Beta boss Clark believes A250 will beat eVTOL rivals to certification

Simpler design choices and incremental approach across product portfolio should yield tangible results, he argues.
Beta Technologies founder and chief executive Kyle Clark is confident his company’s Alia A250 is on course to win the eVTOL certification race, thanks to a simpler design and more incremental approach than its rivals.

“I firmly believe we will be the first to certify in the eVTOL industry,” said Clark, speaking on a 3 November third-quarter results call.

It is not that the Burlington, Vermont-based developer is “further along” than electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) rivals Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation, simply that it has “less total to do” on the A250, he argues.

“I think some of the choices we made a long time ago have given us a clearer path to certification,” Clark says.

He points to the large degree of commonality between Beta’s two developmental civil aircraft, the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) Alia CX300 and eVTOL Alia A250, as a key advantage.

The two aircraft share a common flight-control computer, batteries, electric motor, pusher propeller, wing and tail.

With the CX300 to be certificated around 12 months in advance of its sister ship – and the motor 12 months in advance again – many of those key parts will already have gained US Federal Aviation Administration approval by the time the A250’s turn comes. Beta has previously given 2028 as the likely timeframe for certification.

That path “all leads into a eVTOL that largely contains systems that have already been approved by the FAA for a CTOL aircraft that then roll into the VTOL.”

Additionally, the A250’s lift-and-cruise architecture is simpler than the tiltrotor designs of its rivals, its fewer moving parts equate to “fewer failure modes”, he says, further easing the path to certification.

“I don’t see what’s going on at the other folks in this industry – I’m sure there’s a lot of really hardworking people – but we do see the high-level strategic choices that are made, and I think we have established, and continue to establish, a differentiation,” he says.

He also points to the recent FAA approval for ‘market survey’ flights using the A250 under a special airworthiness certificate as another indication of the aircraft’s maturity.

Motor milestones

Beta is continuing to work with the FAA on the certification of its H500A electric propulsion unit, racking up recent milestones including the completion of durability and lightning testing, while software development is “substantially complete”, he adds.

“We are through the hardest phases of the engine programme and carrying what we learned directly into our other programmes,” Clark says.

Notably, the progress on the H500A has enabled Beta to submit an application for the B-model variant of the engine as a derivative of the initial powerplant.

“The B will follow the path the A has paved, while introducing improvements in cost, performance, weight and producibility,” he says.

Beta has also begun early system certification testing on the CX300 following FAA clearance for its test plan.

Meanwhile, Beta has now racked up an aircraft backlog worth in excess of $4 billion, including more than 1,000 firm orders and options, surpassing a target set at the start of the year.

On top of which, it has accumulated a separate $1 billion backlog for components, including the H500 motor, flight-control computers (FCCs) and battery packs.

Five separate aircraft programmes rely on Beta as a supplier: notable customers include Horizon Aircraft for the FCCs and Embraer for the electric motor.

While the component business helped Beta to a record quarterly revenue in the three months to 30 September, Clark says those sales will have more long-term significance.

“They are seeds that we have planted and as everybody knows, getting a motor or a battery or a flight controller embedded into an aircraft that is ultimately type certificated is sticky.

“That’s how we select the programmes that we are engaged in – not only [do they] contribute meaningfully to our revenue right now, and at a high margin, [they also] give us a path towards future revenue.”

eIPP revenues

An additional near-term source of revenue is likely to be the next phase of the FAA’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).

While Beta has been heavily involved in the initial phase of eIPP, the goal of these flights has been to showcase the potential utility of advanced air mobility operations or demonstrate airspace integration, all conducted under the FAA’s Part 91 regulations governing private, non-commercial aviation.

But as the eIPP moves forward, these will transition to “revenue-generating flights” under Part 135, or private charter, regulations.

“Naturally, doing [multiple] flights under Part 91 is no problem. [But] we wouldn’t leave an asset there just to fly without some kind of long-term customer benefit and revenue from it,” he says.

Other revenues through the eIPP are likely to come from Beta’s charging infrastructure and the rental or leasing of the aircraft.

Clark sees eventual inclusion of the eVTOL A250 in the eIPP, preceded by an autonomous version of the CTOL CX300.

Revenues in the quarter stood at $17.6 million, a significant increase on the $8.9 million recorded a year earlier and “meaningfully” ahead of its $8-12 million guidance.

Year-to-date revenues have reached $42.5 million – the lower end of Beta’s full year forecast of $42-50 million. Guidance has now been raised to $52-57 million.

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