AINdebrief

In anticipation of the National Business Aviation Association's Business Aviation Connference and Exhibition—or NBAA-BACE—next month in Las Vegas, AIN Washington, D.C. editor Kerry Lynch speaks about the return of the first in-person industry trade show since the pandemic began. Lynch discusses the brand-new exhibit hall for the show, planned Covid protocols—including vaccination requirements—and how things are going in terms of scheduled exhibitors, as well as the debut of owner-pilot and maintenance pavilions. There will also be on-site and virtual sessions and Corporate Angel Network's annual fundraiser cocktail reception. Podcast sponsored by 4AIR.aero.

This week, AIN senior editor Charles Alcock discusses the two large fleet orders announced in the past week from Directional Aviation's One Sky Flight/Halo Aviation and Helisul for Eve Urban Air Mobility eVTOLs. He also addresses whether these commitments legitimize the advanced air mobility market and what effect this might have on other startup OEMs hoping to break into this emerging segment.

This week, AIN senior editors Kerry Lynch and Charles Alcock help to dissect why Aerion Supersonic fizzled out last Friday. Kerry delves into what happened, if demand still exists for a supersonic business jet, and what's next for Aerion—or more accurately, it's intellectual property. Meanwhile, Charlie gives a look at the current aerospace funding environment and whether investment in eVTOLs is sucking air from longer-term projects such as Aerion.

This week, AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber gives the lowdown on the new Falcon 10X, Dassault's entry into the ultra-long-range business jet segment. Notably, the $75 million twinjet will be powered by a pair of Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X engines and have the widest cabin of any purpose-built business jet. With service planned for 2025, the 7,500-nm 10X will compete head-to-head with the Bombardier Global 7500 and Gulfstream G650 and G700.

This week, AIN senior editor and FutureFlight editor Charles Alcock give his take on the nine-seat, all-electric eFlyer 800 announced by Bye Aerospace as a more economical and environmentally-friendly alternative to the venerable Beechcraft King Air. He also discusses Bye's probability of certifying the eFlyer 800 by its 2026 target, as well as the higher-density lithium-sulfur batteries from Oxis that are slated to be employed as the sole power source on the cabin-class twin-prop airplane.

This week, AIN news editor Chad Trautvetter explains what it was like to attend the Sun 'n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida, which was the first large-scale, in-person general aviation event to be held since the pandemic took hold 13 months ago. Many people from other show organizers were watching closely to see how things went so that they can prepare to hopefully hold their own events this year.

This week, Charles Alcock, editor of AIN's FutureFlight, discusses the recent influx of funding into several of the companies developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft for advanced air mobility purposes. He also talks about overall progress in these eVTOLs and other electric aircraft under what is now being called Aviation 3.0.

This week, AIN editor-in-chief Matt Thurber discusses federal indictments against Debra Lynn Mercer-Erwin, the owner of Wright Brothers Aircraft Title and Aircraft Guaranty Corp., and seven others. The various charges raise an important issue regarding the responsibility borne by owner trustees when it comes to helping a non-U.S. citizen purchase an aircraft and register it in the U.S. This case also could have implications for other entities that provide similar owner-trust arrangements.

Senior editors Kerry Lynch and Jerry Siebenmark discuss Bombardier's plans to end Learjet production. On February 11, Bombardier announced several cost-cutting moves, including the Learjet wind down, now that it's a standalone business aircraft manufacturer. Kerry has been covering the business aviation industry for more than 25 years, while Jerry has been following Learjet—along with Cessna, Hawker, and Beechcraft—just as long in his hometown of Wichita, where these brands were born.

AIN editor in chief Matt Thurber recently had a rare opportunity to fly the Dassault Falcon 7X flight-test aircraft fitted with an experimental single-power throttle lever dubbed SmartThrottle. Because SmartThrottle was integrated with the fly-by-wire digital flight control system, Dassault also was able to include a one-button automatic upset recovery feature into the trijet. Go to AINonline for a deeper dive into this story and to view a companion video.