzui Wetland Park, for instance, “requires a 20 kilometer drive that takes 25 minutes. However, an eVTOL aircraft can cover this distance in just five minutes,” cutting travel time by 80 percent,” according to AutoFlight. Even worse, holiday travelers around popular tourist destinations can slow traffic by …
The New, Improved Hexa 2
Started in 2017, Matt Chasen’s Lift Aircraft has been promoting an 18-rotor, single-seat Hexa – now replaced by the new, improved Hexa 2. Featuring more power, better batteries, improved structure and more refined electronics, the 2 seems like a reflection of the improvements generally available to electric aircraft. According to the company, “HEXA was the first eVTOL(electric Vertical Take Off and Landing) aircraft to enter production and pay-per-flight operations in the United States. We’ve produced a fleet of 16 aircraft and have showcased them in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. In 2023, we launched the world’s first pay-per-flight eVTOL operations in Austin, Texas, and in 2024 we launched our 25 city U.S. tour.” Because it’s an ultralight, Hexa 2 avoids many of the complexities of certification and that enables more frequent updates and application of improved technologies. Hexa has been demonstrated at multiple air and trade shows, and even provided a ride for news personality Anderson Cooper. …
Electra Aero Goldfinch on Grass
Anyone astonished at the brilliant short-field performance of the Electra Aero Goldfinch from a paved runway a few weeks ago will be equally surprised at its agility from a grass runway. This eSTOL (electric Short Take Off and Landing) airplane seems to perform well even from unimproved runways. In its own press release, the company reports on the small craft’s ability to take off and land on “austere fields smaller than 300 feet that are minimally prepared.” Citing its work with “Agile Combat Employment and expeditionary missions” for the military, explains the economy of such craft. “Small, affordable, runway-independent eSTOL aircraft could also alleviate demand on larger, few-in-number, high performance fixed wing and rotorcraft platforms in a contested logistics environment.” That’s a 32-degree angle of climb, by the way, according to the AOPA Pilot report. More Usable Runways Aircraft like the Goldfinch and its larger commuter liner coming from Electra would open up otherwise unusable “airports” which might be nothing …
MDA 1: a VW Camper for the Skies
Partners MD Aircraft GmbH, Kasaero GmbH, and Rolls Royce Electrical are crafting a 10-seat electrically-powered MDA 1 airliner. Intended for the short-haul and regional market, the airplane will provide comfort, economy and safety. In an interview arranged by Karl Kaeser, CEO of Kasaero, your editor spoke with MD’s CEO, Gregor Müller. Co-CEO Tim Markwald was on another project during this interview. They describe their current project as a Volkswagen Van of the skies. Like the boxy little “bus” of the 1960s, MDA’s twin-motor aircraft will provide utilitarian, but comfortable transport for people and goods. Like the VW, everyone will get a window seat. Unlike the old Kombi, the aircraft will climb quickly and efficiently, something difficult with the original vehicle’s 36-horsepower engine and more than two on board. The MDA 1 is designed for short and sometimes unimproved fields, and is able to land and take off over a 50-foot obstacle in 500 meters (1,640 feet). Part of this is …
Joby Plus Hydrogen: 523 Miles
Combine the Joby S4 pre-production prototype with H2 Fly’s expertise in providing clean energy, and watch world records fall. 2021 155-Mile Battery Flight Justin Paines, Joby’s Chief Test Pilot, guided the eVTOL through eleven circuits of a pre-designated route and managed 154.6 miles (248.8 km) in just 77 minutes. JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s founder, noted his firm had, “achieved something that many thought impossible with today’s battery technology.” Batteries have improved since then, but an alliance with a German hydrogen program makes even longer flights possible. 2024’s Hydrogen Odyssey In an even greater demonstration of its capabilities, an S4 powered by hydrogen managed a 523 mile, non-stop flight on June 24, 2024. Powering around a circuit above Marina, California, the craft landed with 10 percent of its 40-kilogram (88 pound) hydrogen load still available. A collaboration between Joby and Germany’s H2-Fly uses much of the same system as H2-Fly’s Hy4 aircraft, a re-engineering of the G4 designed by Tine Tomažič, head …
Volocopter Faces 2024 Paris Olympics Hurdles
Despite much fanfare and promises of Parisian skies filled with visions of electric Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) machines carrying passengers to Olympics events across the City of Light, Volocopter may be left in the dark. A Double Blow eVTOL Insights reported a double blow to Volocopter’s plans late last year. “On Friday (November 17th), news broke that Volocopter’s plans to begin a 15 minute air taxi flight in the Marina Bay area of Singapore, early next year, alongside the hiring of key staff, has been put on hold – indefinitely – as the German company cannot secure local partners to share the large funding required for such an enterprise.” As though though that were not enough, On November 19th, Volocopter’s future “jewel in its crown” flights over Paris during the Olympic Games, next July and August, were sharply downgraded. Local politics seem to blame. eVTOL Insights reports, “The French Capital’s councillors have reacted to the idea with a …
ZeroAvia: 100 CRJ700 Motors to American
Your Jet May Become a Prop Plane Bombardier’s (Commuter Regional Jet) CRJ700 has been in service for over 21 years, and may be about to receive a power system that will make it one of the cleanest alternatives in air travel. According to electric-flight.eu, “American Airlines plans to convert most of its CRJ700 fleet to environmentally friendly engines,” particularly ZeroAvia’s ZA2000 RJ drive train, electrified by hydrogen fuel cells. American, a shareholder in ZeroAvia, operates a fleet of CRJ 700s through its American Eagle regional airline subsidiary. Converting the airplanes from their current General Electric CF34-8C1 to hydrogen-fueled ZA2000s will extend the lives of the planes and make them the cleanest things in the sky. Robert Isom, CEO of American Airlines, said: “To accelerate the transition of commercial aviation to a low-carbon future, investments in promising technologies, including alternative forms of propulsion, are required.” Val Miftakhov, CEO and founder of ZeroAvia, added, “At this early stage in our work together, …