Jetcruzer Once Dead; Has A Future Lifeline Jetcruzer International, a California-based company is looking to bring back the Jetcruzer as a more sustainable aircraft for modern times. For those who may not be aware, the Jetcruzer design existed already in the 1980's as a tail-less aft single-engine aircraft but it never made it to market. However, with new vigor and resources from Victor Tao—owner of Farrar Aerospace in Riverside, California— the aircraft could come back to life thanks to this company's purchasing of the physical and intellectual remains of the program back in 2016. Since then they have actually been very quietly working away on bringing the plane back to life.
Okay, so the Jetcruzer is trying to make a sustainable comeback...in what way? It will be propelled by Hydrogen-electric means. In fact, if you visited NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas in 2023, you would have seen scale models of the aircraft at the show. There's a long road ahead if this aircraft is going to make it back to market in a sustainable way. For now, they are getting it back in the air with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 power. The next step would be to progress towards the hydrogen-electric version.
This version would be slightly stretched and be pressurized. Ambitions put a potential certification of this version of the aircraft at a mid-2025 timeline. If this is successful, the legacy of the aircraft originally made by Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures Inc (AASI) would be able to live-on. It was a unique aircraft for its time, tail-less, pusher-prop with forward canard. Below is a look at the early AASI Jetcruzer. For more information: Jetcruzer International 37350 Sky Canyon Drive, Bld 30 Hangar 14 Murrietta, CA 92563 www.jetcruzer-international.com ***
