Aeralis - the new Hawk?
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Discussion

Jeanboi

Original Poster:

2,856 posts

242 months

Tuesday 19th April 2022
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I've been reading about this. I did wonder how the Hawk hole would be filled.

Maybe this is it? I think the modularity is a real ace factor and will be a boon for both the manufacturing potential and for the sales of this model abroad.

https://aeralis.com/

IanH755

2,626 posts

143 months

Tuesday 19th April 2022
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The modularity may help in some small scale sales but I would guess that the big ticket future sales will almost entirely be the BJT/AJT versions and for those to succeed it really needs to have an avionics suite suitable for training folks ready for 5th Gen avionics.

Even the current Hawk T2 series and it's equivalents (classed as some of the best current training aircraft) are only Gen 3+ to maybe 4 at best (mostly through simulation of F-18C "level" equipment) in terms of modern avionics so Aeralis really needs to get that sorted and so far all I've seen is airframe models and a single F-35-type cockpit computer drawing, which concerns me.

The engine/airframe aspects look relatively "simple" despite the modularity aspects, with no complex stealth, super-cruise requirement etc so designing and building the aircraft doesn't strike me as too complex for the team they've picked, but I don't see anyone there who is an Avionics system Designer/Lead or an aircraft/avionic integration designer and that would worry me as even simple COTS items with an open architecture still need to be integrated to perform their task which usually takes far more time and effort to get right the more advanced it gets and working than the propulsion/airframe side tend to do.

I'm guessing they're just going to run everything "Mission" based via simulation whilst the "Vehicle" side will remain as practical/real boxes.

Simpo Two

91,302 posts

288 months

Tuesday 19th April 2022
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So much of that is real and how much is CGI on a flashy website?

IanH755

2,626 posts

143 months

Tuesday 19th April 2022
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Looking at their "team", out of the first 12 people listed at the top of the business only 1 is listed as any kind of engineer and the rest are Sales, PR, HR, Marketing, Money, Admin etc who've worked for random mix of companies, only some in aviation.

Thats an odd setup for a company which needs to make and sell planes, unless they're solely interested in creating CGI vapourware that looks great in a sales brochure but with zero body of work behind it to back it up.

I understand that they need some PR to generate potential sales but you also reallllllly need something physical to show a client, rather than a rendering, as this shows your companies competence. Even it's it's just a single prototype for ground testing use only etc, having "something" real is better than a plastic model.

Evanivitch

25,847 posts

145 months

Tuesday 19th April 2022
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So how many different baselines is the Safety Case going to have to cover?

Ian Lancs

1,155 posts

189 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
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Evanivitch said:
So how many different baselines is the Safety Case going to have to cover?
That will be a very interesting discussion with the MAA - its bad enough with a "stable" design

Simpo Two

91,302 posts

288 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
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IanH755 said:
Looking at their "team", out of the first 12 people listed at the top of the business only 1 is listed as any kind of engineer and the rest are Sales, PR, HR, Marketing, Money, Admin etc who've worked for random mix of companies, only some in aviation.

Thats an odd setup for a company which needs to make and sell planes, unless they're solely interested in creating CGI vapourware that looks great in a sales brochure but with zero body of work behind it to back it up.
I seem to remember a similar 'company' about a year ago on here. Lots of photos of supporters, and waffle, but no product nor seemingly the means to make one. What is the purpose I wonder.

Jeanboi

Original Poster:

2,856 posts

242 months

Wednesday 20th April 2022
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I actually thought the website and CGIs were pretty shonky!

I'd read that Rolls Royce and these guys had a MoU in place and that piqued my interest in the concept.

It seems to be coming from a guy that worked on the Hawk but wants to apply his Airbus learnings to this one.