Breaking Boundaries - Embracing Our Promising New Territory
From adversity to advancement gives a brighter tomorrow
Thank you to all my readers, it was a record week last week for engagement. Please continue to share in your networks. I hope you enjoy this weeks newsletter and feel free to reach out jonathan@skytrades.io
All That Glisters is Not Gold
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recently published a draft operational plan aimed at transforming airspace and procedures to enable safe urban air mobility (UAM) and other advanced air mobility operations within U.S. airspace. The plan is expected to include adjustments to air traffic flow.
A gradual transformation is the vision according to the plan. Advanced air mobility operations will commence with air taxis following similar protocols to helicopters. They will operate on existing routes and utilise infrastructure such as heliports and early vertiports. Pilots will communicate with air traffic controllers as and when necessary. The ramp up of air traffic controllers is not underway, nor do the FAA envision managing high frequency low altitude air traffic themselves.
The FAA see increased traffic and bi-directional flows as the volume of operations increases, air taxis are expected to navigate through largely non-existent corridors that will connect major airports and vertiports located in city centers. The FAA believe the complexity of these corridors will increase over time, moving from one-way paths to routes serving multiple streams of aircraft that fly in both directions. Ultimately, these corridors could connect an expanding number of routes between airports. The FAA anticipates that aircraft technology will continue to evolve, with aircraft automation and real-time data sharing between aircraft playing an increasingly important role in these corridors.
Alongside aircraft and pilot certification the FAA is claiming to support this new era of aviation safely. It is designed to establish a common frame of reference for the FAA, NASA, and some industry stakeholders to guide their research and decision-making processes. The FAA collaborated with NASA in developing this plan.
While movement is certainly welcome, this moves very little tangibly on. It’s a sticking plaster on a broken leg. The FAA control commercial airspace not low altitude air space and therefore are not in a position to allow air taxis in low altitude air space.
They cannot give what they do not own, however regulatory creep comes in many forms.
Colonial Powers Come Bearing Gifts
Imagine we lived in a world where a government agency or private company took away a small piece of your property every week. They then used this to generate an income only for themselves.
Would you choose this Brave New World to live in or has it already been chosen for you?
The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC) was a Dutch trading company established in the 1600s and operated in various regions, including the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).
The Banda Islands was known for their lucrative spice trade in nutmeg and mace. The VOC sought control over these islands and their valuable resources. In the early 17th century, the VOC used a combination of force, coercion, and manipulation to secure a monopoly on the spice trade.
They systematically seized land and property from the indigenous population, often through exploitative trade agreements, debt bondage, or direct confiscation. These actions resulted in the displacement and dispossession of the local inhabitants, their rights totally disregarded.
In another example, The Permanent Settlement, also known as the Zamindari System, implemented by the British East India Company (BEIC) in Bengal, India, in the late 1700s, resulted in the acquisition of vast amounts of land from indigenous landholders. Under this system, the BEIC granted land rights to local intermediaries known as Zamindars in exchange for a fixed revenue payment.
The Permanent Settlement was intended to create a stable revenue source for the BEIC and provide incentives for Zamindars to improve agricultural productivity. However, the implementation of the system and its misaligned incentives had severe consequences for the population. Many people lost their rights to the land and became tenants or sharecroppers under the new Zamindari landlords.
Times have changed and thankfully these examples are mainly in the past. However it is important to learn from history or it will be repeated. It may come in another form, it may come bearing gifts and trinkets but its aim is the same, rights are powerful and need to be guarded. When they are gone they are very difficult to get back.
Drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are to be welcomed. They can improve our lives in many amazing ways. However delivering ice cream, pizza and candy comes at a price higher than the delivery fee if we are not careful. The price is your air rights.
What do Texas, Arizona, Florida, Orlando, Phoenix and Dallas have in common? Walmart drone delivery is available in these select markets without the permission of the air space owners who hold the air rights. Customers within a 0.8-mile radius of certain Walmart stores can now request drone deliveries for a fee of $3.99. DroneUp, a Virginia Beach company, is responsible for facilitating the deliveries. The drones are capable of carrying items up to 10 pounds, but the current flights are limited to 4 pounds.
Deliveries are restricted to single-family homes and townhouses, but efforts are underway to include apartments and condominiums.
The company aims to complete deliveries within 30 minutes from order submission. DroneUp completed over 6,000 flights at 36 Walmart stores in various states in 2022 without any landowners permission. Walmart, with its extensive store network, is well-positioned to erode air rights.
Wing (Alphabet), currently operates deliveries in Texas, Virginia, and Australia and delivers for companies like Walgreens and Doordash. It is starting deliveries in Ireland under limited criteria.
Wing has moved about 1,000 packages a day in an operating region of more than 100,000 people. Wing plans to roll out parts of the new Delivery Network over the next 12 months, and says it’ll handle “millions of deliveries” cheaper than ground deliveries by mid-2024.
Walmart and Alphabet have a combined market cap of c. $1.7 trillion. While times have change in many regards since the Dutch and British East India Companies, when it comes to individuals property rights it would appear little has. The fragmented nature of air rights ownership which is being exploited is now being solved for by us in www.skytrades.io.
Lilium Looking to Raise Another $250 million
The German electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) jet manufacturer, Lilium, is seeking to raise up to $250 million in capital, with $100 million already secured in the deal. The Bavaria-based company plans to accelerate the development of its Lilium Jet with the funds raised. The capital will aid the company in achieving its next development milestone, the first manned flight of the Lilium Jet, which is scheduled for the second half of 2024. Following this milestone, Lilium expects to receive significant pre-delivery payments to fund its future capital requirements.
Lilium CEO Klaus Roewe stated that the capital raise is an essential development in revolutionising the aviation industry, and the company remains in constructive discussions with existing and potential new investors. The Lilium Jet prototype was unveiled in 2019, a five-seater electric air taxi that offers high performance, low noise, and capacity with zero operating emissions, helping to accelerate the decarbonization of air travel.
The eVTOL can fly at speeds of up to 300 km/h and a range of 300km. The company aims to launch networks in Germany, the United States, Brazil, and the U.K. They currently have a team of over 800, including approximately 450 aerospace engineers and their leadership team. Although several other companies, including Joby Aviation, and Volocopter, are also working on eVTOL technology, Lilium's latest funding round boost its chances of hitting their next milestone. After their next milestone they need air space to fly in with the frequency required to have a profitable business.
Brazilian Aviations Growth
The Moya eVTOL, developed by Brazilian-based Moya Aero, is a new entrant that wants to revolutionize aero logistics and agriculture.
The Moya eVTOL is a heavy-lift cargo drone with a range of 68 miles (110 km) and an impressive payload capacity of 441 lbs (200 kg). It is equipped with four propellers on tandem tilt wings and four electric motors, with a lightweight carbon fiber composite airframe. During takeoff and landing, the aircraft maintains a parallel position with the ground, but once airborne, the wings tilt, and the aircraft ascends with its fuselage almost vertically oriented.
One of the unique features of the Moya eVTOL is its ability to transport cargo efficiently and sustainably. It is 10X more productive than small conventional drones, spraying over an area up to six times larger in one hour and capable of reaching places where traditional crop dusters cannot operate. It apparently has 50% less operating costs than helicopters, making it a more cost-effective option for cargo transportation.
Helisul Aviation's recently agreed Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase 50 of them. The Moya eVTOL is also developed for flying in urban environments where space is limited, as well as in remote locations where the terrain is less welcoming to conventional planes and helicopters.
Brazil is already a major player in the eVTOL market, with Embraer's urban air mobility spin-off, Eve Air Mobility, and ACS Aviation's SORA-e electric aircraft. The Moya eVTOL prototype is expected to take to the skies by the end of 2023, with the first Moya eVTOL set to enter into service by late 2025. The Moya eVTOL is definitely one to watch.
Embracing Problems
Challenges and obstacles should be embraced rather than feared. They have the power to disrupt our established ways of thinking and provide an opportunity to reassess and refocus. Throughout history, innovation and discovery have been fuelled by individuals and societies who were compelled to seek alternative paths when faced with adversity.
Imagine if we could start afresh, armed with the knowledge and technology we possess today. How could we harness this wealth of information for the betterment of society? Would we burden ourselves with cumbersome regulatory frameworks, congested transportation networks, and government systems that prioritise self-preservation?
We should not forget that we are not bound to accept the status quo. We have the potential for enormous economic growth and a future where flying cars seamlessly transit designated aerial highways, transporting essential cargo, medicine, people, and goods, compounding wealth for the people. This vision is precisely what we are building at SkyTrades. For further details, please contact me at jonathan@skytrades.io.
