Swiss company Daedalean has been developing autonomous systems for aircraft for several years. It has recently made headlines by being bought by Netherlands-based autonomous drone and hypersonic aircraft company Destinus.  

Daedalean aims to one day make a completely autonomous aircraft. Before then the plan is to release autonomous safety systems for aviation, with the first expected to reach the market at the end of this year.

I spoke to Sylvain at the Paris Air Show earlier this year about the company’s technology, how it works and its capabilities. We also discuss how the firm plans to ramp up testing and development. 

In this Testing Talk interview John Piasecki, President and CEO of US aerospace company Piasecki Aircraft talks to ATI editor Ben Sampson about the company’s growth and the rapid progress it is making on several drone development programs for the US military. 

Piasecki has a rich heritage in rotorcraft and is leveraging its expertise to shape the next generation of drones and helicopters. Although test is core to the company John has big plans for expanding from its R&D roots. In particular, the recent acquisition of a former Sikorsky helicopter site in Pennsylvania means the firm now has a manufacturing capability.

Enjoy this episode of Testing Talk, and look out for August's episode!

In this episode of the Aerospace Testing International podcast Paul Davison, manager of BAE System's Faraday Test Centre in Rochester, UK talks to Benedict Evans about the testing and simulation facilities at the Centre.

A diverse range of products goes through the laboratories at Rochester: flight sticks, helmets, defibrillators, and even microwaves. But BAE Systems Rochester is best known for the several key advances in the helmet-mounted displays (HMD) and the heads-up-display (HUD) technology used by fighter jet pilots developed there, including the company's Striker HMD.

The Aerospace Testing International podcast returns  with an interview with Mark Walker, Application Engineering Manager at MathWorks UK.

Mathworks MATLAB and SIMULINK are mathematical software tools engineers use to design and analyze  systems and embedded software within aerospace.  They are used in everything from flight control systems through to modelling the behaviour of entire aircraft in different environments.

Mark works with the company’s aerospace and defence clients helping them make the best use of the software and during this chat discusses trends and concepts in aerospace development attached to digitalisation such as digital twins and model-based engineering. 

During the talk, Mark references a case study and video that provide more detailed information about the topics under discussion. These can be found here:
https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/65605-predictive-maintenance-in-hydraulic-pump
https://uk.mathworks.com/videos/our-journey-towards-model-based-product-lines-1573233985120.html

For more podcast episodes go to www.aerospacetestinginternational.com

This month I chat to Martin Nüsseler, chief technical officer of Deutsche Aircraft about how the company is transforming,  alternative propulsion systems for aircraft and testing and certification challenges.

Deutsche Aircraft renamed itself this year – it was previously known as 328 Services. The new name is a clear sign the company is moving confidently through its two major aircraft development programs – one is to develop a more environmentally friendly version of the Dornier 328 and the other a hydrogen fuelled variant of the same aircraft.

Martin Nüsseler joined the company from Airbus in February to help drive these development and certification programs. 

My thanks to Martin for his participation and I hope you enjoy the podcast.

In this month's Aerospace Testing podcast, I talk to David Mayman, founder and CEO of JetPack Aviation, which develops and sells foot-launched aircraft.

The first prototype backpack mounted jetpack made by the company flew about ten years ago. Mayman himself then piloted it around the Statue of Liberty in 2015, garnering global media attention.

Its latest project is the Speeder, a futuristic air vehicle that resembles a motorbike for the air and is aimed initially at the defense sector.  

During the podcast David speaks about what the company has achieved with the jetpack and the development of the new Speeder aircraft.

In this month’s podcast we preview our forthcoming event London to Sydney in Five Hours: The Future of Aviation by talking to one of the speakers –  Norris Tea, co-founder and CEO of Exosonic.

Exosonic is a US company developing a low-boom supersonic jet capable of cruising at Mach 1.8.  The company and Norris garnered much attention when their partnership with the US Air Force to produce a supersonic Air Force One aircraft was announced last year.

Norris has been working in the aerospace sector for the last four years, exclusively on vehicles that fly faster than the speed of sound and has been passionate about supersonic commercial flight from a young age.

During the podcast We discuss Exosonic's  development plans, the connection between Exosonic and NASA/Lockheed's X-59 supersonic aircraft as well as some of the major technical challenges for passenger supersonic aircraft.

London to Sydney in Five Hours: The Future of Aviation is co-located with the first Aerospace Testing Symposium. Both are being held in London on the 29th and 30th of September. The conferences will also be available online if you can’t make it to London.

In this month’s podcast I’m talking to Sandro Di Natale, product and application manager from test and measurement company HBK.

Sandro works on static and fatigue testing, wind tunnel testing and iron bird testing in both the aviation and space sectors. His clients include companies like Airbus, IABG, Dynetics, Embraer, Lockheed Martin, and Gulfstream.

Sandro has some really interesting insights during that talk about integration between virtual and physical testing and how software can really complement validation phases in tests. He also has lots of enthusiasm for the aviation sector!

Sandro is also speaking at the Aerospace Testing Symposium in London on the 29th and 30th of September, which is co-located with the London to Sydney: The future of aviation conference.

For more information about those events, for instance you might want to look at the program or register for the event, go to symposium.aerospacetestinginternational.com or email [email protected]

In this month's podcast we preview our forthcoming event London to Sydney in Five Hours: The Future of Aviation by talking to one of the speakers – Dr Michael Smart, head of research and co-founder of Hypersonix Launch Systems.
 
Dr Smart is one of the world's leading experts in scramjet technology and for 10 years was a research scientist at the Hypersonic Airbreathing Propulsion Branch of NASA’s Langley Research Center. He was also professor and chair of hypersonic propulsion at the University of Queensland in Australia. 

This a great discussion about hypersonic propulsion, the technology that is enabling advances now and the challenges it poses for engineers.
 
 London to Sydney in Five Hours: The Future of Aviation is co-located with the first Aerospace Testing Symposium. Both are being held in London on the 29th and 30th of September. The conferences will also be available online if you can’t make it to London. 

In this month's podcast Brandon Robinson, CEO of Canadian company Horizon Aircraft discusses the  details his company's eVTOL-development program, including the technical issues they are addressing and market trends. 

Horizon is developing the Cavorite X5 eVTOL. The hybrid-electric X5 will have a top speed of 280mph a range of more than 300 miles and be able carry 5 passengers.

Horizon is a small company making big ambitious noises with a pragmatic development and testing plan making this company and its progress one to watch.