Dr. Seeley Makes the Chronicle

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Dr. Seeley Hits the Front Page Dr. Brien Seeley’s editorial on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle’s opinion section July 14, is a well-reasoned appeal to try a radical new approach to fighting wildfires. It impressed an editorial board enough to make it their featured Op-ed leading their Sunday coverage.  It’s the product of Dr. Seeley’s decades-long research into short-take-off and landing (STOL) aircraft and his drive to make small airplanes emissions-free.  It’s also a challenge to American ingenuity and technology to help save us from the current plague of pollution and resulting wildfires.  These don’t take place only in remote backwaters like Paradise, California, but now even in once-protected enclaves such as Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills. Dr. Seeley makes three big points in his editorial.  One, we have the technology to fight wildfires today, products of the high-tech industries in which California abounds.  Two, carbon dioxide emissions from wildfires are more than twice those from our …

Regent Viceroy Seaglider: Foiling Above the Waves

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The Regent Viceroy Seaglider completed its first lift-off on its hydrofoil lifting surfaces, gliding as its name suggests above the (placid) waves of Kingston, Rhode Island.  Of course, that lift is helped by the 65-foot wing, making this a commercially feasible WIG (Wing In Ground Effect) machine.  We have reported on earlier versions of the machine three years ago and late last year.  The configuration has changed from eight motors to twelve, but the overal concept has remeained the same. This configuration has many advantages.  The hydrofoils elevate the craft out of the water and lessen any hull drag on it significantly, enabling it to glide above, rather than plough through the water.  Operatoing in three different modes, the craft can go from navigating crowded harbors to skimming oceans along seacoasts. Simplicity of Operation In full flight mode, the wing operates in ground effect, a cushion of air roughly equivalent to the craft’s 65-foot span.  Flying at this altitude enables …

Skyfly Axe: Vertically Capable

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The Skyfly Axe is vertically capable, a new phrase (to your editor) for an aircraft capable of ascending vertically from its starting point and flying about on its own.  We first reported on this machine when it was still under development three years ago and it has kept the outward appearance it had then.  The price, as with all such things, has gone up and now sits around $295.000 ($400,700 US).  40 are on order, and you can reserve a delivery slot for ten percent of the final price.  (Skyfly’s website explains that those in the United Kingdom can reserve an Axe for £1000 ($1,358 US).  That applies only to those living in the UK, who also have to pay the dreaded Value Added Tax (VAT) on such transactions.  Those in other countries escape the tax and reserve a production slot for their 10-percent deposit. Speed and Safety The Axe offers reasonable speed for a craft able to take off …

Beta CX300 at the Paris Air Show

Dean Sigler Biomimicry, Electric Powerplants, Sky Taxis, Sustainable Aviation Leave a Comment

Beta CEO Kyle Clark piloted The Beta CX300 from Ireland to France for the 2025 Paris Air Show.  A self-imposed demand, Clark insists on flying the aircraft or having it flown to air shows at which the aircraft is to be displayed – proof of the pudding.   “We arrived at Paris Le Bourget Airport for the 2025 Paris Air Show, joining one of the most iconic aviation events in the world. ALIA took to the skies each day, flying presentation flights in front of more than 600,000 attendees while our team showcased our business and technology at The Gallery, our spot on the static display area.” Clark explains the detailed engineering in the Beta CX300 CTOL (Conventional Take Off and Landing) version in an interview with Aviation International News (AIN).  We learn why Beta Aircraft are so roomy.  Clark is six-foot, five-inches and 250 pounds – surprisingly only at the 88th percentile for American males according to the Centers for …

Blue Spirit Rolls Out Its Prototype

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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 …

CATL Gets Salty with Batteries

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CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited) in China is promoting a different battery technology that promises lower costs and a greater life span than lithium cells.  This is another way to soften the demand for lithium, which often seems in short supply.  We reported on another approach, recycling used EV battery packs, last month.  This time, we’ll look at using sodium as an active ingredient in battery cells, starting with this three-minute primer on the difference between iithium and sodium batteries. Note that lithium batteries can use NMC (nickel, manganese, and cobalt) in their cathodes.  Like lithium, nickel and cobalt are hard to find, and cobalt often comes with the curse of being mined by children in slave conditions.  LFP, or lithium iron phosphate batteries have the advantage of having more readily available materials and being somewhat safer than lithium/NMC cells. CATL’s NAXTRA Battery CATL recently presented us with several offerings in new battery technology, but NAXTRA is probably of …

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 …