Flight International - 04

Archer Aviation
Archer unveiled its four-passenger
Midnight design in November 2022
Is crowded reduced-emissions sector poised for rationalisation?
Tony Harrington Brisbane
The rush to reduce aviation’s emissions has created
a huge new wave of sustainable aircraft concepts: as
many as 700 by some estimates.
Now, there are signs of rationalisation, as investors
focus on inventions with prospects of strong, early
returns, and many e-aviation aspirants struggle to
meet high costs and long timelines for certification.
“There are plenty of concepts out there. There’s
also a lot of hype,” says Patrick Edmond, managing
director of aviation consultancy Altair Advisory.
“The discourse for a lot of players at the
moment is around just finding the finance to get
to the starting line. Then there’s certification,
and questions like: ‘What happens when the gear
doesn’t come down, and you have to land on a belly
full of lithium batteries?’ I think we’re getting very
close to a shakeout starting.”
There is ample scope for innovation, one financier
notes. “But not 700 models worth. A lot of people
are in the market looking to bring in new designs,
and invariably, it takes longer and costs more than
you think. Not all of them can survive.”
Some programmes are several years advanced
and well on the road towards certification, with
solid investor backing to evolve their products, and
orders flowing in.
A mix of all-electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogenelectric
testbeds have been flown by pioneers
including Ampaire, Eviation, Pipistrel, VoltAero,
ZeroAvia, Canada’s Harbour Air Seaplanes, and a
host of air taxi developers.
More are readying for take-off, among them
Universal Hydrogen, which will deliver capsules
of fuel directly onto the aircraft they will power,
bypassing conventional fuelling infrastructure, and
Cranfield Aerospace, with a hydrogen-powered
derivative of the Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander.
Fully converted
David Doral is managing director of Euro-Australian
company Dovetail Aviation, which is designing and
building battery-electric and hydrogen-electric
powertrains to convert existing aircraft.
Partnered with investors including Australia’s Rex
Aviation and European operators Air Nostrum and
Volotea, and supported by an Australian government
grant, Dovetail is focused on retrofitting, not just
because of lower cost, but due to it offering a faster
and simpler path to certification than all-new models.
Dovetail is currently preparing its first fullyelectric
powertrain, and is planning to fly a
68 Flight International April 2023