The Allplane Podcast

We are living through an almost unprecedented wave of aerospace innovation. From eVTOLs to new propulsion technologies, the world is awash with new projects, designs and concepts.How many of them will pass the certification process?This is a question that I’ve been pondering for a while and this is the reason I welcomed the chance to do this episode in partnership with AFuzion, a leading boutique consultancy firm that helps aerospace companies get their certification process right.Few people know the world of aircraft certification as well as Vance Hilderman, AFuzion’s founder.A long time entrepreneur and author (he’s written one of the reference technical books on aircraft certification), in this episode of the podcast Vance delivers a proper masterclass on the topic of aircraft certification. What are the challenges that eVTOL designers face to get certified? What are the key elements that they must take into account? Which potential points of failure do regulators look at? How does the time-frame and procedure to get a new aircraft design certified look like?We talk about all these and many more questions concerning the somehow complex, but very essential, world of aircraft certification. Tune in to this episode of the podcast to get some first hand insights of the aircraft certification process as well as some valuable pieces of advice, all directly from one of the world’s top experts in this field!

Alon’s career spans several decades in, both, military and civilian aviation. He’s been at the helm of all sorts of aircraft, from F-16s to the Dreamliners, which he currently flies for Israeli airline El Al.But, while Alon’s flying career could surely provide material for several episodes, the reason he’s here today on the podcast is the Simplifly App, a tool he and his partners have developed in order to help people fight their fear of flying.A surprisingly large number of people suffer fear of flying to some degree. This is something Alon realized after quite a few people in his circle sought advice about how to address this issue.Alon would soon find himself organizing workshops for people that wished to overcome their fear of flying. But, in person events, are, of course, limited in scale and reach. If fear of flying is so widespread, why not scale it up with tools and channels that allowed him to reach many more people at any one time?The next step, thus, was to launch Simplifly, an app that helps people address their fear of flying through a series of lessons and interactive features that allow you to communicate with qualified pilots in order to seek answers and advice on this matter.So, today’s podcast is about Alon’s entrepreneurial journey, but also about a broader topic, the fear of flying and the ways those that experience it can overcome it.And, as a bonus, listeners of this podcast will benefit from an exclusive present: FREE access to the Simplifly premium features by entering a promo code that Alon will reveal during our conversation!

The recent covid pandemic has exposed how fragile the aviation and, more generally, the travel sector are to external shocks.What’s more, things get particularly messy when each country starts implementing its own measures and health requirements.The confusion and uncertainty resulting from this maze of regulations is often more damaging than the measures themselves.This is why some in the aviation industry have been pushing for an international framework that provides clarity and predictability to those that need to travel in troubled times. Our guest today, Jean-Marc Bourreau, has been instrumental in the elaboration of a Policy White Paper on Harmonized Travel Requirements that the Saudi Civilian Aviation Authority (GACA) will present at the annual ICAO plenary session that will take place between the end of September and beginning of October this year.Jean-Marc is an experienced aviation consultant, currently a partner at Consulum, a government advisory firm that is assisting the Saudi government in its quest to make of Saudi Arabia one of the global hubs of the aviation industry. I learned about the harmonised travel requirements initiative earlier this year at the Future Aviation Forum in Riyadh, where it was publicly presented, so I invited Jean-Marc to come on the pod so that he can share some more details about this project and what it might mean for air travellers.

When British airline Flybe folded during the covid pandemic, Josef Mouris had the chance to devote 100% of his energies to the project that had been long time in his mind.This former Dash Q400 pilot founded Electron, an electric flight startup. Although at first Josef was looking at the actual flying-operational part of the business, he soon realized that the hardware wasn’t quite there yet. So, Electron pivoted to developing its own fully electric aircraft.The idea is that these light powered aircraft capable of seating 4 passengers will provide a convenient, green and relatively cheap solution for many journeys that currently involve cumbersome itineraries through airports or long overland routes.In this episode of the podcast, Josef shares his entrepreneurial journey as well as some details of the Electron 5, the aircraft he is developing (and of which already a smaller 2-seater demonstrator exists) as well as of this growth plans.Tune in for a fascinating conversation with one of the people that are working hard to redefine the future of air mobility and bring forth the advent of zero carbon flying.

Addison Schonland is the co-founder and manager of AirInsight, a digital platform that tracks the commercial aviation industry through a combination of media content and analytical tools.Addison is one of the most knowledgeable people I know about the state of the aviation industry and he was also one of the very first guests of this podcast when I was just getting it off the ground.It’s been a while since then and quite a lot has happened in the world, so I thought it was a good idea to call Addison and get him back on the show for another in-depth conversation.On this episode we cover quite a lot of ground. Addison shares his views on a number of hot topics in the industry, discussing trends in aircraft development and procurement as well as some of the latest moves by established operators and entrepreneurs in areas such as sustainable aviation and new aircraft concepts.So, tune in for this long, insightful chat about the present and future of the commercial aviation industry and the main strategic considerations its different actors have to play with.

Felipe Varon started thinking about drones more than 20 years ago when it was far from being a fashionable topic. A lot has changed since then and nowadays there is no shortage of startups working in the field of advanced air mobility (AAM).While there is no shortage of startups designing new cool eVTOL aircraft, Varon, the firm that Felipe leads, is looking at the broader picture.In its holistic approach, Varon aims to build the value chain that should allow eVTOLs to take off in Latin America, a region where the potential is notorious, due to the deficiencies in physical transport infrastructure as well as the complicated orography of some countries, like Felipe’s native Colombia. Varon aims to set the basis of the ecosystem that will need to be in place for advanced air mobility services to become a reality and this is the reason that Felipe defines his project primarily as an infrastructure firm.In this vertically integrated approach Varon would operate both the vertiports and the fleets that will move people around in several Colombian cities, starting by the seaside city of Cartagena and from there expanding to the rest of the continent. The aircraft would be provided by partner OEMs such as, for example, Jaunt Air Mobility. Tourism would provide the vector for the introduction of eVTOLs, before moving progressively onto other use cases. In this episode of the podcast, Felipe shares his vision of a Latin America in which advanced air mobility helps sort out many of the regional chronical issues with the lack of adequate infrastructure and we talk about how he plans to do it.Tune in to zoom into one of the regions of the world that aims to benefit the most from the eVTOL revolution!

In addition to being a long-time aviation executive and entrepreneur, Paul Perera is, perhaps, one of the most prolific experts out there when it comes to disseminating interesting insights and relevant stories in the domain of aviation sustainability.Paul is active in the field of hydrogen aviation through, Fluxart, a UK-based startup he co-founded to develop cryogenic motor technology which can boost the performance of hydrogen-powered propulsion systems.On today’s episode Paul will share some details about how this technology works and its prospects in the near future. And, as it couldn’t be otherwise, we also chat about the broader hydrogen aviation landscape and, most particularly, the efforts to make of the UK a hydrogen-aviation powerhouse.

In the fourth and last episode of this airlines and software cycle, produced in collaboration with SITA for Aircraft, we present you a comprehensive, holistic view of how digital, data-driven tools have become increasingly important to get further efficiency improvements out of airline operations.Sometimes it’s a relatively small thing, such as not having to carry several kilograms of paper in a flight bag, sometimes it’s truly sophisticated stuff, such as predicting the presence of ice crystals along the flight path with millimetrical precision or calculating the exact optimal flight path among tens of thousands of possible alternatives, but in any of these cases algorithms are the ultimate performance booster.Tune in to learn about the multiple ways big data and the right software can help you fly better!Our guest today is Kemal Ahmed, who leads Digital Day of Operations applications at SITA for Aircraft, covering several areas of importance for airline operations, from aircraft to ground communications to weather-optimized flight planning. Kemal provides us with an overview of his work in this field and how the contribution of software to make airline operations more sustainable can not be overlooked.

Simon I. Briceno is the chief commercial officer at Jaunt Air Mobility, an interesting advanced air mobility startup with a rather unique approach: a hybrid eVTOL with fixed wing and a rotorcraft.Why this unusual configuration? Simon shares some details about the advantages of this approach and how Jaunt’s engineers aim to get the best of both worlds, fixed wing and helicopters, and 100% electric!Tune in to learn more about this fascinating project that aims to launch in North America as early as 2026.

Keith Mason heads the Centre for Air Transport Management at Cranfield University, in the UK, one of the world’s top, if not THE top, education centers for aviation studies.Professionals from all over the world head to this educational establishment in the middle of England to learn, research and breathe aviation.Cranfield University offers graduate degrees covering both the technical and business sides of aviation and it is also heavily involved in some of the most cutting edge research programmes that are right now ongoing in areas such as sustainable aviation and airline digitalization.Keith Mason has been on the podcast to share some insights about the work that they do at Cranfield and how is it like to study there.