Market Intelligence: -Training Aircraft Developments

Sonaca 200 aircraft fleet passed the 15,000 flight hour milestone in Europe and beyond

Sonaca Aircraft, on LinkedIn, announced that its Sonaca 200 fleet passed the 15,000 flight hour milestone in Europe and beyond. Sonaca 200 operates in Belgium, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Estonia, and Turkey. Sonaca 200 has three (3) versions. As of this writing, in total, Sonaca aircraft has delivered 40 Sonaca 200, 40% of which are analogue and 60% glass cockpit.

Source: LinkedIn Page of Sonaca Aircraft

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Europcar Brazil Places Order for 50 Skyworks Aeronautics eGyro™ Electric Aircraft

Today, Europcar Brazil announced plans to purchase 50 eGyro™ electrically powered vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Skyworks Aeronautics (“Skyworks”) for use in Brazil, the world’s fourth largest market for civil helicopters after the U.S., Russia and Canada. Europcar is the world’s third largest rental car company and leading mobility provider.

“Europcar Brazil is extremely excited to partner with Skyworks Aeronautics to bring safe, efficient, and cost-effective electric aircraft solutions to Brazil,” stated Paulo Gaba, Chief Executive Officer of the Autotur Group, the Europcar franchisee for Brazil. “This initial order for Skyworks’ revolutionary eGyro reflects our understanding that though aviation certainly connects the world in important ways, we have an opportunity to deliver new, sustainable mobility capabilities that create immense value for consumers while better caring for our planet. The offer of eGyros will complete our range of possibilities as a global mobility provider,” Gaba added.

“Skyworks Aeronautics has been developing manned and unmanned vertical lift gyroplane technologies for more than two decades, providing sustained autorotative flight capabilities that enable aircraft to be both runway independent and economical, and without the physics-imposed speed, range, and payload limitations of a helicopter,” added Jack Carter, Skyworks Director. “This exciting partnership with Europcar Brazil highlights the promise of our electrified gyrocraft to expand their already extraordinary service capabilities to serve current and future markets in new, safe and exciting ways,” Carter added.

“We are living at a time of incredible opportunity and excitement as it relates to aviation,” stated John Michel, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Skyworks Aeronautics. “At a time in history where demand for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods, as well as growing desire for effective emissions-free flight converge, this partnership with Europcar Brazil allows us to work together to demonstrate the transformative impact of gyronautics in the world’s fourth largest market for civil helicopters,” Michel added. “Together, we look forward to making affordable mobility accessible to the masses in Brazil and beyond.”

Source: See Skyworks Aeronautics Press Release here.

For more information, kindly contact Skyworks Aeronautics.

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Diamond Aircraft announces availability of a Multi Crew Coordination Add-on for its Simulators

Diamond Aircraft responded to the increased need of flight schools for Multi Crew Coordination (MCC) training and has developed an MCC add-on for its latest DA42-VI flight simulator.

Customers worldwide can benefit from an approved Diamond FNPT II-MCC simulator complementing Diamond’s well-known perfect all-in-one solution for flight training including Single Engine Piston (DA40 NG) and Multi Engine Piston (DA42-VI) trainers from one supplier.

Diamond’s flight training devices are fully modelled after the DA40 and the DA42 aircraft and are the only training devices for the DA40/DA42 fleet available on the market that are based on an officially approved Diamond data package with MCC training option. Designed both for basic and advanced instrument, navigation and procedural training, they are perfectly suited for instruction, check flights, screening purposes and skill proficiency tests and help to further increase the efficiency of a flight school’s training syllabus, saving time and money.

Flight schools worldwide now can save even more time and money with the new Convertible DA40/42 MCC FNPT II simulator from Diamond Aircraft. All-in-one training on just one device (DA40, DA42, MCC) increases cost-efficiency, reduces transition time from simulator to aircraft (cockpit environment is identical) and increases training efficiency as students can fully concentrate on their Multi Crew Coordination tasks without re-adjusting to different instrumentation as MCC is usually trained just in simulators for larger aircraft types.

“Diamond stands for high quality products at the cutting edge of the industry. We are proud to offer another important milestone with this MCC option in order to complement our training portfolio with an all-in-one 21st century solution. This additional application in just one device is a huge advantage for our customers,” said Christian Schmid, Project & Key Account Manager, Diamond Aircraft Austria.

Source: See Diamond Aircraft’s Press Release here.

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Related Posts

Cirrus Aircraft Expands, Opens New Cirrus Flight Training Facility and Two New Satellite Cirrus Aircraft Innovation Centers

Cirrus Aircraft, in its press release on the 2nd of September, announced its continued expansion with the opening of its new Cirrus Flight Training facility located at the Scottsdale Airport (KSDL) in Arizona, as well as two new satellite Cirrus Aircraft Innovation Centers in Chandler, Arizona and in McKinney, Texas.

The Cirrus Scottsdale facility will provide customers with a convenient location to receive highly personalized flight training and full-service aircraft management. The facility is scheduled to commence operation in October 2021.

“The expansion of Cirrus Flight Training in Arizona continues our mission of providing world-class training through both our company-owned facilities and partner network around the world,” said Zean Nielsen, CEO for Cirrus Aircraft. “We are excited to begin offering this premium flight training service in Scottsdale that builds on our Cirrus Services initiative to redefine personal aviation through a world-class customer service experience.”

The Chandler Innovation Center provides avionics, electrical and software engineering services, while the McKinney Innovation Center supports all engineering disciplines. Both facilities are in operation now and support the Product Development team responsible for advancing new technologies and designs for innovative product introductions. Both locations have plans for official ribbon-cutting ceremonies in November 2021.

“The Chandler and McKinney Innovation Centers add significant capabilities and further extend our capacity to fuel our ambitious product innovation plans,” said Pat Waddick, President, Innovation and Operations of Cirrus Aircraft. “Additionally, our expansion efforts not only attract new talent to Cirrus Aircraft in great locations, but generate jobs and economic growth within the local markets.”

Source: See Cirrus Aircraft Press Release here.

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Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech), a private research university, has become the first American University to own and fly an electric airplane – the Pipistrel Velis Electro!

The plane has not yet received certification in the US and so is flying as an experimental craft!

The first flight was 22 minutes, using about a third of the aircraft’s battery capacity and creating an operating cost of only $1.03.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the process of awarding Florida Tech an $85,000 contract to provide data from the first 50 flight hours of the Velis Electro.

Ivo Boscarol, CEO and founder of Pipistrel, said: “Pipistrel will continue to work with the FAA to identify paths to recognize the EASA type-certification in the USA, to allow for commercial operations and pilot training with the Velis Electro – which is already possible in all EASA member states and countries where EASA validations are enabled.”

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US Flight School FlyGateway orders 20 Piper Pilot 100I Trainers

The order is said to augment the flight school’s current fleet of 30 aircraft. Out of the 20 ordered aircraft, 14 will be delivered by January 2021 while the remaining 6 will be delivered in the latter part of 2022.

The 2021 standard equipped list price of Piper Pilot 100I Trainer is $298,900.

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Reykjavik Flight Academy has entered into an agreement for the purchase of three all-electric eFlyer training aircraft!

Reykjavik Flight Academy has entered into an agreement for the purchase of three all-electric eFlyer training aircraft. With the purchase, the school breaks new ground in the history of flight instruction in Iceland, where for the first time students will be offered instruction on aircraft that run on electricity only. The introduction of the Bye Aerospace eFlyer into the flight school fleet is also an important milestone in decarbonization for Icelandic aviation and marks the beginning of a new and more environmentally friendly future in flight instruction.

The aircraft in question are manufactured in the United States by Bye Aerospace, Inc. and are of two types: on the one hand, two eFlyer 2, which is A two-seater primary training aircraft; and one eFlyer 4, a four-seater advanced training aircraft. In addition, an agreement is under negotiation for the option to purchase two additional eFlyer aircraft, which will be announced in the future.

Until now, the limited flight endurance of electric aircraft has been the main bottleneck in their uptake in the general aviation market. However, with recent advancements, Bye Aerospace has taken the lead in this market by ensuring 3 hours of flight endurance including reserves. This far exceeds the main competitors in the market, most of which are limited to only a single hour at the moment. The success of Bye Aerospace has received a great deal of attention and hundreds of orders for their aircraft. Depending upon the aircraft and certification completion, estimated delivery will be after two to three years, which is considered a short time in this new and exciting market.

The use of electric aircraft for training is a great advantage. Electric motors can deliver a relatively high power output and the eFlyer 2 will deliver 150HP / 110kW which is about 40-50% more than an equivalent class of combustion engine with no density altitude losses. The biggest difference is replacing fossil fuels with electricity, which results in significant savings in operating costs, estimated to be only about 1/5 of the operation cost of comparable conventional aircraft that use aviation gasoline fuels. The environmental impact is obviously very positive, as the carbon footprint of the new training aircraft will be negligible and the noise impact will be almost undetectable.

As a teaching tool, the eFlyer machines are at the forefront. They are equipped with the best available controls and advanced Garmin navigation equipment, but the most innovative feature is that the aircraft are equipped with parachutes attached to their fuselage. The covers can be released with one handle and they glide safely to the ground. This comes as standard equipment on these training aircraft and greatly increases student safety.

Hjörvar Hans Bragason, principal of Reykjavík Flight Academy:

“Investment in electric aircraft for training is a major step, both in the history of aviation in Iceland in general and as part of environmental initiatives that are currently taking place. With the new aircraft, Reykjavik Flight Academy will be a leader in it‘s field and will proudly be able to offer first-class equipment for training and instruction. Increased safety, lower costs and more environmentally friendly options will be a guiding principle in our service to the pilots of the future.”

George E. Bye, CEO of Bye Aerospace:

“We are grateful to our partners at Reykjavik Flight Academy for their leadership in Iceland, and for recognizing the many important benefits of electric aviation. We look forward to many eFlyer deliveries of Reykjavik Flight Academy in the coming years.”

Source: See Bye Aerospace Press Release here.

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