Boeing Adds 'Insights' to Cascade Climate Impact Modeling Tool
Boeing has updated its Cascade climate impact modeling tool to make it easier for users to glean insight from the wealth of information and data visualizations that can be found on the online platform. Cascade, which Boeing launched in May during the company’s Sustainable Aviation Together Forum in Seattle, offers the public a free tool for measuring the impact of various decarbonization strategies—such as the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and the adoption of new electric, hydrogen-powered, and hybrid aircraft—as the global aviation industry strives to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“The intention is to allow the user to build their own future for aviation and for it not to be Boeing saying, ‘This is how it's going to be,’ because no one knows how we're going to decarbonize aviation. It's complex,” Neil Titchener, Boeing’s Cascade program lead, told AIN. “There's lots of different levers that you can pull on, and so we're giving some of the power to the user for them to explore how to decarbonize aviation.”
Whisper Aero Leads Tennessee Mobility Consortium
Crossville, Tennessee-based electric propulsion systems developer Whisper Aero is leading a new initiative to bring regional air mobility to Tennessee. The ReConnecTN initiative, announced at the Tennessee Smart Mobility Expo in Nashville on December 5, is a “multi-entity, cross-disciplinary coalition committed to bringing multimodal sustainable regional transportation to Tennessee” that aims “to pull passenger and cargo transportation into the third dimension by leveraging the use of regional airports, distributed electric propulsion, battery technology, and automation,” according to Whisper.
ReConnecTN partners include autonomous flight control systems pioneer Reliable Robotics, public charter provider JSX, infrastructure developer AvPorts, the Tennessee Department of Transportation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and several other local leaders in the transportation and aviation industries. The coalition will focus on five areas that Whisper says will be critical to the success of regional air mobility: aviation innovations, existing airports, more mobility, economic growth, and energy resilience.
Limosa, Airmedic Partner on ‘LimoMedic’ Electric Air Ambulance
Canadian eVTOL aircraft developer Limosa has partnered with Montreal-based air ambulance operator Airmedic on the development of the LimoMedic, a version of the LimoConnect eVTOL aircraft modified for medevac flights. Limosa will consult with Airmedic on the interior design and functionality of the aircraft, which has both vertical and conventional takeoff and landing capabilities.
The LimoConnect is designed for single-pilot operations carrying up to seven passengers in air taxi services, and it can be quickly and easily reconfigured for alternative uses such as emergency medical support or cargo deliveries for flights. The aircraft is expected to have a range of up to 150 miles (240 kilometers) and a cruise speed of 200 mph (320 kph). Limosa aims to have the vehicle certified and in service in 2028.
Jetoptera and Eanan Bring Cargo Drone to the UAE
Jetoptera, a start-up developing innovative VTOL aircraft with bladeless fan technology, has partnered with Dubai-based technology start-up Eanan Aviation to introduce the Jetoptera J-500 cargo drone in the UAE. The partners intend to jointly develop and produce a series of aircraft using Jetoptera's fluidic propulsive system and plan to begin flight testing in Dubai next year.
Meanwhile, Eanan is developing its own portfolio of cargo drones, including a mix of multicopter and fixed-wing designs, at its facility in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Aerospace Hub at Dubai South, where it has conducted some test flights with at least one prototype.
Japanese Airline and Real Estate Developer Partner with Joby for eVTOL Aircraft Infrastructure
Japan's ANA airline and the Nomura Real Estate Development Co. have launched a partnership with eVTOL aircraft manufacturer Joby Aviation to establish the infrastructure needed to support air taxi operations in the country. Under an agreement announced on December 7, the companies will jointly explore the design, location, operation, and financing for a network of vertiports.
The collaboration builds on a partnership between ANA and Joby established in 2022 to bring electric air taxi services to Japan. The initial focus of the infrastructure project will be on densely populated metropolitan areas such as Tokyo. Joby recently became a technical advisor to the Tokyo Bay eSG Project, led by NRE and sponsored by the Tokyo metropolitan government.
In 2022, California-based Joby applied to the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau to have the FAA type certification for its four-passenger eVTOL aircraft validated. The company aims to complete the initial U.S. certification in 2025.
ResilienX Providing Digital Infrastructure for Wittman Vertiport
Volatus Infrastructure & Energy Solutions (VI&E) has enlisted ResilienX, which makes traffic management software for uncrewed aerial systems (UAS), to help set up the digital infrastructure at the company’s first vertiport, which it is building at Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
ResilienX has agreed to provide its FRAIHMWORK (fault recovery and isolation health monitoring framework) software as an in-time aviation safety management system for VI&E’s planned vertiport network. The company was also recently selected by NASA and the U.S. Air Force’s Afwerx program to lead the development of a digital operations center for advanced air mobility.
