AVIATION
Aviation Week’s Take on the Effects of New Tariffs:
Podcast: Are Tariffs Affecting Aftermarket Earnings? Earnings in Europe have returned to pre-COVID levels, with growth being consistent. However, manufacturers did notice some additional ordering of parts prior to the imposition of tariffs, with some tariff-induced price increases already being passed on to their customers. The experts on the podcast say the plane/parts business remains very strong, but “the tariff issue that certainly is causing parts purchasers to ponder whether they need to be buying more of certain parts before tariffs may be hit. The general consensus is though that at least for now it is business as usual. Now there's a caveat. So ‘business as usual’ these days means still dealing with delivery delays that is putting pressure on some older platforms… .” And “tariffs certainly are still very much on playing on the minds of some of these companies in Europe. And there's obviously been developments over that in the last few weeks and months. So obviously back to Lufthansa Technik, they've stressed about the uncertainty of this. Of course, tariffs are seemingly forever changing at the moment.” For the full podcast from which the quotes came, see: https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/mro-podcast/podcast-are-tariffs-affecting-aviation-aftermarket-earnings.
aArticle (8/8/25): Trump Tariffs Prompt Swiss Calls to Abandon F-35 Deal.
From the article: “Swiss lawmakers are urging the country’s government to reexamine the purchase of Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped punitive 39% trade tariffs on the country.
“Switzerland is acquiring 36 F-35As as part of a modernization of the country’s air force and has already paid some 700 million Swiss francs of the 6 billion Swiss franc (then $6.25 billion) price tag.
“Left-leaning lawmakers, however, are urging the government to abandon the deal after the Trump administration imposed the tariffs as part of the president’s global trade reset.
“Switzerland joins a growing number of European countries where lawmakers are questioning the reliance of the U.S. as a defense and trade partner. Earlier this week, the Spanish government confirmed it was no longer looking at the F-35 for its air force modernization and would spend that money in Europe instead.”
See the article in its entirety at: https://aviationweek.com/defense/aircraft-propulsion/trump-tariffs-prompt-swiss-calls-abandon-f-35-deal.
Podcast: What Do Trump Tariffs Mean for Aerospace and Air Travel? The situation is fluid, but there are potentially many changes coming. Aviation Week editors discuss the issue in one of their “Check 6” podcasts here: https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/check-6/podcast-what-do-trump-tariffs-mean-aerospace-air-travel. [This podcast was posted several weeks before the two cited above.]
AVIATION FYI
Hybrid Propulsion Flight News: NASA has recently been working with a U.S. electric power company, Magnix, to modify a De Havilland Dash 7 to use hybrid-electric engines. The new power plants have the promise of being much more efficient and less costly to operate than present jets, at least for smaller aircraft. “Magnix says it aims to continue working with NASA on the technology regardless of whether the full-scale hybrid propulsion flight demonstrator it is developing with the agency is axed under budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Funding for two Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstrator (EPFD) projects at Magnix and GE Aerospace is currently due to stop at year’s end under NASA’s proposed budget, which cuts spending on aeronautics research to $588.7 million in fiscal 2026 from $935 million in 2025, a reduction of 34%.” For more info and the quote, see: https://aviationweek.com/space/launch-vehicles-propulsion/magnix-aims-continue-nasa-electric-power-push.
NATO’s Role in Newly-contested Space Domain: “NATO is preparing to assume a more active role in space, acknowledging that it must adapt its defensive structure to support operations in the domain above Earth’s atmosphere.” For more info, see: https://aviationweek.com/defense/budget-policy-operations/nato-contemplates-its-role-newly-contested-space-domain.
Pratt & Whitney Unveils Hydrogen/Steam Hybrid Engine Design: “Pratt & Whitney thinks it may have taken the first steps along that path with the Hydrogen Steam-Injected, Intercooled Turbine Engine (HySIITE) concept—a novel hybrid engine configuration that combines the advantages of the fuel’s cryogenic properties with the thermodynamic benefits of steam injection. Pratt & Whitney has unveiled details of the concept, which has been studied under a two-year $3.8 million U.S. Energy Department Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) effort. While Pratt acknowledges the cycle is complex and requires more study, it is encouraged by the results, which show potential for as much as 35% lower energy use compared with current state-of-the-art engines.” For more information on this exciting development, see: https://aviationweek.com/aerospace/emerging-technologies/pratt-whitney-unveils-details-hydrogen-steam-hybrid-engine-cycle! But the picture isn’t all that rosy…
Aviation Pulls Back from Innovation: “Airbus's ambitious plan to develop a zero-emission, hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft by 2035, funded with gobs of European government money, has been pushed back at least five years, if not 10. That has raised further doubts about the aviation industry's pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. And the cost of doing so just got a lot higher according to a new estimate by an industry alliance.” For the full AW podcast on this topic, see: https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/check-6/podcast-aviation-pulls-back-innovation.
Ever Wonder What It Takes to Become an Air Traffic Controller? It’s not easy, and it takes time; see this article by Elim Hawkins, featured here: https://www.avweb.com/features/become-a-controller.
AVIATION LINKS AND OTHER INFORMATION
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy to Retire: He grew up behind the Iron Curtain, and like many young people, he became enamored with aviation at an early age. To him, flying not only seemed “cool,” it symbolized freedom. He became remarkably successful in the airliner leasing business, and “paid back” his success with a very sizable donation to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, to inspire future generations with flight. The NASM facility at Dulles Airport is named in his honor.
Aviation Week has an interesting article about his illustrious career here: https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/airlines-lessors/aircraft-leasing-pioneer-udvar-hazy-announces-retirement.
And speaking of the leased aircraft business, Aviation Week also has on article about how prolonged tariff confusion will impact the “used serviceable material” market, see: https://aviationweek.com/mro/supply-chain/usm-experts-predict-prolonged-tariff-confusion.
R.I.P. Frederick Wallace Smith: Back in the late 1960’s, a Yale University business student faced a difficult term paper assignment: Come up with a business plan for an innovative enterprise. He was working as a charter pilot to put himself through school, so he used that experience to envision a design for an overnight delivery system that could operate nationwide. The logistics involved were formidable, and his professor was not impressed, grudgingly awarding a “C” for the paper. After graduation, Fred served two tours of duty as a Marine in Vietnam, earning the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts in a variety of roles, including service as an aerial observer and tactical air controller for the OV-10A. After four years as a Marine officer, Fred recalled his business plan from school, and the low grade it had received. Undaunted, 27-year-old Fred founded a small company in Little Rock, Arkansas. Two years later, his company had outgrown Little Rock, so he moved his HQ to Memphis, changed its name to Federal Express, and began using 14 aircraft and 389 employees to reach 25 cities with reliable one-day delivery service. Over the next fifty years, FedEx became an international powerhouse in rapid delivery and home office support. When Fred retired as FedEx CEO in 2022, it was a $90 billion enterprise handling more than 17 million shipments per day. Fred’s influence on commercial aviation was so great that the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum acquired the Dassault Falcon jet that made the first FedEx delivery, where it is on proud display at NASM’s Udvar-Hazy Center. Fred Smith passed away on June 21, at age 80. For more on his life, see: https://newsroom.fedex.com/newsroom/global-english/frederick-w-smith-visionary-founder-of-fedex-dies-at-80 and https://avweb.com/aviation-news/fedex-founder-fred-smith-dies-at-80.
The XB-70 Valkyrie Revisited: The Valkyrie supersonic aircraft was amazing piece of engineering. Its story, and tragic ending has been touched upon in two past Items of the Week, covering its development and first flight test (here) and the crash of one of the two ever built (here). Alas, it proved to be a technological dead-end. I’ve recently come across some additional information that may be of interest to you. It’s from the archives of the Air Force Material Command, a research facility at Wright-Patterson AFB, a piece called, “A Look Back… NAA B-70 Valkyrie Variants: A Future That Never Was,” edited by Tony R. Landis, a writer/archivist at the HQ AFMC History Office. See it here: https://media.defense.gov/2020/Nov/23/2002540204/-1/-1/1/B-70%20VARIANTS.PDF. Planners were thinking about using the Valkyrie as a reusable high-speed high-altitude launch vehicle for all sorts of lifting bodies, rockets, even manned orbital craft like the Dyna-Soar and the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (the subject of a future Item of the Week)!
Related Article: Podcast: Hypersonic Hopes – The Legacy of the X-30 “Orient Express” President Reagan’s 1986 State of the Union Address contained his vision for a Mach 25 (not a typo) airliner, the X-30 National Aero-Space Plane (NASP). Just as the Valkyrie was hoped/hyped as supersonic launch platform for direct LEO spacecraft, so, too, was the X-30. “DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, really talked them into this idea of this Copper Canyon project. This was a way of sort of delivering this hypersonic single stage to orbit type capability to the Air Force. They wouldn't have to worry about rockets and the shuttle. They could do it their own way. And so this Copper Canyon project really was the sort of the genesis of what became, dressed up as a civil project in some ways, the Orient Express.”
Let’s just say that the Oriental Express concept was a tad optimistic, but this was a very interesting discussion, especially since it comes on the 20th anniversary last month of the Mach 9.6 flight of NASA’s X-43. For the full Check 6 podcast, see: https://aviationweek.com/podcasts/check-6/check-6-revisits-hypersonic-hopes-legacy-x-30-orient-express.
What’s It Like to Fly to Telluride? Telluride, Colorado, located in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, is a spectacular setting, home to celebrities famous, skiers, and festival goers. There are more private jets flying into its small airport, at over 9000’, than just about anywhere. AVWeb just posted a video of what landing there is like, in a propeller-driven plane. Imagine what it would look like flying a jet! Check it out at: https://www.avweb.com/multimedia/featured-video-flying-into-telluride-a-stunning-high-stakes-approach.
And if you think that’s wild, try jeeping into Telluride over the (in)famous Black Bear Pass (if you are not too late; it recently was closed due to damage by a rockfall). For example, see: https://www.cntraveler.com/video/watch/the-road-less-traveled-traversing-black-bear-pass.
Oh, and watch out for falling cars!
Other Information Sources:
Aviation Week: https://aviationweek.com
Commercial Aviation Info, Photos, and News: https://www.airliners.net/aviation-news
AVweb: https://www.avweb.com
General Aviation News: https://generalaviationnews.com
NASA Aeronautic Research: https://www.nasa.gov/aeroresearch/resources
NASA Next Gen STEM: Aeronaut-X: https://www.nasa.gov/stem/nextgenstem/aeronaut-x/index.html
NASA Aeronautics at Home: https://www.nasa.gov/aero-at-home
Aeronautics E-books: https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/aeronautics_ebooks_archive_1.html