NBAA-BACE 2025 Concludes NBAA-BACE for 2025 is wrapping-up today and the show has been an interesting one with some new entrants but also the push for sustainability is becoming greater. It is no longer a theory and talking point, there are real tangible efforts to help decarbonize the business aviation sector. A couple of those ways is with the type of aircraft. eVTOLs have been around now in the concept and developmental stages for years now but a few manufacturers are very close to bringing their respective prototypes to market with certification in the next year or two. Archer Aviation is one of them and they were at the show with their Midnight eVTOL. BOOM Supersonic attended this year's show too marking a first for them at the NBAA-BACE. Additionally, Otto Aerospace was also at the show, a surprise for many.
eVTOLs on display at the NBAA-BACE is nothing odd but it is 2025 and though many airframers with prototypes and designs have gone out of operation there are still a few with a real chance of making it to certification and service entry. One of these is Archer Aviation with their Midnight full-scale eVTOL. The idea of eVTOLs are popular because they are futuristic, electric/quiet, trendy and certainly the opinion of many, sustainable. Especially with the sound profile, both noise and tone some describe it being several times quieter than helicopters and with a tolerable tone that blends in better with city-life.
BOOM Supersonic made its NBAA-BACE debut this year at the show's Tech Pavilion. Jeff Mabry, Senior VP of Programs, BOOM Supersonic updated saying, "there is nobody right now that is doing supersonic flight". He highlighted the successes with the Boomless technology coming out of the XB-1 demonstrator program so far that will permit supersonic flight up to MACH 1.3 over land without a sonic boom reaching the ground.
A surprise was Otto Aerospace. At the very last moment, Otto Aerospace was able to get into the show with a mockup of their Phantom 3500. The composite aircraft has been making headlines recently and they last were in the news for Flexjet committing to orders. Flexjet placed 300 firm orders for the aircraft, with additional options, with the first jet expected to be delivered in 2030. Firstly, the Phantom 3500 has no windows in the cabin. Instead, there will be high-definition cameras along the exterior that feed exterior footage via fiberoptics to 4K OLED large screens on the interior. "Now I can expand the window to 71 inches by 21 inches", said Paul Touw, CEO, Otto Aerospace. Given the laminar-flow properties of the aircraft it will be extremely efficient. The CEO says they expect to fly in 2027 and have 4 test articles pushing for 2030 certification. For more information: National Business Aviation Association 1200 G Street NW, Suite 1100Washington, DC 20005 www.nbaa.org ***
