Andrew Patton, ZeroAvia

03/11/21 • 30 min

The Aerospace Testing International Podcast

In this episode of the Aerospace Testing International podcast, we talk to Andrew Patton, who sits on the advisory board of ZeroAvia, a company that is developing the world’s first ‘practical’ hydrogen powertrain for use in aircraft.

Andrew has a flight test background, having started his career with Boeing’s Tactical Aircraft Flight Test group, where he was assigned to the Navy in support of F/A-18 Super Hornet and EA-18 Growler development programs. He then worked for several years in Silicon Valley, including for Google X and Wing Aviation and is now an angel investor in aerospace technologies and companies.

During the podcast Andrew discusses the progress the company is making with its technology development and testing program, as well as the merits of hydrogen as an aviation fuel and the future sustainability of the sector.

Previous Episode

Podcast: John Garvey, chief engineer of launch, Virgin Orbit

John Garvey, chief engineer of launch for Virgin Orbit, discusses the company reaching space with its air-launched rocket and the challenges of testing and launching horizontally underneath an aircraft wing.
This interview was conducted shortly after California-based Virgin Orbit successfully reached space for the first time with its LauncherOne rocket in January 2020.
Garvey, who has a worked in launches since the 1980s, discusses how launch procedures and testing have to be modified for a horizontally-launched rocket and how Covid-19 has impacted the way the team works.

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Wil Benton and Nichola Bates, ATI Boeing Accelerator

In this podcast Wil Benton, venture and ecosystem director for the ATI Boeing Accelerator and Nichola Bates, from Boeing HorizonX Ventures in the UK discuss the ideas driving this industry initiative, some of the trends impacting the aviation sector and the latest cohort of startups that it has attracted.

The ATI (Aerospace Technology Institute) Boeing Accelerator is a three month program for startups in the aerospace sector from around the world. Run with a growing list of industry partners, the program works with companies in areas such as sustainability, Industry 4.0, energy and lifecycle and resilience.

Companies get access to a possible £100,000 equity investment from Boeing HorizonX Global Ventures, entrepreneurship mentoring and access to technical experts.

The latest cohort attracted 200 applicants from 40 different countries, from which 10 companies were selected.