The Allplane Podcast

Tomas Brødreskift is the founder and CEO of Equator Aircraft, a Norwegian startup that is developing an electric seaplane that promises to open the country’s many fjords and lakes to a carbon-free form fo transportation…and we shall add, “recreation” too, because the light seaplane model Equator Aircraft will have space for bikes, skis and even kayaks!

Despite their versatility, seaplanes have an extra layer of complexity when compared with land planes and this gets compounded when you power it with an emerging, developing technology.

In this episode we have a frank conversation with Tomas about these challenges and the difficulty of building a new aircraft type from scratch, but also about the transformative power of electric aviation and how it can be transformative for private aviation.

Faradair is a British startup that intends to transform regional air mobility, for both passengers and cargo, with its BEHA (bio Electric Hybrid Aircraft), an eye-catching 18-seat hybrid-electric STOL aircraft with a triple staggered box wing. Its founder, Neil Cloughley comes on the pod to share the details about this project as well as its ambitious plans to build hundreds of this aircraft and operate them all over the world.

Sydney Seaplanes is the largest seaplane operator in Australia. Its founder and CEO, Aaron Shaw, has come on the podcast to share his plans to transition to a carbon-free fleet as soon as possible. In this episode we talk about seaplanes, entrepreneurship and, last but not least, about Aaron’s plans to make of Sydney Seaplanes a green aviation trailblazer.

Alexandre Feray, a former Air France executive, founded Open Airlines when he saw the opportunity to develop software that helped airlines save fuel and lower carbon emissions.

Open Airlines algorithms ingest lots of airline flight data to come up with actionable recommendations that pilots can use to fly smarter and more efficiently.

In this episode of the podcast we talk with Alexandre about his entrepreneurial journey and about the ways technology can start contributing to lower aviation’s carbon footprint already today, without having to wait for a moonshot to succeed.

Ivo Boscarol is the founder and driving force behind Pipistrel, a leading player in the field of electric aircraft manufacturing.

In this episode of the podcast we review Ivo’s story, from making gliders in Slovenia more than three decades ago, its push into electric aviation way before it was fashionable, the many records, awards and milestones achieved along the way as well as the ambitious growth plans of this family-owned aircraft maker…

French aerospace entrepreneur David Gazellot is paying homage to one of the pioneers of French aviation with its new green aviation project: Avions Mauboussin.

David joins us on the podcast to explain this fascinating project to create a family of brand new hybrid STOL aircraft for regional air travel. And we also review, of course, the story of the historical Mauboussin, its time and its acomplishments.

Jason Chua is the COO of Universal Hydrogen. A veteran of Google, Airbus and United Technologies Jason has come on the podcast to explain Universal Hydrogen’s audacious plan to facilitate the adoption of hydrogen thanks to a truly innovative approach.

Universal Hydrogen’s founders have taken their inspiration from the consumables business model - which has proven to be a big success for firms such as HP and Nestlé’s Nespresso - to come up with a system for airlines convert their aircraft to hydrogen propulsion while securing long term contracts to supply hydrogen capsules to power them.

Things we talk about in this episode:

André Borschberg’s career as an aviation pioneer and entrepreneur

The Solar Impulse Project

What is H55 and what is it trying to do?

How does learning to fly on an electric plane differs from doing so on a conventional one

The future of electric aviation

What is the story of hydrogen flight startup ZeroAvia? How is it funded? How does its technology work?

And what are the next milestones for ZeroAvia after testing its first hybrid-electric demonstrator last summer?

Katya Akulinicheva, ZeroAvia’s CFO, answers all these questions and talks about how ZeroAvia aims to disrupt the aviation industry for better with its hydrogen powertrain.

Things we talk about in this episode:

General overview of the Russian aviation sector: size of the market and trends

How the Covid crisis has affected Russian air traffic

How Russian commercial aviation has been totally transformed since the messy transition of the post-Soviet years

Review of major airlines in Russia, who are the movers and shakers?

Low cost airlines in Russia, a story of growth

Regional airlines in Russia: the next big thing?

Investment in Russian airports

Development of regional airline networks in Russia

Prospects for air traffic development in Russia

Prospects for Russian-made airliners