1,000 SHP AGplane Offers Promising View of Future Performance

Wright Electric and Axter Aerospace capped off a successful flight test using their prototype hybrid-electric agricultural aircraft, proving the viability of a 1.2-Megawatt crop duster. The hybrid aircraft tested sports 800 kilowatts of shaft horsepower, or about 1,073 ponies in the old measure. Wright hopes that the aircraft will be a solid proof-of-concept for the brand's electric motor tech. Their Electric Propulsion Unit, or EPU, can be built with outputs up to 2 megawatts, with tested equipment showing 1.2 megawatts peak output with modern production pieces. That EPU has proven to be quite capable in its own right, falling back to 1.1 Mw of continuous output.

Archer TX to Create 2,000 New Pilots Annually

Piper has nailed a large deal with AeroGuard Flight Training for 90 brand-new Archer TX aircraft, an order that will double their fleet to more than 200 of the brand's planes. AeroGuard Flight Training Center boasts 4 campus locations, with 3 in the USA and one Saudi Arabia. Between each campus, AeroGuard trains more than 2,000 students each year, sending them onto airlines around the world. The company's partnerships with a range of international carriers has seen their alumni pass through the flight decks of Cathay Pacific, SkyWest and Korea Aerospace University.

Online Course Helps Drone Ops with Simple Lessons

Tried and true aviation publisher ASA has announced a new online ground school course for use in those seeking a remote pilot certificate. The course is aimed beyond hobbyist, personal operations, providing the knowledge needed to make a living with a remotely piloted aircraft. Those in it for pay need a Remote Pilot Certificate with a small unmanned aircraft systems rating. As always, that demands they pass the required FAA Knowledge Exam (okay, "written" in airfield slang). Once passed, students can sport their newly minted Remote Pilot certificate w with a small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) rating and get to work with all the whiz-bang new commercial products on the small business drone