Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: You know, Henry Ford once said, if I asked a customer what they really want, they'd ask me for a faster horse.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Welcome to Hangar X Studios, where former fighter pilot and host John Ramsted takes us on a journey across aerospace as it enters an historic period of innovation and transformation.
Our guests include aviation experts, pilots, financiers, military leaders, and innovators of all types.
Buckle up for another episode of Hangar X.
[00:00:39] Speaker C: Welcome to the Hanger X Studios podcast, and I am really excited today to introduce you to our sponsor, primary sponsor of the Hanger X podcast, XTI aircraft CEO Scott Pomeroy. Scott, thanks for being here, John, it's a pleasure to be here, and I am really excited about XTI. And could you start and tell us, though, what does XTI stand for?
[00:01:02] Speaker A: It's extended technology and innovation. Innovation being the keyword. And so now with the advent of XTI, again, innovation, we're bringing forward the Trifan 600, right. Which is what I would argue is the first fundamental design shift in over 50 years where we're taking the fundamental aspects of a helicopter and merging it with the benefits of a fixed wing aircraft to deliver the Trifan 600.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Scott, you just mentioned a shift, and I agree a shift is happening. But what is that shift? And why is it important to the average person out there who is regularly using aviation?
[00:01:44] Speaker A: You know, we've talked a lot, or we've heard a lot over the last few decades that the possibilities of air travel were going to change, that the industry was poised for a fundamental disruption. And this idea of vertical takeoff and landing, a whole new genre of the way we fly, has been led by and have participants, including the evtols that.
[00:02:09] Speaker C: Are out there now. When you say eVtol, that means the electric vertical takeoff, landing, almost think of like a flying Tesla type thing.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Exactly. Flying taxi.
[00:02:18] Speaker C: Flying taxi, almost.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Jetsons like. Right. We're going to move around large metropolitan urban areas. There are estimates that by the year 2040, 2050, we're going to add another 3 billion people to the planet. They'll congregate in urban centers. Traffic is getting worse, not better.
The need to use air travel as a fundamental means for moving humans around is going to continue to be a. A pressure point for society. And as we think about this explosion of population, the urbanization, combined with the suburban and rural markets, finding ways to connect people, whether that's domestically here in the US, or even more so internationally, the need to really capitalize on vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, you just don't have the money and a lot of markets and a lot of countries and communities can't afford to put landing strips in place. So in order to.
[00:03:20] Speaker C: Well, not only can they not afford it, but the real estate's not there.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:03:24] Speaker C: I can't put in a two mile long landing strip and add an airport to La or Beijing or Kuala Lumpur. Not going to happen.
[00:03:32] Speaker A: Correct? It's not going to happen, no. So having the ability to move people around through the air is going to be the fundamental focal point. It's why you've seen a lot of investment come to the area. Companies like Archer, Adjobe, Lilia, Eve, some of the noteworthy names that are out there, they've really set a tone and brought a lot of focal point focus to this area, and they don't represent competition to us. I can get into a little bit more about our fundamental performance metrics, but for them, we're big fans of what they're doing.
They've led the way for us in terms of certification, in terms of bringing a focal point to the power lift category. So we applaud and watch with great interest what they're doing. But we are fundamentally different aircraft because we're bringing efficiency and convenience to long range, fast aircraft.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: And that is the fundamental difference. Long range and fast, and also can fly in weather, correct?
[00:04:42] Speaker A: Correct.
And, you know, just to. Just to give you a level set, you know, some of those performance metrics, the Trifan 600, what we call the aircraft, it can fly up to 700 miles of range at speeds of about 300 knots, or just, just shy of 350 mph, up to an altitude of 25,000ft in a pressurized cabin using IFR capability, and from a payload standpoint, can accommodate six passengers and a single pilot.
So when you juxtapose that against other AV tools, we fly a much further distance at much faster speeds and carry a far greater passenger world. We're true regional means for the movement of humans, souls to other markets and other locations. And when you look at range maps, whether you're centered in Los Angeles or New York or Chicago, it can encompass significant areas within the US, out of Paris, France, you can cover almost the entire european market. You know, in reality, these guys that are really the driving force behind the evTols are, these are problems that they will solve. But we looked at it really from a pragmatic standpoint and said, while they solve some of those problems, let's bring to the market an aircraft that meets our customers objectives and demands and takes full advantage of the vertical takeoff and landing characteristics of the aircraft, but adopts technology that's known, understood, and has been certified in the past. So from a power plant standpoint, we use two twin turbo engines.
That's something the FAA has seen before. Certified before.
We're using ducted fans for thrust and.
[00:06:39] Speaker C: Propulsion and also noise reduction for landing vertically in an urban area.
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Exactly right. What a lot of people don't realize is that the noise that you heard from a helicopter is really coming from the tips.
[00:06:53] Speaker C: Yes. Because they're going so fast.
[00:06:55] Speaker A: Because they're going so fast.
When you duct that propeller, you significantly mute the noise factor, which is something that the FAA is interested in, basically.
[00:07:07] Speaker C: Like a big giant silencer for this propeller.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: It is, yeah, it is. And you can imagine communities that have really historically not been fans of rotorcraft or helicopters coming to their neighborhoods are extremely happy to hear something that mutes the noise. Now, the evtols also have the benefit of muted noise because they, you know, and that's. That's one of their benefits.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: That they bring to the equations.
[00:07:34] Speaker C: Well, everybody's familiar with the sound of a drone.
[00:07:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:37] Speaker C: Right. And that's about, you know, just a little bit louder.
[00:07:40] Speaker A: That's right.
[00:07:40] Speaker C: And that's what we. That's what all of us, these companies are hoping to do.
[00:07:44] Speaker A: That's right, yeah. The whole area of acoustics is a significant area of funkins, both inside and out. For those that have been on a helicopter, you know, it has two issues. Right. It's the inside the cabin and outside the cabin, it's incredibly noisy. And you have to put on headphones just to be able to communicate.
[00:08:04] Speaker C: Yes, you do.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Inside the helicopter. So that's where we expect to have the. The flight that the customers experience is much more akin to a jet type of environment than a helicopter.
[00:08:22] Speaker C: So you've talked about the problem that this solves in the future. What was the genesis of this idea you mentioned? Things have been stagnant for a long time.
You got together with some people and said, you know what? We're not okay with that. There are some huge needs. They need to be addressed. The demand is there. We need to build a company to match that. So where did all this come together? Where all of a sudden synergy happened.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: You know, it really rests with our founder, Dave Brody, who also founded a company known as AVX Aircraft Helicopter Company.
[00:08:56] Speaker C: And you've been involved with AVX for how long?
[00:08:58] Speaker A: 15 years.
[00:08:58] Speaker C: 15 years.
[00:08:59] Speaker A: Been on the board of AVX for 15 years. So I've had a front row seat of the evolution of this space. And we are. We're at an incredible inflection point in history where the combination of technology, computerized avionics, the engine performance and capability, you can generate more power at lower weights than ever before.
Using composite materials over metal, you can actually build an aircraft that can meet the needs, the evolving needs of the customers that they've always needed. Although they didn't really realize it, Henry Ford once said, if I asked a customer what they really want, they'd ask me for a faster horse. And so this is an opportunity for us to bring to the market that technology that meets so many unmet needs today with the combination of technology and mechanics. And we're bringing that in an efficient, affordable way like never before. You know, we've had vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. It's been around for a long time. Many people are familiar with the Harrier jet. Harrier Jet that's out there, that the British Air Force has flown for years. The f 35 B is an aircraft that the US has flown for years. There have been other derivatives of vertical takeoff and landing, up to the most recent, which is the V 22, the Osprey. The Osprey that the navy flies. That's a tilt rotor, very complex machine, very heavy machine, very expensive machine that, frankly, was developed in the sixties. So we're talking about a new derivative of this kind of an aircraft being used with modern technology and modern mechanics that allow us to deliver this like never before.
[00:11:01] Speaker C: I agree with you. This is a. You take everything that's been happening, some of these ideas, and vertical and aviation and urbanization, and all these problems are all coming together. There's this confluence that's happening right now. But one of the things that's always impressed me, if I've talked with you and the engineers and just the culture of this, of the entire team, is safety. It's about making the safest, easiest to fly airplane, and it's from the, from the ground up. Could you talk more about, I think, what your vision is for when this airplane is flying? What is it known for?
[00:11:34] Speaker A: You know, John, that's an excellent point.
We're all familiar with some of the safety concerns of helicopters.
You know, we've got some, some recent, notable situations that, that have brought us all to the forefront of a reminder of just how unsafe helicopters can at times be.
So one of the fundamental attributes of this aircraft from the beginning was to marry the flexibility of the helicopter. And we've known that helicopters have great utility.
They've served many purposes, from rescue missions to hover and loiter to serving the first responders into situations that they can.
[00:12:21] Speaker C: Disaster recovery.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Disaster recovery. So they, you know, this isn't to suggest that helicopters don't have a great utility, because they do. But there is a safety concern. When you can get a hovering aircraft onto a wing, very quickly you've dissipated the safety concerns. So at its core, this aircraft is designed to address safety. And then, of course, you mentioned culture, which is really all about how do we approach this whole area of safety as we go through the certification process.
Zero tolerance is really our mantra, if you will, because we've got the fundamentals of an aircraft that we can actually embrace the whole notion of zero tolerance at every level. And it will be, it'll underpin everything that we do as a company and everything that we are as an aircraft.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: Yeah, well, I love that. And, you know, as you're thinking about the future, you know, where this airplane, this aircraft fits in. You're thinking of some of the use cases, market opportunities. What are some of those things that get you, like, excited? Let's say. Let's say it's seven years from now, and you're looking back and go, look at, we were able to accomplish. Here's the impact we made in maybe some of these different areas. What are some of those things that come to mind for you?
[00:13:40] Speaker A: I'd start right now. Today, we actually have over 700 conditional preorders as we sit today.
[00:13:49] Speaker C: And that's incredible, by the way.
[00:13:51] Speaker A: It's represented by charter services and fleet operators and regional air carriers, individuals that will, will be the mainstay of our customers. And we've demonstrated that this aircraft has great utility already for a number of people have raised their hand and said, when this aircraft is certified, put me at the front of the line.
And so we expect to leverage that. One of the areas that is exciting to me is the whole area. Medevac.
[00:14:25] Speaker C: Yeah. So, as you know, I had an accident and I was laying in a field. I was almost died. It was an hour and a half till life flight came, and I spent two years in the hospital. And they said if the medevac, if that helicopter had been ten minutes later, I would not have made it.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:41] Speaker C: With this as a platform, I actually sat down with one of the engineers and calculated instead of an hour and 21 minutes from the first call, that distance, it would have been 18 minutes. And I'll guarantee that's the difference between some families out there having a father or mother or not.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: We know.
[00:14:58] Speaker C: So it's. That's a real, that's a real one.
[00:15:00] Speaker A: For you, I'm sure that it's close to home for you. And, you know, from a medevac standpoint, we all know the importance of the golden hour. Right. It's something that we've heard about, we've read about, we've seen. And when you can bring to the equation an aircraft that flies twice as fast covers range almost three times as fast, almost three times as a helicopter.
[00:15:25] Speaker C: Helicopter.
[00:15:25] Speaker A: Helicopter can fly up to 120 miles an hour, versus 350 for us.
They can travel up to 200 miles. That's the range. And so they're limited and constrained. And weather conditions, you know, they really can't fly into all weather conditions. When you can get an aircraft like this to the, to the scene of an emergent situation, it is life changing. And it's why we've got Medivac, a medevac potential customer in the mix. And they're excited, they're leaning in.
And so that excites me when I think about what this aircraft can do.
Nothing quite captures the human spirit like the whole notion of flight.
You know, when you go back to me, too, the 19 hundreds, you know, when the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk first introduced us to this, I envision, you know, somebody standing on a hill and watching the eagles soar and questioning, why can't we?
[00:16:24] Speaker C: Do we do that?
[00:16:26] Speaker A: And what would it take for us to do that?
[00:16:28] Speaker C: Right, right.
[00:16:29] Speaker A: And to be part.
[00:16:30] Speaker C: And they did it. And they do, look where we're at today.
[00:16:33] Speaker A: And they did it. And here we are in the precipice of another fundamental transformative revolution in air travel.
To be part of that is just special. Yeah. And this is a company that is poised to be at the forefront of all of this evolutionary change and be part of the leadership in this industry that Morgan Stanley will say is a trillion dollar industry by 2040.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: Correct.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: This is not in.
[00:17:00] Speaker C: That's 15 years, by the way.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:17:02] Speaker C: Think about that.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: The growth and explosion of growth is going to be meteoric.
[00:17:07] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:17:08] Speaker A: And we're excited to be a leader in that space.
[00:17:13] Speaker C: What does this mean to you personally, a CEO of XTI Aerospace? Where does this connect with who you are? And like, why, why are you, what's your personal why on being here and leading this entire effort?
[00:17:27] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll go, I'll go back to what I just said.
There is nothing that captures the human spirit quite like flight.
And to be able to lead an organization that brings this aircraft and many derivatives of this aircraft to the market and is part of this revolution that is fundamentally changing the way in which we travel each and every day. It excites me. It gets me out of bed every morning.
Building this company, building the team, building the aircraft.
When that first airplane is in the air, I'm going to be so excited, as will many others and all the people that have made this possible.
I get to be a small part of this. And, you know, we're looking forward to the people that will continue to join this organization to make this a reality.
[00:18:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: And we're excited each and every day to lead and be at the forefront of a new, burgeoning, evolving market.
[00:18:32] Speaker C: Scott, thank you for your time. You are outstanding, and I really appreciate it. Man, that was. That was awesome.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: John, thanks. Really appreciate it.
[00:18:40] Speaker C: Thank you for being with us for the Hanger X Studios podcast. I know you love that interview with XTI Aerospace CEO Scott Pomeroy. Please share that with a friend. They need to hear about what XTI is doing. And stay tuned as we are going to be consistently bringing in some of the biggest thought leaders in aviation to share with you about what is happening now and what is happening next.
