New FBO: Richmond Executive Aviation

  • How large the new FBOs aircraft hangars are
  • Services provided at the FBO

Richmond Executive Aviation is a brand new FBO located at Richmond Executive Airport. REA debuted their new facility last week with an open house event. The FBO has a 800 square foot terminal, including a passenger lounge with complimentary refreshments, lounge rooms as well as a flight training classroom. Included in the $2.3 million price tag for this FBO is a 10,000 square foot hangar that is big enough to accommodate aircrafts up to the Gulfstream G450. 

Services provided at REA are aircraft charter, management, maintenance, sales, and flight instructions. The runway is 5,500 feet long, welcoming all aviators to its new facility in Virginia. CEO Mark Hackett stresses how Richmond Executive Aviation’s new facility is “professional, modern, and comfortable,” and pays great attention to detail to make sure everyone’s experience is perfect. 

GE Aviation Aircraft Engines

  • Who GE Aviation’s competitors are in aviation engine manufacturing
  • What company GE Aviation purchased
  • GE Aviations plans for the future of aviation

GE Aviation is a company inside of General Electric that works specifically on aircraft engines for most of the commercial aircrafts flying today. GE Aviation is part of the big three in private aviation engines, Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney are GE Aviation’s main competitors. GE Aviation’s TF39 was the first turbofan engine to enter production. This engine was used in the C-5 Galaxy in 1964 and GE was selected as the winning engine for the aircraft. In 2017, General Electric purchased Smiths Aerospace which included opening the first University Development Center at Michigan Technological University to work with engineering students to provide training in engineering and software. This $4.8 billion deal made Smiths Aerospace to become an operating subsidiary of GE Aviation known as GE Aviation Systems. 

GE Aviation invested $4.3 Billion to build a next-gen jet engine. This Engine going by the name GE9x is being developed for Boeing 777X aircraft which will be more powerful than America’s first space rocket. The company has received about 700 orders for this engine, which will include  3D printed parts as well as the latest composite materials. To make sure production will be at an all time high during the times of producing the engine of the future, General Electric invested over $1 billion to another facility to keep up with new business. GE Aviation continues to increase the power of aircraft engines and are creating the future of aviation. 

Rolls-Royce Aerospace Engines

  • What kind of Rolls-Royce engines are being produced
  • Rolls Royce Aerospace plans for the future

Rolls-Royce Aerospace manufactures commercial and military gas turbine engines for military, civil, and corporate aircraft customers worldwide. Its core gas turbine technology has become one of the broadest product ranges of aero-engines in the world. Over 50,000 engines are in service between 500 airlines, over 2,400 corporate and utility operators and more than 100 armed forces use Rolls-Royce engines. In 2019, Rolls-Royce delivered 510 Trent power plants, and invested $2 billion for a predicted market of 8,500 aircrafts in the next 10 years.  In 2006, Rolls-Royce agreed to supply the Trent engines for the Airbus A350 jetliner, which has been supplied to over 40 customers. This engine is an upgrade from the Trent 1000 which was originally used for the A350. 

Rolls-Royce has started working on the UltraFan aero engine which is designed to enhance fuel efficiency by 25% and will have its first test run using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel. Rolls-Royce civil aerospace president Chris Cholerton said: “This is an exciting moment for all of us at Rolls-Royce. Our first engine demonstrator, UF001, is now coming together and I’m really looking forward to seeing it built and ready for testing.” This UltraFan is part of Rolls-Royce “IntelligentEngine ” vision which has support from the UK and German governments. 

VoltAeros Cassio Hybrid Electric Aircraft

  • When VoltAero is going to release this aircraft
  • How this aircraft is meant to operate and what kind of customers should purchase this aircraft

The VoltAero Cassio is a hybrid electric aircraft being developed by VoltAero with plans to produce three configurations by 2022. VoltAero was established in September 2017 with support from French Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. In May 2020, VoltAero presented the production Cassio family: the 330 kW  combined Cassio 330 offering four seats, to be delivered from 2022, the later 480 kW Cassio 480 seating six and the 600 kW Cassio 600 accommodating ten people. The six-seater is planned for 2023 and the 10 seater for 2024. The combination of fuel and batteries will give it a 1,200 km range with nine people aboard. It should fly up to 200 km as a pure electric aircraft, 200–600 km as a battery-assisted mild hybrid and over 600 km using its combustion engine. 

The Cassio family of airplanes is meant for to be operated by private owners, air taxi companies, point to point commercial flights, and in various utility-category applications. Cassio will be certified to Europe’s EASA CS23 certification specification as a single-engine, general aviation category aircraft.The aircrafts battery will last about 3.5 hours, has a range of 800 miles and a cruise speed of 200 knots. Jean Botti, VoltAero’s CEO and chief technology officer “With Cassio 1’s French tour, we are providing realistic examples of how our future family of Cassio airplanes will bring reliable and eco-friendly air service to regions that – more than ever – require such connections.”

Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines

  • Who Pratt & Whitneys competitors are
  • Other companies that Pratt & Whitney work with the create engines
  • What Pratt & Whitney Power Systems designs and builds

Pratt & Whitney is an aircraft engine manufacturing company who is known worldwide as one of the big three in aero-engine manufacturers, competing with General Electric, and Rolls-Royce. Pratt & Whitney also produces gas turbines for industrial and power generation, and marine turbines besides from aircraft engines. Pratt & Whitney is headquartered in East Hartford, Connecticut but has many more locations nationwide. The engines that are produced power more than 25% of the world’s aircrafts and serve more than 800 customers in over 150 countries. Pratt & Whitney is a part of aerospace company Raytheon Technologies, making P&W a sister company to Collins Aerospace, Raytheon Missiles & Defense as well as Raytheon Intelligence & Space.

The military engines that are produced by Pratt & Whitney power 27 air forces around the globe, with nearly 11,000 military engines in service with 23 customers in 22 nations.  Pratt & Whitney Power Systems designs, builds, and supports aero derivative gas turbine and geothermal power systems for customers worldwide. These gas turbines are so powerful they they can power small cities generating electrical power, provide various speed mechanical drive for marine propulsion, gas compression, and liquid pumping. There are over 2,000 gas turbines being used in over 40 countries.

Discovery Jets

  • Discovery Jets core values to success as a company
  • Discovery Jets pilot experience

Discovery Jets is a jet management company founded in 2016, looking to be a different type of jet management company than their competitors. The core values Discovery Jets stresses are most important in becoming a Jet Management Company of the future are being professional, being experienced in aviation, and having the knowledge of private aviation. Since the beginning, Discovery Jets has been recruiting the best in each of these three categories to stay true to their core values. 

Each pilot is very experienced with flying, having over 9,000 hours of total flying experience for each pilot which helps Discovery Jets maintain a safety standard and having their customers know they are in good hands on each flight. Discovery Jets has direct contact to aircraft manufacturers to organize aircraft appraisals and arrange aircraft inspections as well as arrange for exterior respray or interior refurbishment of existing or newly acquired aircraft which are conducted and completed with the best of finishes.

Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Aircraft (eVTOL)

  • Introduction to eVTOL aircrafts
  • Companies producing eVTOL aircrafts
  • Companies that have already ordered eVTOL aircrafts for there fleet

eVTOL stands for Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft, which have the power to hover, take off and land vertically. Due to major advancements in electric propulsion, eVTOLs are being developed by Boeing, Airbus, and NASA. There are designs already available that do not use conventional wings such as the Volocopter 2X. The eVTOL concept came about in 2011 and was officially introduced by AHS International and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). Airbus has introduced their version of an eVTOL in the form of the Airbus A3 Vahana as well as Boeing’s Aurora Flight Sciences PAV. 

Many eVTOL manufacturing companies are preparing to use a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to list on a stock exchange such as the companies Archer, Joby, Lilium, and Vertical. In June 2021, Vertical Aerospace announced 1,000 pre orders of eVTOLs from various aircraft operating companies. The main use for eVTOLs is to be used for small distance travel such as across town, not across the country. This will avoid traffic and have the ability to land basically anywhere with the vertical landing system. The United States Air Force has funded $25 million worth of eVTOL projects and have held demonstrations of eVTOL flights and landings. 

Single-Engine Beechcraft Denali

  • NFT connection to private aviation
  • Box Collective

To date, Black Box Collective has saved members over $1.5 million in private jet travel costs. We are the only NFT-based membership platform of our kind, and we are constantly working to improve the experience for our members. Our goal is to provide our members with the best possible experience and to continue to expand our offerings so that more people can fly.

We are currently partnered with Flyexclusive, which possesses more than 95 private jets available to our members. We are also constantly working to secure more partners at no additional cost to our members.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Black Box Collective, please visit the website or contact us for more information.

Nantucket Memorial Airport Fuel Shortage

  • How Nantucket Airport plans to obtain more fuel
  • What the fuel shortage means for commercial and private flights to ACK

During the peak week of the summer when there is the most travel, Nantucket Airport has run out of jet fuel which is heavily impacting private and commercial aircraft travel. As one of New England’s main hubs for travel, ACK is telling aircraft operators to make sure they land at the airport with a full tank of fuel due to the shortage. It is extremely difficult for Nantucket Airport to get jet fuel tankers to the island, which is becoming a logistic nightmare for ACK. On Saturday, July 31st, Nantucket Airport salvaged enough fuel for its commercial flights such as JetBlue, Delta and Southwest Airlines to make sure these thousands of passengers made it to their destinations. On Sunday, August 1st, ACK ran completely out of jet fuel but are expecting fuel to arrive by monday morning by tanker trucks. Jet fuel sales have risen up to 60% at Nantucket Memorial Airport compared to years passed, and the airport has pumped over a million gallons of jet fuel. Nantucket Memorial Airport’s fuel tank farm holds 100,000 gallons of jet fuel which is enough to cover normal traffic for about five days. The demand this summer has drained supplies to the point it was holding essentially a single day’s worth of fuel on most days in July. 

Southwest Airlines: Freedom One

  • What the Freedom One aircraft means to Southwest Airlines
  • How the aircraft was painted and what it represents
  • tracking the aircraft across the world

On June 18th, 2021, Southwest Airlines celebrated 50 years of giving customers the freedom to fly by unveiling the Freedom One Aircraft, a tribute to our nation, and our military. This aircraft features 50 stars and 13 stripes on it to represent the flag for the USA, and this is the first Boeing 737-800 aircraft with this unique paint scheme. When Freedom One first departed the airport and headed for Dallas, TX, the pilots and flight attendants were all employees of Southwest that had served in the military. “Freedom is the essence of our country, and giving America the freedom to fly is the essence of our Company. With 50 stars on the flag and 50 years of LUV, we dedicate our anniversary to Freedom,” Southwest Chairman and CEO, Gary Kelly said.

The paint job took about 14 days to paint, 10 people were working on it during all shifts. The crew used over 60 gallons of paint and primer to paint this aircraft, using 15 different paint colors. A very cool feature about this aircraft is that the paint job has 50 stars and 13 red and white stripes wrapped around the aircraft, just like our national flag. Just to show how big this aircraft is, each star is 40 inches x 40 inches, and there are 50 of these stars. Freedom One is aircraft W500NR if you’d like to track its travel across the country