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Originally published in 1995, now updated and expanded with new specifications, this seminal work focuses on the development of Allied aircraft engines that helped turn the tide of World War II.

Engineers at Jetoptera in Edmonds, Washington, and GE Aviation in Evandale, Ohio, are collaborating on a 500 pound-force (lbf) class fluidic propulsion system leveraging a gas generator based on GE Aviation’s H-Series turboprop engine. Jetoptera’s Fluidic Propulsion System is, officials say, both revolutionary and a remarkably simple approach to producing thrust for powerful, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL)-capable aircraft.

In part two of a two-part series, Richard Gardner discusses various aerospace propulsion innovations and continued work by aerospace engineers and scientists to advance aircraft engine technologies to increase efficiency and lower emissions.

Under the OFFSET program, BBN Technologies (a subsidiary of Raytheon) is developing direct and control solutions for swarms of small, autonomous air, and ground vehicles.

This week, Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corp. (UTC), announced the establishment of GatorWorks, a newly formed prototyping arm that will focus on the rapid and agile development of dependable, lower cost military engines.

The Auto-Tracking Antenna System, a new portable, ground-to-air antenna from Persistent Systems LLC in New York, incorporates aircraft into the Wave Relay mobile ad hoc network (MANET) to boost connectivity, communications, and distribution of critical sensor data, including full-motion video, on the networked battlefield. The precisely aimed tracking system works with the MPU5 radio and Wave Relay MANET to optimize connectivity and reliable communications to enable manned and unmanned aircraft to communicate further than ever before, officials say.

AeroVironment revealed its critical role in collaborating with NASA JPL to build the “Mars Helicopter” for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. Program officials plan to have the Mars Helicopter flying on Mars in less than three years.

Aerospace systems, subsystems, and components must continue to operate as intended when exposed to fire, rather than going up in flames and ceasing to work altogether. Fire and flammability testing is an all-important prerequisite to airworthiness, and the focus of a new technical standards committee that SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania, is forming in response to a request from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials in Washington.

Even at the early stages of this new era of urban air mobility, there is already a scramble amongst well-known aerospace giants, as well as start-ups, to develop and evaluate the civil VTOL market. And this all starts with air-taxi concepts.

Connected aircraft means more than just in-flight movies, free texting, and Facebook posting with friends while in flight. In fact, the connected aircraft revolutionizes airline operations, dramatically improving fleet management, flight safety, passenger experience, maintenance, flight operations, aircraft turnaround time, and costs. For aircraft operators, connectivity presents a new set of operational benefits that were previously unavailable.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. is using an integrated fuel tank structure to maximize fuel offload for the company’s proposed MQ-25 design for the U.S. Navy. The Navy plans to deploy one of three potential MQ-25 designs by the early- to mid-2020s.

Standards development teams at SAE International in Warrendale, Pa., have issued 11 new technical documents and revised or reaffirmed another 54 technical reports focused on mobility engineering across the aerospace, automotive, and commercial transportation communities. The new documents, issued throughout June 2018, cover a variety of technical subject areas, including: diagnostic link connector security, mitigation strategies against illumination effects, data dictionary for quantities used in cyber physical exams, requirements for production of metal powder feedstock for use in additive manufacturing of aerospace parts, and laser powder bed fusion process.

According to a new study published in Nature Communications, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles – commonly referred to as “flying cars” – are better suited to longer flights than shorter commutes.

Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), has laid out its plans for what is calling “The Grid” – an 25,000-square-foot advanced electric power systems laboratory for designing and testing next-generation, more-electric aircraft technologies for commercial, military, and business aviation.

Earlier this month, General Atomics Aeronautical System, Inc. (GA-ASI) completed an entire MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) flight – from takeoff to landing – using a GA-ASI certifiable ground control station (CGCS). At the core of the CGCS is Abaco Systems Inc.’s (Abaco’s) certifiable FORCE2 Open Reference Computing Environment.

The China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd. (CATARC), TÜV SÜD Group, and Shanghai SH Intelligent Automotive and International Transportation Innovation Center (ITIC) have joined with SAE International to establish the International Alliance for Mobility Testing and Standardization (IAMTS).

To better inform and equip mobility engineers dealing with these challenges, SAE International has released a new book series from Juan R. Pimentel that explores automated vehicle safety concepts and technologies.

“We originally thought solar cells would be standard on the airplane’s wings,” says George E. Bye, founder and CEO of Bye Aerospace Bye. “However, with eFlyer’s primary markets being flight training and air taxi services, it makes more sense to make the price of the airplane as reasonable as possible.”

Nissan elevates its innovative variable-compression engine to potential large-volume use with its availability in the all-new, sixth-generation 2019 Altima.

A General Atomics Aeronautical System, Inc. (GA-ASI) MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) was controlled – from takeoff to landing – by an operator using a GA-ASI certifiable ground control station (CGCS), marking the first time a CGCS was used to control an end-to-end flight and the first step in type-certifying the unit.