Looking Back at SnF25, DAY ONE: DeltaHawk Interview, Gleim's Amazing DPE AI... and More!

Start your day the Aero-News way with the Morning Brief, featuring everything you need to know to plan your Sun ‘n Fun day, brought to you by Daher.

Today’s weather is shaping up to be sunny with a high of 88º, winds southwest at 10 to 20 miles an hour. There will be some clouds here and there, but not quite enough to skimp on the sunscreen for those walking the field all day. 

We’re starting off the week with some very good news from Christopher Ruud, CEO of Deltahawk: Their clean-sheet Jet-A piston engine is coming to the Cessna family! They’re hard at work putting their inverted V-4 into the C-172 and C-182 families, putting cleaner burning SAF and cheaper Jet-A fuel into reach of the average trainer and owner-operator. Ruud took a moment to sit down and chat with us to tell us what’s in the cards for Deltahawk going forward. Everyone’s been talking about their upcoming Velocity Twin Installation, but Ruud hints that there’s plenty more it will work on.

Chief 141 Instructor at Gleim Ryan Jeff then took a moment out of his day to catch us up on their newest product, the Gleim Digital Pilot Examiner. They’ve been hard at work to develop a suitable analog for students practicing for their oral exams, and “Otto” is the first result. The digital proctor allows students to self-study with an adaptive, responsive simulation of a Designated Pilot Examiner. 

They can speak naturally and answer questions as if they were using a living instructor to prep for the checkride, with ‘Otto’ tailoring its responses to ensure students have a solid grasp on the subject. It operates verbally, providing follow-up questions whenever students give partial answers or incorrect ones. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a very cost-effective alternative to mock oral exams - and that’s vital to cash-strapped student pilots. Jeff says the system is just getting started, and it will only get better from here.

Tune in for more Morning Briefs throughout the week to find out the latest news, most interesting interviews, and water cooler rumors of Sun ‘n Fun 2025.

FMI: https://www.youtube.com/live/IhXwq-wexbo?si=Op-s8a5yByw2Jjqy