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SkyZero Podcast

SkyZero Podcast

by Kyle Hodgson

Season 2

Urban Skylab: Drones, eVTOLS sharing city airspace

In Season Two, we begin tackling the biggest piece of electric aviation - the unmanned kind. Vries Strookman's work with the Urban Sky Lab is world leading in terms of thinking through how cities should approach the challenge. Mentioned: Kennedy Approach: https://www.kennedyapproach.nl/ Opposing Bases Podcast: https://www.opposingbases.com/ Arcam: https://arcam.nl/ Fabrications: https://www.fabrications.nl/

Season 1

Back to the future of aviation charging with Jurjen de Jong

Jurjen de Jong is an absolute charging pioneer - he founded the GreenFlux EV charging company in 2008 - this is 12 years before the Model Y, and 3 years before even the Nissan Leaf. As such, the decisions they made led to standards that are still in place - the Type 2 AC charging connector for instance. And there was no integration standard, so they had to develop OCPP, now the global standard. While OCPP started in EU, it was picked up by California early and eventually the USA, Canada, even China. It was super eye opening for me to talk to someone who was there. We talk through the differences and the similarities between aviation and automotive charging, and even talk standards, debating CSS and GEACS, and which missions each is best suited for. For more: https://nrg2fly.com/ https://efc.aero/

Why did Heart Aerospace change their all electric airliner to hybrid electric?

When I talked to Ben Stabler at Heart Aerospace, it finally clicked for me why they scrapped the all electric ES-19 design for the "independent hybrid" ES-30 - its all about IFR reserves and regional airliner economics - and it turns out those turboprops might not be used much... but they're a mass savings, not dead weight. How?

#1 in electric aviation: E-Flight Academy's Matthijs Collard

Matthijs Collard is the co-founder and responsible manager for E-Flight Academy - a modern pilot training company in Teuge Netherlands. They fly 90% of the hours towards a Private Pilots License in electric aircraft, the Pipistrel Velis Electro. They hold several records on SkyZero.io - including most flight hours for a single electric aircraft (beating Joby and BETA), and also for the most electric aircraft movements at any single airport, EHTE. We interview him about what it was like building a flight curriculum around electric aircraft, the solar mini-grid they installed, and how they got started. Corrections from this interview! I state incorrectly that: 1) the H55 Bristell Energic is certified in EU and with the FAA. It is not, yet, these certifications are expected in 2026 and 2027 respectively. 2) the Velis Electro is "certified" - there is an FAA exemption for all operators of the Velis Electro under the Light Sport Aircraft category for training, it is not yet type certified in the USA. It is type certified in Canada. https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2024/march/07/faa-grants-exemption-for-velis-electro https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/futureflight/2025-11-16/transport-canada-certifies-three-pipistrel-light-aircraft

How to make a hybrid electric regional aircraft fly

Ben Stabler, the CTO at Heart Aerospace, talks to us about their ES-30 aircraft - a 30 seat independent hybrid regional airliner. In fully electric mode it can fly 200km carrying 30 people - with its turboprop turbines engaged, it can travel 800 km carrying 25 people. It replaces the ES-19 - a fully electric 19 seater - and we talk to Ben about the change, how the new aircraft works, how they predict the market will make use of this aircraft, and the future of aviation. Ben's a thoughtful, intelligent engineering leader, and he really talked openly about the challenges and what Heart Aerospace is trying to do. More on Heart Aerospace: https://www.heartaerospace.com https://www.youtube.com/@HeartAero

Aviation charging innovators: Joby Aviation with Robert Rowland

We interview Robert Rowland, Senior Engineer on Joby's charging team about the Global Electric Aviation Charging System. While many electric aviation players choose existing standards, like CCS, Joby's started from first principles and asked themselves "how do you build a charging system for air taxis?" Many folks know how innovative the Joby JAS4 aircraft is - and they've made choices in charging that are just as innovative.

Batteries in aviation with Dr. Haroon Junaidi

Dr. Haroon Junaidi is an expert in battery design in mobility, and the person behind the YouTube channel Electric Aviation. In his five years and 112 episodes, he's covered everything from next generation battery chemistry, like aluminum air, to wing designs, laminar flow designs, solid state batteries in aviation, and everything you can imagine. His work is highly recommended - he covers highly technical concepts brilliantly, an excellent blend of going deep, avoiding jargon, and editing things down to the essentials. For podcast listeners, especially for fans of the Electric Aviation channel, Dr. Junaidi makes his in person debut on the YouTube version of this podcast at https://www.youtube.com/@skyzeroaviation If you like this episode, make sure to follow the Electric Aviation channel!

Hybrid Electric aviation with Ampaire's Ed Lovelace

In this interview we'll cover approaches to hybrid electric powertrains, including Ampaire's work on their Electric Eel Skymaster conversion, a series, independent powertrain, and the eco Caravan conversion kit, a parallel hybrid. We talk about how they work, how Ed got started, and even about hybrid jet engines?? For more on Ed check out ampaire.com or linkedin.com/in/edlovelace. For more on SkyZero.io: SkyZero.substack.com SkyZero.io - the source for intelligence on electrified aviation

SkyZero.io Podcast Teaser

SkyZero.io is the source for intelligence on electric aviation! In the podcast, we'll interview the folks making electric aviation work. For more: SkyZero.io SkyZero.substack.com