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"Made in Italy" novelties at the 8th Aerospace & Defense Meetings Torino

The eighth edition of Aerospace & Defense Meetings Torino took place between November 30 and December 2, 2021. Hosted in the Lingotto Oval building and respecting the anti-covid behavioral rules, the biennial "business to business" meeting saw the participation of over 500 companies from 28 countries. The entire Italian supply chain of small and medium-sized companies specializing in aerospace production were present in full strength. As usual, the event was promoted by Regione Piemonte and Turin's Centro Estero per l'Internazionalizzazione della Camera di Commercio with the coordination of BCI Aerospace.

Among the new designs on display was a scale model of the Space Rider, a European Space Agency project, with Thales Alenia Space as its main industrial contractor. It was developed from the previous IXV experimental space plane launched in 2015 with an Avio Vega carrier rocket. The Space Rider is a reusable unmanned vehicle with a cargo compartment large enough to transport instruments to carry out, in absence of gravity, experiments in various scientific fields. It is planned that the Space Rider will be placed in orbit for the first time in 2023 by using the new Vega C rocket.

The Avio Aero stand displayed a realistic mock-up of the new General Electric Catalyst turbine engine. This is in final development and certification phases by the European branches of General Electric, mainly Avio Aero of Rivalta (Turin) for the design and systems integration, and the Brindisi and Pomigliano d'Arco plants for manufacture. In the latter, when it was called Alfa Romeo Avio at the end of the 1970's, a similar class of turbine engine called AR318 was designed and flown on a King Air flying test-bed. The Catalyst takes advantage of decades of progress in materials and technologies such as the integration of FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) which will allow it to validly compete with engines such as the Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 conceived in the 1960's and powering dozens of aircraft types, many of them still in production. The new engine flew succesfully for the first time on September 20, 2021 installed on a Beechcraft B300 King Air 350 flying test bench. And on the following November 23 the Catalyst took to the air in the prototype of the Beechcraft Denali, a single-engine executive aircraft designed to compete in the same market as the Pilatus PC-12 and the Daher SOCATA TBM. After having gained its first and promising launch customer, Avio Aero is progressing with the European military certification process with a view of further applications on training aircraft and also drones.

The third large model on display at the Lingotto Oval was that of the Manta ANN2, a small, fly-by-wire urban V/STOL aircraft which recalled the old dream of the flying car. The Manta flew recenty, confirming the validity of its general configuration. The propulsion is hybrid (batteries + eco-fuel) and the modular approach should allow the development of a further four-seater version named ANN4 aimed at a wide range of missions. The manufacturer, Manta Aircraft of Sesto Calende, is flanked by SkyGate, a consociate of DigiSky based at Turin/Aeritalia airport, for flight testing by Commander Maurizio Cheli and the type certification process. ANN2 design dimensions: length 10.20 m, wingspan 8.20 m and maximum height 1.40 m. The two-seater has an empty weight of 930 kg and a useful load of 520 kg. Indicative project performance: cruise speed 300 km/h and 2 flight hours autonomy. The propulsion system consists of a variable number of ducted fans.

In the picture: a view of the 8th Aerospace & Defense Meetings Torino 2021 in the Lingotto Oval exhibition facilities. (Aeromedia)

(Aeromedia, December 2021)