CNC West Feb March 2019

...Hotline Continued From Page 8 Boom Supersonic Receives $100 Million in Funding Colorado-based Boom Supersonic says it has closed a $100 million Series B investment round to support the development of a Mach-2.2 com- mercial airliner called Overture. The funding includes $56 million in new investment as well as $44 million in previ- ously announced investments. Total funding for Boom now stands at more than $141 million. The round was led by Emerson Collective and includes funding from Y Combinator Continuity, Caffeinated Capital, SV Angel and individual investors, Boom said. “This new funding allows us to advance work on Overture, the world’s first economically viable supersonic airliner,” Boom founder and CEO Blake Scholl said in a news release. “Overture fares will be similar to today’s business class — widening horizons for tens of millions of travelers. Ultimately, our goal is to make high-speed flight affordable to all.” Boom says Overture will accommodate the use of next-generation alternative fuels and have a carbon footprint comparable to that of present-day business-class travel. The company is also working on technology aimed at making Overture’s takeoffs and landings as quiet as those of subsonic aircraft. A one-third-scale prototype called XB-1 is currently being assembled at Boom’s production facility in Centennial, Colo. It’s set to fly later this year. Boom says it has more than 100 full-time employees and plans to double that number this year. The company is weighing poten- tial manufacturing sites for Overture, which is scheduled to enter passenger service in the mid-2020s. Future customers include the Virgin Group and Japan Airlines, which have pre-ordered a total of 30 jets between them. AeroVironment Moves Headquar- ters to Simi Valley AeroVironment Inc. has moved its headquar- ters to Simi Valley, CA. from Monrovia,CA. according to media reports. The Los Angeles Times reported in December that the drone manufacturer made the move of- ficial on Nov. 29 and that all employees at the Monrovia facility are being given the oppor- tunity to move to Simi Valley by the summer. AeroVironment has for years developed, manufactured and tested its drone aircraft in Simi Valley. Boeing Contract for Second Ja- pan KC-46 Tanker The U.S. Air Force has exercised the op- tion for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s second Boeing KC-46 tanker through the For- eign Military Sale (FMS) process. Boeing was awarded the initial FMS con- tract for Japan’s first KC-46 aircraft and miscellaneous logistics services in December 2017 following the Japan Ministry of De- fense’s KC-X aerial refueling competition. The KC-46 is a multi-role tanker designed to refuel all allied and coalition mili- tary aircraft compatible with international aerial refueling procedures and can carry passengers, cargo and patients. Boeing began developing the KC-46A Pegasus tanker for the U.S. Air Force in 2011 and is assembling the 767-derivative aircraft at its Everett, Wash., facility. Torrance Aerospace Firm Do- nates $1.5M to Catalina Airport, Receives Naming Rights Torrance aerospace firm Ace Clearwater Enterprises is donating $1.5 million towards the cost of runway repairs at Catalina Is- land’s Airport in the Sky, giving it naming rights to the airfield. According to the Jan. 28 announcement from the Catalina Island Conservancy, the nonprofit land trust that owns and operates the airfield, the donation will help pay for concrete, transportation and other costs incurred by the Conservancy, to replace the runway’s aging asphalt surface. Ace Clearwater Enterprises was founded more than 60 years ago and has remained a family-owned business, now co-owned by Tim Dodson and his daughter, Kellie Johnson, who also is chair of the Catalina Island Conservancy’s board of directors. “At Ace, we like to say that if it flies, we have parts on it,” Johnson said in the announcement. “We are excited to have the opportunity to add the name Ace Clearwa- ter Airfield to the Conservancy’s Airport in the Sky. This is a great legacy for our family and the Ace team whose hard work and ‘attitude committed to excellence’ have made this donation possible.” Continued on page 106.......