Tag: Aeronautical

Wisk Sees Pathway to Autonomy Without Rule Changes

Aviation Week Network reports that Wisk Aero “believes there is a path to operate its uncrewed air taxis on commercial services without the need for new FAA rulemakings, by relying instead on a mix of existing regulations, letters of agreement with air traffic control (ATC), waivers, exemptions and other special procedures.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Akasa Air Close to 150-Plane Order from Boeing

Reuters reports that Akasa Air “is set to close an order for around 150 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody planes, two sources said, its latest bid to tap the travel boom in the world’s fastest-growing aviation market.” Contract negotiations “are ongoing and a deal is expected to be announced at Wings India, the country’s largest civil aviation event scheduled for Jan. 18-21.” Akasa “is India’s newest airline and has garnered market share of 4% since it started flying in 2022, against IndiGo’s 60% and Tata Group airlines’ combined 26%.”
Full Story (Reuters)

 

Boeing Tallies Delivery of 46 737s in November

Reuters reports that The Boeing Company “delivered 46 narrowbody 737s in November, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.” Last month’s total “brings Boeing’s single-aisle deliveries up to 351 units for the year so far, leaving the US planemaker about 25 planes away from making its revised target for at least 375-400 737 deliveries this year.” Last month’s 737 deliveries “included 45 MAX planes and 1 737 NG-based P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, sources said.”
Full Story (Reuters)

 

Rocket Scientist Quarterback Moves Team Towards the NFL Playoffs

A profile of NFL quarterback Josh Dobbs in The Wall Street Journal discussed his background in aerospace engineering, including his two NFL offseasons moonlighting at NASA. The piece also discusses Dobbs participation as part of a team of Tennessee students participating in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Design/Build/Fly competition, where the team had to launch a model airplane they built.
Full Story (The Wall Street Journal – Subscription Publication)

Joshua Dobbs Highlighted

The Star Tribune spotlights Joshua Dobbs, the Vikings new quarterback, who majored in aerospace engineering at the University of Tennessee and was involved with AIAA’s Design/Build/Fly competition.
Full Story (The Star Tribune)

 

Video

Josh Dobbs receives congratulations from coaches and teammates following his comeback win, days after being traded to the Minnesota Vikings
(Bleacher Report; YouTube)

Rocket Scientist Moonlights as Professional Quarterback

Forbes reports that Joshua Dobbs started a game at quarterback for a new team the same week he arrived. For his new team, he had to learn cadences including numbers, colors, and other codes all quarterbacks call out to communicate with his offensive teammates in order to effectively combat the defensive tactics and succeed in moving the ball down the field. His team, the Minnesota Vikings, “use five cadences to run hundreds of offensive plays, which takes days, weeks and even months for quarterbacks to learn cold.” A quarterback usually has months to learn this information specific to his team, but Dobbs was just traded to the Vikings on Tuesday, and the starter ahead of him was injured with a torn Achilles, forcing him into his first game for the team on Sunday. If one of his teammates or coaches yelled out to him, “Hey Josh, don’t worry, it’s not rocket science!” then that would have been appropriate, “because Dobbs studied aerospace engineering at the University of Tennessee and competed on the Engineers team at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design/Build/Fly competition while playing football.” Dobbs entered the game in the first quarter following his predecessor’s injury “and went 20-for-30 with 158 yards and two touchdowns, while scrambling for 66 yards on seven carries.” The Vikings won 31-28.
Full Story (Forbes)

 

Video

Josh Dobbs receives congratulations from coaches and teammates following his comeback win, days after being traded to the Minnesota Vikings
(Bleacher Report; YouTube)

Latest Boeing EcoDemonstrator Studies SAF Use on Contrails

Aviation International News reports that while studies have determined an 85% reduction of carbon emissions from sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the contrails produced by SAF have not been studied to determine how they differ from those generated by kerosene. To that end, The Boeing Company has partnered with United Airlines and NASA “to study the phenomenon with its latest EcoDemonstrator aircraft.” In early October, Boeing “began flying a CFM LEAP-1B-powered 737 MAX 10 destined for United Airlines on 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and conventional fuel in separate tanks, alternating the fuels during testing.” Studying multiple fuels “with the same engine allows researchers to differentiate the emissions reductions resulting from advanced engine technology from those resulting from advanced jet fuel chemistry.” Although the sample “of results from last month’s testing remains too small to draw any conclusions, researchers from Boeing, NASA, GE Aerospace, and German aerospace research center DLR expressed optimism over the observations from the first three weeks of trials.” DLR Research Team Lead Christine Voigt explained some of the science behind the effect of SAF on contrail production and said, “These sustainable aviation fuels have a lower aromatic content and these are precursors to the soot particle emissions and the soot particles are the precursors for the ice crystals and contrails. Science tells us that warming from contrails might be as large as the warming from CO2 emissions.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)