State of the Aerial Economy
Hey there,
Welcome back.
It’s been a minute. Slow summer markets. But school’s around the corner. And the whales are finding their desks.
Let’s get to it.
The Registry
Since mid-March, I’ve collected the FAA flight registry data. They publish the full US aircraft registry on a daily basis.
I vibe coded the collection command on a whim. And it’s turned into the best window I have into what’s actually flying in this country.
Not what gets announced. Not what raises a round. But what gets a tail number?
Here’s what the data says,
Zipline registered more aircraft than Cessna. 1,055 new tail numbers for the delivery drone company since mid-March. DJI took 698. Cessna managed 557.
10,077 agricultural drones. The Aerial Economy is alive and well in agriculture.
The median American single-engine airplane was built in 1976. American aviation is a museum with an engine.
15,077 electric aircraft in the US. Nearly two-thirds of these aircraft were certified in the last twenty-four months. 98.6% are unmanned. Electric aviation is here. It just doesn’t carry human passengers yet.
Tale of the Tape
I still track public markets. I’ll never not. It’s a global language. We use the price action to piece together the puzzle of what’s next.
Markets, like life, are reflexive.
So here’s a chart that makes you scratch your head.
Rolls-Royce – not the automobile maker, BMW has owned that label since 1998 – but the jet engine manufacturer is up 2,500% since October 2022.
What’s more interesting is that $RYCEY has outperformed the AI darling $NVDA since our pivot low in October 2022.
Yes, I’m cherry-picking data, but who would’ve guessed?
Bombardier – the Canadian business jet manufacturer flies at all-time highs. Their Global 8000 is the fastest civil aircraft since Concorde. Mach 0.95. The demand // need for speed is real.
And Park Aerospace – an advanced composite materials manufacturer trades at its highest price since 2001.
The eVTOL stocks remain below their SPAC // IPO listing price. Certification can’t come soon enough.
Drone warfare and space exploration have the Street’s spotlight, but folks – something big is happening in aviation.
My focus lies on the front lines. It’s a mega trend. I’m all in.
Oshkosh
I made my way to Oshkosh a few weeks back to see what all the fuss was about at the “world’s largest airshow” – “CES of aviation.”
What a scene. Overwhelming. The crowd was buzzing.
I caught a glimpse of Joby and Beta’s eVTOL aircraft.
But the Vision Jet captured my attention. A sleek, sports car-like body that travels from Aspen to Sedona in just over an hour unlocks a new level in life.
Freedom of flight.
Time + space are less of a constraint in one’s day-to-day. Check out Packy McCormick’s post on “Expanding the Radius of Daily Life.”
You Can Just Build Things
The trip to Wisconsin was twofold.
Many moons ago, I connected with Grant Fisk. (h/t Nicolas Zart + Tom Lydon)
Grant is the founder of Volatus Infrastructure, now known as Volatus Power International.
He’s one of the first innovators to comprehend the full hardware stack of what a vertiport requires.
I’m thrilled to find a hands-on opportunity to build in the Aerial Economy.
I’ll shoot you straight. Vertiports are still a ways away.
At this moment, we’re finding product-market fit with ground-based DC fast charging and an electric generator that really intrigues me. We also have a drone sister co.
I’ll share more on this later.
Founders + Friends
In the meantime, here’s what I captured over the last few weeks.
Four conversations. Builders, dreamers, and the delusionally optimistic.
Heather Chirtea flies a Pivotal BlackFly aka a flying car. First woman to do it. She is one of the forty-nine. YouTube – Spotify.
Nicolas Zart has covered electric vehicles and advanced air mobility for twenty years. He has seen this movie before, and he’ll tell you which parts to skip. YouTube – Spotify.
Sam Bregman founded Melts. Dissolvable supplements, built from scratch. YouTube – Spotify.
Howard Lindzon founded StockTwits and invented the cashtag. He has been early to more things than most people are ever late to. YouTube – Spotify.
If you have questions, shoot me an email. Grateful to connect with like-minded individuals 🙂
